Getting back to playing chess

[Frank Kamau]

When I lived in London I briefly played at a couple of rapid tournaments and even got a lift from Adam Raoof in his Mercedes to a tournament. I cannot remember what grade I got it was really back in the day.

Roll on a decade or so and I began playing casually at the local chesspoint events in Northampton (in libraries and so on to encourage new players). I played at the Jamboree on Sept the 25th and finished joint first with Greg who is a former county chess champ.

What I cannot understand is how after being 1:1 vs the highest rated player Alan Brown on the ladder; I have a couple of wins vs the others on the list and I have never lost to anyone else I'm ranked 1498 on the ladder. Incredible. That is not an official ECF rating ladder but how on earth is my rating so low?

I have actually decided to play in events by the Northampton Chess Association (separate from Chesspoint Services) and will play in the league to get an official ECF rating. I would be delighted to hear from any of you in the Midlands area who play in ECF sanctioned events.

Hopefully I didn't bore any of you with my story on how I'm getting back to chess.

[Alex Holowczak]

You may be interested in the Birmingham League rapidplay this Sunday: http://www.birminghamchess.org.uk/bdcl_ ... y_2010.htm

Your rating is 1498, but you're ranked #7 on the list. I'm sure once you've played a few more games, your CP rating will radically increase!

[Roger de Coverly]

What I cannot understand is how after being 1:1 vs the highest rated player Alan Brown on the ladder; I have a couple of wins vs the others on the list and I have never lost to anyone else I'm ranked 1498 on the ladder. Incredible. That is not an official ECF rating ladder but how on earth is my rating so low?

Ratings would usually be based on the average rating of your opposition and how you scored against them. An approximate calculation would be to add up the ratings of all your opponents, divide by the number of games played. This would be your rating if your scored 50%. The actual rating is usually derived from looking up your excess of wins over losses in a table and adding it to the average rating. You can get an approximate result by multiplying 400 by the excess of wins over losses and dividing by the number of games. This is added to the average rating of the opponents. So if you play 10 games against average opposition of 1200 and score 6 wins and 4 draws, your rating would come out fairly close to 1500.

[Frank Kamau]

You may be interested in the Birmingham League rapidplay this Sunday: http://www.birminghamchess.org.uk/bdcl_ ... y_2010.htm

Thanks. I'm playing in the Cole Trophy tomorrow. http://www.norchess.lloydbunday.co.uk/c ... _dates.htm

Tell me of any future West Mids events though.

Your rating is 1498, but you're ranked #7 on the list. I'm sure once you've played a few more games, your CP rating will radically increase!

The chesspoint ladder looks meaningless to me because I have played about 20 games on there winning one and losing one versus the leader and winning the rest of the games bar a draw against Greg Smith (who I have several wins against). I was allocated a starting rating of 1300 which is even more ridiculous. The guy who runs chesspoint is Tony Robson who came 28th out of 30 in the Jamboree.

Only recently Alan Brown and Co were ranked 1600 or so on the ladder. There must have been a lot of "manual adjustment".

This is why I want to play fair and square to ECF rules and grading.

[Alex Holowczak]

You may be interested in the Birmingham League rapidplay this Sunday: http://www.birminghamchess.org.uk/bdcl_ ... y_2010.htm

Thanks. I'm playing in the Cole Trophy tomorrow. http://www.norchess.lloydbunday.co.uk/c ... _dates.htm

Ah, fair enough.

When you get there, ask them to advertise it on the ECF website in future years - they might get more entries!

[Richard Thursby]

When I lived in London I briefly played at a couple of rapid tournaments and even got a lift from Adam Raoof in his Mercedes to a tournament.

Indeed, I remember playing you in a tournament run by Adam in early 1996. You're not listed on the ECF grading database (even under inactive) but you may be on the system with a grading code. It might be useful to obtain it to put on entry forms so all games you play get attributed to you. Other people who post here might know if/how you can obtain this information.

[Frank Kamau]

I didn't do too badly at the Cole Trophy this weekend. I scored 3.5 out of 5 and came joint 3rd. What ECF grade am I likely to get from these results below. First column Opp ECF rating rating and score

Code: Select all

145	0.5
90	1
170	0
140	1
131	1

When am I likely to look on the bcf grading website and see something against my name? December this year or when?

[Joey Stewart]

Those results would bring you out at 155, although if I were to have estimated you at 150 before the tournament then you would have got 159 (as the win over the 90 grade would have been worth more points for you then).

If they were slow games then unfortunately it will be next july/august before the ratings come out online but if it was a rapid tournament then you will be getting your rating in jaunary.

[Roger de Coverly]

What ECF grade am I likely to get from these results below

The first point is that you will need to play 9 games in total for a published grade. so you will need at least 4 more in another event.

Add up the grades of your opponents (145 + 90 + 170+ 140 + 131) and then add 50 * (excess of wins over losses which is 100). This sums to 776. Divide by 5 to get 155.

The player rated 90 is an added complication because you score them as 40 points below your grade. To cut a recursion short, you would count as 161, so the summation becomes ( 145 + 121 + 170 + 140 + 131 +100). Dividing by 5 gives 161.

When am I likely to look on the bcf grading website and see something against my name? December this year or when?

As above, you will need at least another 4 games. At present the update is annual and usually published towards the end of July. The ECF Board have proposed to publish something half-yearly starting from January 2012.

[Frank Kamau]

Thanks guys for the info, it was standard chess not rapidplay. So if the earliest I can expect to see my published standard rating is next July, then will I continue to count as an ungraded player in league matches, standard tournaments I enter and so on?

[Roger de Coverly]

So if the earliest I can expect to see my published standard rating is next July, then will I continue to count as an ungraded player in league matches, standard tournaments I enter and so on?

Yes but if relevant you would be expected to disclose your Cole results. So you could justify entering an under 175 event but not an under 150 event.

[Warren Kingston]

I am in the same boat, have a grade of about 110 from 1996. Started playing again, drew against a 132 last game of 2009 season, drew against a 136 first game of new season, played Norfolk Championship and beat a 141, 126, 140, drew against 141 and lost to a 148. Have since played two games in League and beat both of them with grades of 132 and 112.

[Frank Kamau]

I am in the same boat, have a grade of about 110 from 1996. Started playing again, drew against a 132 last game of 2009 season, drew against a 136 first game of new season, played Norfolk Championship and beat a 141, 126, 140, drew against 141 and lost to a 148. Have since played two games in League and beat both of them with grades of 132 and 112.

In my part its good to be back playing chess. So what do you use as your grade if you don't have an official one?

[Warren Kingston]

Apart from Norfolk, I haven't play any comps, so no need. Just league for me at moment.