Author: Ricardo Gibert
Date: 20:10:23 06/01/02
Go up one level in this thread
On June 01, 2002 at 12:31:22, Chris Carson wrote: >The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present >by Arpad E. Elo, 1978 > >http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0668047216/qid=1022948840/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2617820-3864631 > > >Here is an overview of what is in ELO's book: > >"This work was written in 1978 by the Old Man himself, Arpad Elo. Chess players >remember Elo as the cantankerous professor of physics from Marquette University, >and as the inventor of the rating systems used by the United States Chess >Federation (USCF) and the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Who better to >explain the mathematics behind the rating system which, according to a letter >Elo wrote to Chess Life several years ago, "is, after all, MY system". The >explanations are semi-technical, but understandable by anybody with a >mathematical inclination, regardless of their education in that field. There is >even a chapter in which ratings are calculated retroactively, for grandmasters >of bygone days. The book was written B.K. (before Kasparov), so of course Bobby >Fischer comes out on top, with a rating of about 2780. His closest competitors >are Lasker, Capablanca, and Botvinnik, each of whom peaked at about 2720. The >average rating of tournament players in the U.S., by the way, is about 1500, >several classes below the stars. Interesting reading." > >If you will note, Elo himself compared Fisher with Lasker, Capablanca, and >Botvinnik. This is well known about Elo's work. What is also well known is it was and is faulty. In other words, his comparisons between different time periods does not have a sound statistical foundation, so quoting "Elo" does not help you make your case.
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