Is there any disadvantage for the starting player?

[ArtNJ]

@Calmon: We are on the same side of this issue, but I just wanted to note that the FTA in Chess is actually considered HUGE at the world-class grandmaster level. So even if the analogy was a fair won, it is hardly an effective argument for not doing something in a game where the fix is easier, and the rules lack the century's of tradition found in chess.