Random is one way to go. Have one person take into their hands a black and white pawn, shuffel them up and then hold them out concealed, one in each hand. Their opponent picks a hand and whatever color they got is what they start with.
You can also do a best of 3 scenario, and rotate color every game. That way everyone gets to play each of their opponents at least once on both colors.
Hey let's do this tournament thing!
You could consider a double round robin if you really think the colors will be significant, but that turns this into a 10 round affair, which might be a bit long. If five rounds sounds better, well, do a round robin and have something to randomize things. Here's a link to a wikipedia page with an algorithm for scheduling a round robin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_tournament#Scheduling_algorithm Randomize who gets what numbers, implement the algorithm, switch what color #1 and the others on his row get each round.
I'm looking at having a small for fun only tournament IRL, none of us have ever played competitively before, but I think we are all starting to play more seriously now. My question regards the best format where we can all get good playing experiences and still have some boasting between us. I was thinking of something like a round robin between the six of us or so, but what I don't know is how to handle who gets the white pieces and who gets black. I feel it could make a big difference if we each only get an opponent once. Any help or constructive ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Lillard