Live chess

Heya guys.

New player here. I have a few questions about live chess.

When looking at the challenges window (graph), How can I tell who will be white and who will be black, when I challenge? I've challenged two diff people, and been white in one instance, and black against the other.

Also, how can I tell how long a match is set up to last. I know it has something to do with the numbers next to the name, but I can't make heads or tails of it. I really hate 10 min matches. 20 is just about the quickest I can play, and yet the last person I challenged had the match set for 10 mins. 

Thanks.

1. It is semi/random. You can not choose colour any longer, as this feature was abused by people who wanted to play white exclusively.

2.Please check this link:

http://support.chess.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=680&nav=0,82

You can create your own game with the time controls as you like it.

There is a filter in live chess settings so you can use it to discard the games you're not interested in (such as short ones).

K thanks Dragec.

I don't mind randomness for who starts. Pretty much like RL.

Can you tell me what the numbers mean, when I look at a player in the challenges window? I often see 10-5. Does that mean a 15 min game? Or is it 10 for the first move, and 5 min game? Vice versa?

Oh, and thanks for the filters idea. 

Edit: Nevermind. clicked on link and doing some reading now. Thanks for the link :)

No problem, I'm glad that I could help