Author: Albert Silver
Date: 18:22:45 12/26/99
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On December 26, 1999 at 11:41:26, Walter Koroljow wrote:
>Thank you for your lucid account.
>
>But don't we need some inflation mechanism to offset the natural deflation due
>to the average player (presumably mostly new players) gaining in playing
>strength while the total pool of rating points stays the same?
>
>USCF seems to be reinstituting a "bonus" system giving players with great TPRs
>bonus points. The point is to offset deflation -- which must be horrific with
>all the scholastic members USCF has now.
>
>Do you have any thoughts on which mechanism is dominant in FIDE?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Walter
I doubt there was a mechanism though I am not in a position to affirm this.
Remember that while players do go up, there are others who go down. At 2200 and
above, the amount of players who go up sharply and consistently is not exactly
huge, and was most likely never a serious problem, after all, the pool's range
was only of some 600 points. Naturally, as the range increases and includes
players who have further to go down the road, the chances of fast changes are
probable, and USCF's reaction sounds appropriate, though I hope it has been
properly modeled and its universe adequately studied. In regards to the
mechanism, FIDE has indeed instituted a rule for sharp ratings increases, but
just the opposite of the USCF. In order to make sure no one gains too many
rating points at once, there is a new maximum of 100 points that may be gained
(though no maximum that can be lost) in a 6 month period. This is no doubt to
brace against the many suspicions of ratings fraud that have occurred in
quantity in both Romania and Burma, though I wonder how this will affect truly
erratic players like Olivier Touzane, who experienced a growth of around 150
points at one juncture, taking him to about 2500, and then after a couple of
years, suddenly lost them all. These are unusual but natural fluctuations that
will now be jerked around by this new rule; a rule that is merely a politician's
solution, and is not based on any mathematical reasoning.
Albert Silver
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