How many points of advantage needed to secure win?

[bugcat]

How many points do you want in the opening to ensure a win?

I was reading up on something and I got curious. I don’t want to reveal the purpose or what I’m looking at, although it may be obvious. I’ll post the results in a while. Anyway… Suppose you’re playing an even game against an opponent of equal skill. Say you’re around move 15 and nothing bad has happened yet. What is the minimum number of points would you want to magically gain in order for you to be able to say “it will be extremely difficult for my opponent to win now”? poll