Top senior lookups added

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Michael Bennett
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Top senior lookups added

Post by Michael Bennett » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:23 pm

Lookups for top seniors (players aged 59 and over) have just been added:

http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/top-players/
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:07 pm

Michael Bennett wrote:Lookups for top seniors (players aged 59 and over) have just been added:

http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/top-players/
I'm not sure whether I should add the adjective "alarming", but you need to be in the top 960 to make the top 100 for Seniors. By contrast, to make the top 100 for Juniors, you only need to be in the top 1560. So more Seniors amongst the top players than Juniors.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Adam Raoof » Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:31 pm

Thanks for this Mike! Nice to see Steve Berry at number 2 on the list...
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David Williams
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by David Williams » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:13 pm

Having scanned down the list and been surprised and delighted to find my own name near the bottom, I have to admit to being a bit surprised to learn that the ECF knew how old I was. I then started looking for names I remembered over the years. One notable absentee is Brian Denman, who was the local star when I was at school. Current grade 203 apparently, and if he was the same age as me 50 years ago I'm guessing he still is.

I think it's also noteworthy that a quick scan suggests that a large majority have a higher current grade than their previous one!

Neil Graham
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Neil Graham » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:56 pm

Unlike Juniors, the ECF only has the date of birth of seniors who have actually played in competitions where that has been disclosed.

I guess there are more whose details aren't held. For example Mike Alcock, who was top board for my own club for many years and champion of both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire on several occasions, is missing - his current grade being 192. Andy Toothill, currently playing for us, would also figure at the bottom of the list; his grade is 174.

I'm sure that contributors to this forum can find plenty of other omissions.

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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Richard James » Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:35 pm

I just spent the evening watching a game between someone who was mistakenly on the list earlier this evening (but has now been removed as his DOB was wrong) and someone else who qualifies for the list by age and grade but is not on there because there is no record of his DOB.

I'm sure there are many more.

Yes, I think the lack of strength in depth of our juniors is alarming.

Ian Thompson
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Ian Thompson » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:03 am

Adam Raoof wrote:Thanks for this Mike! Nice to see Steve Berry at number 2 on the list...
Maybe not for much longer. I noticed one name near the top of the list with a much higher grade than I remembered him having in the past. If he continues as he has done for the last year, he'll be No. 1 soon. He scored 24.5/25; not one of his opponents was within 40 points of his grade and most were a lot lower than that.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:14 am

Ah, our very own Afromeev :mrgreen:
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:29 am

Ian Thompson wrote: Maybe not for much longer. I noticed one name near the top of the list with a much higher grade than I remembered him having in the past.
I see who you mean, but he is/was a reasonable player. According to my archives, I have a played two, drawn two record from 1977 and 1980. It's not something the grading system has ever supported, but it's now a plausible enhancement, namely to record the average strength of opposition.

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John Upham
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by John Upham » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:48 am

I will place a small wager on Roger Emerson emerging from his current grading position to a somewhat better one. I know that he wishes to avoid having a bone fide FIDE rating but would rather have a converted one. Time will tell.
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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Paul McKeown » Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:52 am

Ian Thompson wrote:I noticed one name near the top of the list with a much higher grade than I remembered him having in the past. If he continues as he has done for the last year, he'll be No. 1 soon. He scored 24.5/25; not one of his opponents was within 40 points of his grade and most were a lot lower than that.
Seems a bit unfair. Looking at the season before that (2010 list), he beat a 189, beat a 177 and drew with a 193. In fact from that season's 19 games, he won 16, drew 2 and lost 1. And from the season before that (2009 list), he beat a 192, a 182, a 180, and a 174 and from 21 games won 16, drew 4 and lost 1. I don't think he can be blamed for how relatively rubbish most of his local opposition is, and to be honest, I reckon many people would have packed it in altogether if they couldn't find better opposition. London might have scores of players graded over 220 and hundreds over 180, but, conversely, there are many areas without more than a few graded over 190 and a score or so graded over 160.

Perhaps the ECF grading people need to have another think about what to do with lighthouse keepers, but no need to panic quite yet.

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Re: Top senior lookups added

Post by Paul Cooksey » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:39 pm

I'll take a moment to acknowledge another nice improvement to the grading site, before again being distracted by the grading system itself. :)
David Williams wrote:I think it's also noteworthy that a quick scan suggests that a large majority have a higher current grade than their previous one!
This fits my experience of players around these grades regardless of age. My belief is that the 2009 new grades introduced inflation in the median grades which is being slowly sucked up into the higher grades. I guess it will be another few years before the system is stable again.

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