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Subject: Re: are you serious ?

Author: James T. Walker

Date: 05:51:47 12/18/99

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On December 18, 1999 at 04:08:52, Dave Gomboc wrote:

>On December 17, 1999 at 15:25:24, Dann Corbit wrote:
>
>>On December 17, 1999 at 02:54:31, Dave Gomboc wrote:
>>[snip]
>>>>>The normal distribution does not accurately predict the occurance of large
>>>>>upsets.  Elo himself discussed this in his book, which you can reference for
>>>>>further details.
>>>>Of course, for a single contest, it does not accurately predict anything.  So
>>>>what does he say about large upsets?  More frequent that predicted?  Less
>>>>frequent?  I don't have the book (does anyone know where to buy it from?)
>>>
>>>Upsets are more frequent than predicted when using a normal distribution.
>>>
>>>What I don't understand is why people don't take real tournament results and
>>>figure out the correct distribution.  Maybe they actually do... <shrug>
>>
>>That's interesting, because it supports the opposite of the assertion that lower
>>rated players will never beat higher rated players if the difference is great.
>>
>>What is the stated reason for A.E.'s statements?  Is it mathematical or
>>empirical?
>
>Empricial.  I think that such a claim would have to be made based on
>observation, no?
>
>Dave

I suspect the reason empirical data would not agree with predicted mathamatical
results is that humans sometimes play tournaments infrequently.  Many people
improve a lot between tournaments.  I once new a player with a 1150 rating that
was playing around 1900 chess at the chess club.  He simply had not played in a
tournament in 2 years.  When he showed up at his next tournament there were a
few large upsets.
Jim Walker



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