7A DISCUSSION THREAD CFC/FIDE/USCF/FQE Rating Adjustments

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Originally Posted by Lyle Craver

30 years ago when I lived in Winnipeg some B players routinely beat US Experts in Minneapolis. They insisted this was a problem with the USCF rating system - my view then as now was that when they went to Minneapolis (which is a similar distance from Toronto to Montreal) it was a weekend entirely devoted to chess that they would have been looking forward and preparing for at least a month in advance. As opposed to their local club tournament where they were at the board an hour after leaving work.

Which do YOU think would tend to focus your mind on chess more - admittedly it's not the same with children but I think my point is obvious. Sure there was some ratings deflation in Winnipeg at the time (as a Canadian Open around that time demonstrated) but I do think attitude plays a big role in performance.

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I get more focused for the once a week tournaments except when we have meetings immediately before the game. No real fatigue factor is in play as might be the case when you have to play three or four games in one day for many tournaments.

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Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec

I get more focused for the once a week tournaments except when we have meetings immediately before the game. No real fatigue factor is in play as might be the case when you have to play three or four games in one day for many tournaments.

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True - but some of my worst performances have been in situations where my last customer has stayed well past closing time and as a result I am driving like a bat out of hell to get to the site in a semi-reasonable time. My downfall is NOT typically shortage of time since I've been in time trouble perhaps 3 times in 40 years of play but rather settling down to playing well. There's nothing like driving 45 minutes only to drop a piece on move 15 or so...

In any case, I'm not completely convinced 10 games in another system is enough. The problem we're trying to reflect here is that the CFC rating system is no longer the monopoly it was and as a result it is common for players to gain/lose strength (though no one would ask the CFC to lower their rating) based on non-CFC results. I've spoken numerous times about the differences between the online game and the OTB (over the board) game but it's definitely a factor in the era of the Internet.

If I stay away from CFC events for a year but play 20+ games a week on ICC or elsewhere, if I'm paying any attention at all to what I'm doing I'm going to learn something that is going to help in my next tournament. Either that or I'm a complete idiot which few would say they are!

This request came to me from chess parents in the Windsor area. It is possible that they see their kids being passed over for opportunities back home because their CFC ratings are lagging their more current USCF ratings. Bindi is correct that these kids can gain a large amount of bonus points if they get themselves to a CFC rated tournament but I am told that there are not many of those close by. When they do catch up in a CFC event, there will be pain for their opponents. Is this a problem? I don't know.