Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 08:47:14 10/27/99
Go up one level in this thread
On October 27, 1999 at 00:42:09, James B. Shearer wrote: >On October 26, 1999 at 20:16:37, Dann Corbit wrote: > >>On October 26, 1999 at 19:38:08, Jeff Anderson wrote: > > <deletions> > >>>When you are very picky about who you play, good things can happen to your >>>rating. >> >>In the long run, it does not matter who you choose at all for computation of an >>ELO rating. >> >>The values will normalize unless some kind of cheating is going on (and they >>only cheat against you). >> >>Playing ELO 2700 players and playing ELO 2000 players will not change your >>rating any differently. That's why GM's would not fear lower ranked opponents >>in a real tournament. >> >>The only connection between ELO and who you play is the generic pool connection. > > This is not accurate. The ELO system is based on a model of the real >world. Like all models this model is just an approximation of the real world. >This means that some potential opponents will appear stronger when playing you >than their ratings would indicate while others will appear weaker to you than >their ratings would indicate. By selectively playing those opponents which do >not play up to their rating against you, you can definitely raise your rating >above what it would be playing all comers. > James B. Shearer Sure, but there is one important difference. When playing Brian the other night, someone noticed that the "assess" command (for crafty) said : win: +0, draw: -16, loss:-32. If you play someone that far under you, you had better win every game, or else your rating _only_ can go down. This entire subject is a bit of a red herring, IMHO, anyway. The "automatic" programs have this problem. The "manual" programs don't. Because when they see a human that gives them trouble (cptnbluebear is a good example) they won't play him after they lose a game. Yet Crafty (or ferret, or other automatic programs) will go head-to-head with him for 8 straight hours. If the program can't compete, its rating is going _down_. So it is kind of funny to see the manual programs complaining, when they are _far_ more selective than crafty is. :)
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