13-08-2016, 01:57 PM
One of the problems with the Fide Rating System for me in weekend events is that the most Elo points I may gain with a super performance over a weekend is about 5 Elo. On a bad day I could lose 15 points. There does not seem to be a fairness to this. Many players on the weekend scene are very well prepared meaning it is difficult to win e.g Steven Brown on form is most difficult to beat, one draw against him means I need to beat him four times after that just to break even. It is possible to lose to lots of other players if they prepare well against you, Hamish Olsen is a perfect example, he has played the perfect game in quite a few of our clashes where despite my huge efforts have not won and have been lucky to avoid defeat.
Alan
You ask would Fide Rated Weekenders not benefit Scotland. For me I would need convinced, what are the benefits? Does it matter to a club player if he is Fide Rated 1900 or 1950. What is it that I don't see which makes it so important to Fide Rate weekenders? We already have Chess Scotland ratings to help make the pairings.
Fide Rated Weekenders
As I have already stated, to me they take the fun out of the event. If I was to play in one, say Edinburgh, I would seriously need to consider staying there rather than travel the 1.5 hours each way as if I was not to do well then I would be asking myself, what went wrong?....was it the travel?...was it the tiredness?....should I have taken Friday off on holiday to give me the extra energy to play the best I could? (which means I would have less holiday time to do all the other things I want to do, I work in a Hospital so getting Fridays off is not always an option).
If it is not Fide Rated, then ok if I didn't play as well as I hoped, no great problem get myself ready for the next one.
Ian
As Home Director I am surprised you said the following in an earlier posting "if you don't like it don't play in it, its your choice"......I love the game, love the challenge, it is great to meet people. We should be doing everything to encourage people to play, not the approach like it or lump it. As a compromise I tried to say, ok the event is Fide Rated but players should have the choice to have their games Fide Rated or not. I don't lose any Fide Rating to unrated players, fine rate them to help their new rating, but with the high rating risks against others e.g Steven Brown where I need to beat him 9 times out of 10 to break even, No I don't want them rated.
Alan
You ask would Fide Rated Weekenders not benefit Scotland. For me I would need convinced, what are the benefits? Does it matter to a club player if he is Fide Rated 1900 or 1950. What is it that I don't see which makes it so important to Fide Rate weekenders? We already have Chess Scotland ratings to help make the pairings.
Fide Rated Weekenders
As I have already stated, to me they take the fun out of the event. If I was to play in one, say Edinburgh, I would seriously need to consider staying there rather than travel the 1.5 hours each way as if I was not to do well then I would be asking myself, what went wrong?....was it the travel?...was it the tiredness?....should I have taken Friday off on holiday to give me the extra energy to play the best I could? (which means I would have less holiday time to do all the other things I want to do, I work in a Hospital so getting Fridays off is not always an option).
If it is not Fide Rated, then ok if I didn't play as well as I hoped, no great problem get myself ready for the next one.
Ian
As Home Director I am surprised you said the following in an earlier posting "if you don't like it don't play in it, its your choice"......I love the game, love the challenge, it is great to meet people. We should be doing everything to encourage people to play, not the approach like it or lump it. As a compromise I tried to say, ok the event is Fide Rated but players should have the choice to have their games Fide Rated or not. I don't lose any Fide Rating to unrated players, fine rate them to help their new rating, but with the high rating risks against others e.g Steven Brown where I need to beat him 9 times out of 10 to break even, No I don't want them rated.