Is Antichess Easier Than Standard Chess? .... or Harder?

@ProgrammerAngrim A little off topic, but if you're interested, there is a study looking at all anti960 openings, and it is really cool (something like 15 or 20 openings are losing for one side). Very cool :)

I'm better at antichess because I'm good at losing in regular chess

@Notanameforyou Not really how it works :) A lot of antichess tactics are actually quite similar to chess tactics (to a certain degree obviously).

The only thing I forgot to mention in my essay on the first page, is although I love antichess and I know standard is much more difficult (see my first page forum post), one thing antichess has over standard is most general concepts of the game have come from the smaller number of people playing. Obviously the top anti players are doing something correct in their studying, and I know most players (including myself) come up with general tactics and concepts themselves to help them better understand the game. The only argument that antichess has whatsoever in this situation is the fact that it hasn't been as vigorously studied, so people know less about the game in general. Both are incredibly fun games though...If you have come to lichess for standard, I highly recommend trying all variants :)

@yourself101010 It's okay lol, I have no problem reading essays. It's just that sometimes stockfish says 2.5+ for white then sometimes changes to -1.0 for black.

@ShootingStar34 Yeah on the first move, it will always be positive (I think antichess is something like mate in 150 or 160 or something). However for humans, white will not be able to win every time unless they have A. Done 30 years of research or B. Are a prodigy. Those were my only things as to why black doesn't really win every time. In fact I would say at the 2000 level and below, you'll have an advantage playing as black, as most people 2000 and below can't counter every single black opening after e3. If you choose to specialize in a certain black opening, it is quite likely that an 1800 or 1900 will not have a complete set of knowledge to play against it. However once you reach 2050 or 2100 or so, most people would certainly choose white because you do start in a slightly stronger position...However in general, I don't think it matters enough in human terms right now because the game is complex enough where no human can "solve" antichess in their head.

@SeaSkank #1 I would have to disagree with you there. @c9c9c9c9c9 is a double account of @penguingim1. So, @penguingim1 has had an Antichess rating of 2300+ once, so I wouldn't say that he is weakest in Antichess. And I also can't say that Antichess is harder than standard chess because:
1. Standard chess has more players.
2. I have seen matches where @joddle was 2900 rated and playing Antichess against a 2800.
3. Standard chess is more popular. So, half of its players are 2000+.

GMs just dont focus on antichess, some play for fun.

What exactly do you mean with "easier or harder"?

Listen to @yourself101010 , Antichess God is speaking through him. And I don’t mean @joddle right now lol