Junior Grades?

[robin moore]

My father told me the it's a trap joke and claimed his grandfather had told him it.(he had heard it off a Johnnie Beattie 78)

I dont think it will come as much of a surprise to anyone that I suspected Kai's grade might in reality be a good bit higher than it actually was. Over the ten or so days I was in Bulgaria with the junior squad I never ceased to be amazed about how quickly they were improving, literally on a daily basis. If you fear you are in danger of being "juniored" in the forseeable future you may wish to reread my Bulgaria Euroyouth thread postings where you will find the most likely but not complete list of suspects, many of whom will be in action this weekend.

Robin.

[Mike Scott]

Personally I think we should simplify - in many sports all that matters is your best times (or similar). So why not just rate everyone by their best event performance?

[robin moore]

Now some folk may think Mike is at the wind-up here, but I am gonna confess to something from a past life. I used to own, train and gamble on greyhounds rather successfully. I only worked the independent tracks (commonly known as flappers) mostly in the west and central Scotland. On the racecard was the dog's recent times to complete the full length of the course. I was not interested in this. I had a virtual dossier on dog's times to the first bend at various tracks as the "bend" was so sharp that the first dog round it nearly always won in the short run-in. Now, to put things into a chess perspective, Mike is effectively saying that you are as good as your best result. It may be argued by many that there are players in Scotland who have a tendency to do rather well when money is at stake, but when out of the running fade into oblivion. This has the effect of keeping their grade low enough that they are able to capitalise when their chance comes along. A bit like the greyhounds, the dog's owners knew what times they were capable of if they got their "mark". If they didn't they would deliberately "stop" them or run them down the field. Mike may have a perfectly valid point here, should you be graded on your best result ? I think not but I can see where he may be coming from and I do not wish to imply for a second that most of us are cheating in some way, I am simply saying that if things drop right for us over a weekend, we are all capable of a result that is way beyond our present grade. Their are multiple other considerations to make about grading "best" performances. It may be your local tournament where you have a great record against your opponents, it may be a tournament where no one knows you or your style of play, it may be abroad and artificially skewes your performance higher than really achieved. I like the grading system we have in place at present very much, I think it is professional,very well organised and I hope it always remains so. Hopefully we will get some interesting replies to this one !

Robin.

[Keith Rose]

Wouldn't it just be simpler to ban children from playing chess unless they promise not to beat adults?

[Andy Howie]

I'm going to kill this argument for juniors to be graded twice a year here and now. It has no effect to their grade.

I have run various iterations through the computer using last years and the previous years data and it has next to no effect.

The Junior addition and 200 up rule protects the adults by giving and additional boost but there would be little to no effect if we were to grade it twice a year.

This surprised me as I was always of the belief that we would see a grater rate of improvement. Looks like not for the first time, FIDE have it wrong...

[Gary McPheator]

A rolling grade should do away with the need for junior additions if you set the number of games to be used at an appropriate level. It would also have the added benefit of ridding the grading system of the flaw that in certain circumstances you can lose grading points even when you win, as well as negating the need for the 200 up rule.

[Andy Howie]

So how do you deal with a rolling grade in a league situation which takes place over months?

[Chris Hampton]

I offer you jolly bunch of sailor boys another wind-up to mull over. (Mixed metaphors or what?)
Was Arpad Elo really wasting everyone's time while making his millions?
A five-year old could have calculated my 'best' rating when I won a tournament in Castlemilk over 25 years years ago. I'm a better player now (really!) but that shows up, negatively, according to my current grading.
I've got better but I assert, with complete confidence, that 'pool deflation' has totally scuppered me.
It's not my fault at all!
Yeah, so rate me, people, on my 'finest hour' ,please!
In 1986 or thereabouts, I was graded 1045. As a certain Mr Robert Lothian said at the time,
"Chris, that's a time not a grading"
As an 'ancient chess mariner' I've learned to like my ' grading albatross' rather as a prisoner learns to like his jailer Sometimes it works very much in my favour.
I terrify people who are around the 1300 mark because their grade is low enough for me to smack it hard if I win. They avoid my intimidatory gaze and pretend not to hear my indrawn breath and shake of the head as they blunder headlong into my well-laid trap.
2000+-graders love me, on the other hand, for all the wrong reasons!
First thing that a youngster asks me is not my name but, "What's your grading, mister? "
My reply is invariably evasive. "You'd be totally amazed!", I reply, smiling enigmatically.
I think most of us elderly gents tend to treat chess grades with the same necessary and healthy contempt we treat our golf handicaps.
We just know in our hearts that we're better, much better than our handicaps( read gradings)!
Playing at the top of our form, leaving aside our momentary lapses of concentration, we are quite sure we'd wipe the floor with any opposition!
Personally, I'm fiendishly delighted to see 'young 'uns' destroy ''auld yins' - just so long as I'm not the target!
Chris

[robin moore]

Chris,

You are now a marked man ! Your profile is being fed at this moment into the junior chess target list. Look at poor David Congalton, he has been taken out more times than jordan.

Robin.

[Gary McPheator]

So how do you deal with a rolling grade in a league situation which takes place over months?

All games would need to be dated.