Largs Viking Chess Congress

[Douglas Bryson]

I have also been struggling to understand why some of the better players have been so worried they would inevitably lose rating points in these events. The top players have high expected scores because they are that much better than the field they encounter. By all means when an underrated junior is met the expected score may be higher than the true strength gap between the players. (That problem would of course be reduced by a regular programme of FIDE rated games throughout the year by which junior players are more likely to get to a rating which reflects their strength ie you need more events rated not less.) For games between established adults the expected scores should be correct. Since the maximum gap in the FIDE system is set at 400 the expected scores will in some cases be too low. All the information about how the top players got on is available for a manual trawl through the data.

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[Alex McFarlane]

In answer to Walter.

If they score 5/5 then their ratings will improve. However, if they draw then they will probably have to score 4.5 to break even of show a slight profit. This 4.5 would need to be against FIDE rated player. But if they only met 3 lowish FIDE rated players and drew with one of them then they might have to score 2.5 against the other two to break even as wins against unrated players do not count.

Obviously that is an extreme example but it illustrates the point.

As Douglas says if more players were FIDE rated this would be less of a problem as almost all of the games would count and the better players have more opportunity to recover from slips.

A FIDE decision today could help. It will be possible from July next year to play games with less than 4 hour sessions which can be graded for those under 2200 but not for those involving a player of at least that level. This means that congresses choosing the right time control could have a FIDE rated Open where the top players were not risking their ratings.

Alex

[WBuchanan]

Thanks Alex

Underrated juniors excepted, If the ratings system works then the high expected score should only be commensurate with the high probability that the higher rated player will beat the lower rated players . So higher rated players should not have an expectation of a negative effect.

Underrated juniors - I can understand that from a purely ratings point of view, it might not be ideal to play an up-and-coming junior with a rating lower than their strength. But this is a problem for the system, that is ‘shared out’ between everyone that the junior plays (and then their opponents) until the grader catches up with the promising junior.

FIDE decision - why should higher rated players be protected, surely that will unbalance the system in their favour?

BTW, I remember Mark Hebden saying he likes to play strong juniors before they were on a par with him, as it gave him a chance to get a plus score aganist them and gain a psychological advantage for the future!

[George Neave]

As usual Douglas reduces the argument to dry statistics. However I think this misses the point that sometimes you can't be bothered with all that. You may fancy some light relief or training games without the risk of your chess career in ruins because you drop a piece to an 1800 after a long day at the office. Not everyone feels this wya but some do and so it is reflected in the numbers. Seems fairly straight forward to me.

btw - I want to make clear that I do not put myself in this category and FIDE or not makes no difference to me personally. I think it only kicks in when ratings approach title level or where players are competing for places in national teams.

bwt2 - What is a CM - I still don't get it?

[andyburnett]

I like to play FIDE-rated weekenders as in my view it gives me a chance to gain points. I play a lot, often against stronger opposition than Scottish weekenders provide in general, so the thought I might lose games and points would be weird.

Who it does affect are those who want to protect their ratings and chances of international selection by not risking anything/or anything much - usually those who play very little anyway.

[George Neave]

I like to play FIDE-rated weekenders as in my view it gives me a chance to gain points. I play a lot, often against stronger opposition than Scottish weekenders provide in general, so the thought I might lose games and points would be weird.

Who it does affect are those who want to protect their ratings and chances of international selection by not risking anything/or anything much - usually those who play very little anyway.

...but these are mainly in countries where you are the patzer :p and not the other way around. That's completely different. Like Alex says - one half point dropped in a Scottish weekender and your toast.

[Adam Bremner]

bwt2 - What is a CM - I still don't get it?

Somebody who pays £40 to get free lifetime membership to chess.com and benefits on other sites too.

Are these entries actually up to date though? Seems a shame if it is that low numbers wise.

[Douglas Bryson]

Let's see if I have this right. There's an elite bunch who are out there slaving away to help the UK survive the ravages of Brexit and lying in wait on the Friday night round of a FIDE rated congress there's an 1800 layabout who has been studying your opening repertoire all day.

[andyburnett]

Let's see if I have this right. There's an elite bunch who are out there slaving away to help the UK survive the ravages of Brexit and lying in wait on the Friday night round of a FIDE rated congress there's an 1800 layabout who has been studying your opening repertoire all day.

...and winner of the internet today is...Mr Douglas Bryson!

[Alan Jelfs]

bwt2 - What is a CM - I still don't get it?

Somebody who pays £40 to get free lifetime membership to chess.com and benefits on other sites too.

There's also the minor matter of getting to 2200, otherwise we would all be CMs.