| Kenneth Sloan 2006-11-19, 9:05 pm |
| Ange1o DePa1ma wrote:
quote:
> I thought I had escaped this sort of nitpicking by deleting
> rec.games.chess.politics from my newsgroup list.
>
> I can't speak for the 0000 rating because I don't know how USCF treats a
> 0/18 result. I believe they give 400 points below the average opponents'
> ratings but I'm not sure.
No, they don't.
quote:
> Mathematically, someone who loses all their games
> should have a rating of zero, but there may be sound reasons for awarding
> some other rating.
False. Mathematically, someone who loses all their games should have a
rating of -infinity. Do the math.
Once again: 0000 is not special. There is zero significance to zero.
The only number on the Elo scale which has any absolute reference is
2000. Elo specifically describes what a 2000 player is, and says that
he choose that number to represent that class of player partly so that
there was enough "ballast" to prevent ratings from becoming negative.
It turns out he was wrong about the second part - he didn't anticipate
the scholastic chess movement. But, until roughly 1970 he was largely
correct. USCF has historically had several "magic numbers" and strange
start-up or racheting procedures that involved ratings in the 0900-1200
range. (but not anymore).
quote:
>
> How can you say that a player who knows only how the pieces moves is of 1000
> strength?
From long years of observation. You know - facts?
And, if you are going to question my claims, please have the courtesy to
quote me correctly. I included a caveat about being an adult, of normal
intelligence. The 1000 number does not apply to children, or dummies.
Take a look at the distribution of INITIAL ratings for adult USCF
players sometime. There's a very nice, and fairly sharp, peak around 1100.
quote:
> When I was rated 969 back in the late sixties I knew far more than
> how to move the pieces.
But, were you an adult of normal intelligence?
--
Kenneth Sloan KennethRSloan@gmail.com
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/
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