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Subject: Re: SSDF Ratings are 100% accurate

Author: Geert van der Wulp

Date: 12:21:39 03/06/04

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On March 06, 2004 at 09:42:26, Albert Silver wrote:

>On March 05, 2004 at 21:54:11, GuyHaworth wrote:
>
>>
>>A common confusion is to try to compare FIDE ELO ratings (about a community of
>>human players) with SSDF ELO ratings (about a community of computers).
>>
>>This is understandable, as the metric used is referred to as 'ELO' in both
>>cases.  However, 'ELO' is the measurement system rather than the measurement,
>>the 'scale' rather than the 'weight'.
>
>(snip)
>
>>I feel that less confusion would certainly be the result.
>>
>>g
>
>The following was posted here about 3+ years ago:
>
>http://chessprogramming.org/cccsearch/ccc.php?art_id=82028
>
>Subject : SSDF ratings are 100% accurate
>
>Posted on December 12, 1999 at 08:49:08
>
>Hi all,
>
>As the issue of SSDF ratings, and their comparative value with USCF or FIDE
>ratings, has been a recurring theme and a number of threads have sprouted
>recently, I thought I'd share my opinion (self-plagiarized) as I think it is
>relevant and might shed some light on the matter.
>
>SSDF ratings: inflated or not?
>
>Here's what I think: the ratings are not inflated in the least bit. Sounds crazy
>doesn't it? But it's not. People get too caught up trying to make these futile
>comparisons between SSDF ratings and human ratings whether USCF, FIDE, or
>whatever. The point is, and it has been repeated very often, there simply is no
>comparison. The only comparison possible is that both are generated using Elo's
>rating system, but that's where it ends. Elo's system is supposed to calculate,
>according to a point system, the probability of success between opponents rated
>in that system. The SSDF rating list does that to perfection, but it is based on
>the members of the SSDF only. If you put Fritz 5.32 on fast hardware up against
>the Tasc R30 or whatnot, it will pulverize the machine. The difference in SSDF
>ratings accurately depicts that. It has NOTHING to do with FIDE or USCF ratings.
>The rating of Fritz, Hiarcs, or others on the SSDF rating list depicts their
>probability of success against other programs on the SSDF list, and that's it.
>It doesn't represent their probability of success against humans because humans
>simply aren't a part of the testing. If you want to find out how a program will
>do against humans then test it against humans, and then you will find it's
>rating against them. The SSDF rating has nothing whatsoever to do with that. As
>was pointed out, I believe the SSDF ratings pool is a pool that is COMPLETELY
>isolated from all others and as such cannot possibly be compared with them.
>
>Albert Silver

You are completely wrong. A rating can only be 100% accurate if the participants
have played an infinite number of games. The SSDF would make itself rediculous
if they claimed to be 100% accurate. They give statistical confidence intervals
with all the ratings that they publish.

Geert



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