I started a discussion on odds here

Thank you Sarah. I really appreciate your works about great players at XIXth century in your blog.

"This is interesting and worth discussing. "

I think so too.  But for a couple reasons I'm not sure this is the place to do it.  First, this is someone's space and he should dictate the flow of ideas and secondly, blogs are somewhat limited in noticeability. More folks, and therefore more ideas, can be found in the forums.  I suggest that someone start a forum thread about giving/receiving odds and we'll start a discussion there.

I would expect a 2000 to be able to beat anyone with minor piece odds. A 2000 should surely be able to beat perfect play with minor piece odds.

"I think a 2800 player can easily give minor piece odds to a 2000 rated player though."

This is interesting and worth discussing. I think we can assume that this is light-hearted game with Morphy giving a rook's odds, and he didn't really put his all into it.

I'm 2000 and would like to think I could beat anyone with minor piece odds. It's just too much - all you'd have to do is play solidly sensibly and not do anything silly. Or is that too optimistic? Any super-GMs like to try it out

From some extremely basic research that I have done I think that one pawn is worth approximately 150 elo, making queen odds worth around 1350, so 2800 players would be around 1400 -1500 without a queen, although that may need to be adjusted up slightly because they would probably have many tricks they could use knowing that they were giving these odds. I think a 2800 player can easily give minor piece odds to a 2000 rated player though.

"Is this the same batgirl?"

Yes, but this blog is about Morphy and de Maurian.

"position matters more than power"

Is this the same batgirl? Your profile indicates an interest in the history of chess. How did that come about?

"http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/deMaurian.html "

Don't believe a thing she writes!

The story of these fascinating games comes into perspective when you realise that Charles de Maurian and Paul Morphy were childhood friends, and that the famous Morphy, as a boy, spent many hours playing chess with Charles's grandfather, to whom he also gave the advantage of a rook, although he seldom lost those games. Charles as a boy, however, was not interested in chess, and the whole story of Morphy teaching his friend chess later in life as his own passion for the game was dying, is told here:

http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/deMaurian.html 

..but this is my favourite part:

"Charles from the very outset developed a keen interest in the game, and under the tutelage of his friend Paul made rapid progress. Their first match was at the odds of the queen, which contest Paul won by one game. The next match was at the odds of rook and four moves!- won by Paul. Then followed a match at the odds of rook, pawn and two moves, won by Paul. After this, as Charles developed and the odds became too formidable for even the Great Wizard of the board, they played at the odds of rook, pawn, and move. They played a match in the next progression at the odds of rook and knight, which was also won by Paul, but by a narrow majority; and then, by gradual, easy stages as Charles became more and more proficient, they arrived at the odds of knight, which odds the invincible Paul continued to yield his friend to the very last. Their last match at the odds of knight terminated in favor of Mr. de Maurian, and Paul told him then that he was too strong for the knight odds. It was their intention to play at the odds of pawn and two moves; but Fate, that stern arbiter who knows no distinctions, willed it otherwise. It is very probable, although not absolutely sure, that the last game of chess Paul Morphy ever played was with his lifelong friend; and, if it could be surely established as a fact, it would be a most beautiful conclusion of the chess career of the world's greatest chess player."

As the Scots would say, here's tae Auld Lang Syne!

"In 1855 Maurian had an Edo rating of 2087."

That retro-rating was based on a grand total of 9 games, all played against Morphy at great odds. While there's no question that de Maurian , who only learned to play chess around 1853-4, developed quickly - undoubtedly due to his close association with Morphy as much as to his native intelligence - there is a lot of uncertainty about how Morphy treated these off-hand games with his friend.  This uncertainty translates into uncertainty also about Rod Edward's ascribed ratings.  I find that while such ratings are helpful and interesting, they're also somewhat nebulous and to use them blindly to try to make some case is, at best, tenuous. What we can know is that odds-giving during the Morphy's time was a very integral part of the chess hierarchy system that tells us more about relative skills than most retro-rating systems that have a naturally limited grasp on the past.  If Morphy offered de Maurian odds of a Rook, it can be taken for granted that Morphy was that much stronger than de Maurian until the odds lessened, since they only lessened after the odds-giver found he could not longer dominate the receiver at those odds. An occasional win while receiving great odds doesn't indicate much, just as my occasional win over a much higher rated player doesn't mean much.

In 1855 Maurian had an Edo rating of 2087.

"It doesn't really matter that Morphy lost. In 1874 Maurian had a edo rating of 2425."

The text game was in 1855, not 1874. In 1855, Maurian was a rank novice learning chess from Morphy, while Morphy himself was an acknowledged master. Morphy probably didnt take the games with Maurian, even at extreme odds, all that seriously.

It doesn't really matter that Morphy lost. In 1874 Maurian had a edo rating of 2425. If you look at Morphy and Maurians odds games Morhy does lose some games but wins a lot of them to.

lose is lose, not loose... you stupid people.

Durn, de Maurian could even beat Morphy when being given Rook, pawn and two moves odds.

Morphy appeared to loose before the Q Rook would of even become a factor?

BLAA-LAAAA-LAAAA