Submitting Results played outside Scotland

for CHESS SCOTLAND (CS) Grading

 

If the event in which you played is FIDE rated then your results will automatically be imported by the CS grader. See FIDE Downloads

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Information about ECF grades. See ECF Grades

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Which grade is used for visitors to Scottish events. See Visitors

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FIDE Downloads: Every month FIDE issue a spreadsheet which contains the standardplay OTB results of every SCO registered player in the FIDE system from any FIDE rated event worldwide. We then import these results into the CS domestic rating system without the need for players to manually submit data (see exceptions below). The import routine will recognise when your opponent is a Scot and will change the grade used to the CS rating.

1) If two FIDE unrated Scots play each other then the game will not be recorded in the FIDE file. In this case players should just email these additional Scot v Scot encounters to grading@chessscotland.com and they can be tacked on to the other results in that event.

2) If you play an ECF rated opponent who is FIDE unrated then these results will be omitted completely from the FIDE import file. Only FIDE rated opponents or FIDE unrated Scots will count in a FIDE rated outside Scotland event. This does create the anomaly that if the event had been ECF rated only then the player would count. However we have to adopt practical rules which allow us to offer a service we can deliver to players. Checking the crosstables of every outside Scotland event to search for potential unrated opponents who might have an ECF rating would not be possible. This notice indicates these players don't count in a FIDE rated event held outside Scotland.

3a) August 2013: With progressively more of the British Championships sections now FIDE rated this policy at 2) will be modified to allow ECF grades to be used in FIDE rated sections of the British Championships only (when the player does not have a FIDE grade). All other UK based FIDE rated tournaments or those outside UK will be rated on the basis of only FIDE rated opponents or FIDE unrated Scots will count. (Junior exceptions below)

3b) August 2019: The Glorney/Faber and its associated events have now become FIDE rated events. However rather than a rule of FIDE only we will try and provide a rating value for all games where a FIDE unrated opponent is met. We may also use a higher national grade if available.

3c) August 2019: Junior Quadrangular: Same grading rules as Glorney.

4) August 2021: We have started to import FIDE rated rapidplay into the CS domestic allegro system. Currently an automated spreadsheet is not available and there is risk of results being omitted. Please inform CS if results have been incorrectly omitted.

Many thanks to programmer Gordon Rattray for his behind the scenes work in creating the FIDE data capture system.

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Events in England - not FIDE rated.

There are rules as to which grades apply in outside Scotland events. Data should be emailed to grading@chessscotland.com

1) Only full time control (at least 1 hour each) standardplay outside Scotland games will be rated, no rapidplay.

2) If the opponent has a CS rating use that first.

3) If no CS rating then use FIDE. FIDE Ratings Look-up

4) If no CS or FIDE rating use ECF (English). ECF Ratings Look-up (ECF Rapidplay grades are ignored.)

5) If none of the above ratings applies then the game is ignored for rating purposes.

Junior additions: These do not apply to FIDE or ECF grades.

Leading Players NB: It is expected that all leading adult and junior players will submit all results. This is not optional. To ensure that all selections are made on the same basis all leading junior and senior players must submit all results (ie all results in relation to which outside events and games are eligible).

General Player International selection will not be an issue for the majority of players. In those cases it is up to the individual player to decide what they want to do about games they play outside Scotland. CS will be happy to rate outside results free of charge for members only. Games outside Scotland will not be rated for non-members. Players must be consistent in the way they submit outside results. Either you submit all your outside results every year or you submit none. You cannot be selective.

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ECF Grades: ECF Ratings Look-up

English grades have been the only "foreign" grade used in recent years as we wish to try and move ultimately to a situation where we use FIDE grades for all outside Scotland opponents. However CS players will often play English players without FIDE ratings either in English events or when English players visit a Scottish congress. For many years we used ECF grades converted by the traditional formula (ECF*8)+600 = CS. So an ECF player graded 100 converted to 1400 CS. We had thought this produced a reasonable conversion rate between the two systems.

In 2009 the English Chess Federation (ECF) made significant revisions to how they calculate their grades. To counter what they identified as deflation all domestic grades were revised significantly higher. The increase was not uniform but produced a larger increase among lower grades eg on average 100 ECF is now 124, 125 is now 144, 140 is now 156.

If we used the traditional conversion formula then a 100 ECF who was worth 1400 will now be worth 1590. This will introduce inflation into the CS system if we ignored the changes which have been made to the ECF system.

We continued to grade games against ECF graded players but modified the conversion formula. ECF grades converted to CS by using ECF *10+180 = CS. So an ECF player rated 100 converted to 1180 CS.

NB: this was our attempt at arriving at a conversion formula - Scottish players in English events may have their CS grade converted differently.

In 2021 the ECF moved to 4 figure ELO grades. The ECF grade conversion factor was 700 + ECF x 7.5. So a player rated ECF 100 now converts to 1450. However CS thinks that player is worth 1180 CS. The new ECF ELO will be converted back to ECF grades and then the above formula will be applied. ECF *10+180 = CS.

We will monitor how ECF ELO perform and may modify the above conversion formula if appropriate. These conversions will more often apply to lower rated ECF players who may not have a FIDE rating. If a player has a FIDE rating we use that without any conversion. CS ratings attempt to be of the same value as FIDE.

 

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Which grade is used for "foreign" visitors to Scottish events?

If a visitor to a Scottish tournament has a FIDE grade the CS grading system will use that first regardless of the level of their domestic grade.

All foreign domestic ratings apart from ECF will be ignored.

(Tournaments can use whichever grade or conversion formula they prefer for entry requirements but the CS grading system will always use FIDE.

NB: It can be advantageous for a tournament to have flexibility in which grade it chooses to use for entry decisions especially in the case of junior players. Many FIDE ratings of relatively inactive junior players may be inaccurate since so few games have been played - a national domestic rating may in that case be a more accurate reflection of current strength.)

CS suggests tournament organisers should convert non-FIDE rated ECF players as described in the ECF section above.

Note that several visitors already have an official CS grade which is published in the grading list. In CS calculations this CS grade takes priority over any other grade.

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Online Data: We are currently processing online data through the allegro system as a service to domestic organisers. No online data from events organised outside Scotland is graded for the domestic grading system. FIDE "Hybrid" events are included in CS rating.

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Best Judgement The Chief Grader will endeavour to use his best judgement to modify or clarify the above general rules where necessary.

Queries: To submit results or ask about outside result submission e-mail the the CS Chief Grader

Page revised 07/01/2022