3 ms·
Are today’s crop better players? Or like the economy, are Elo ratings subject to bouts of inflation? Players leaving the system is one of the major sources
by leelin 16y ago
Are today’s crop better players?
Or like the economy, are Elo ratings subject to bouts of inflation?
Players leaving the system is one of the major sources of rating inflation in chess. Even when rating changes of any single game is zero-sum, if a player stops playing chess after a career of net losses, all the remaining players in the world have more rating to divide up amongst themselves.
This is very obvious on FICS bughouse where new sock puppet accounts crop up all the time, net lose several games, and then leave forever.
Part of the problem is new players are usually given a starting rating around 1600 (depends on their provisional games), a "median" ranking of sorts, but in reality a new player is often far worse and donates rating as they slide down to their correct rating.
- carbocation 16y agoThe last issue that you raised (new players donating ranking) has long made sense to me. However, I had not considered inflationary pressure due to players leaving before. Is the inflation really from their departure, or is it purely explained by their entrance, and loss of points while still playing?
- s3b 16y agoPlayers leaving is a problem only if they lose points and then leave without winning them back.
- joe_the_user 16y agoIn chess, constant progress is made in opening theory. Thus it is entirely plausible that today's players really are significantly better than those of 1979.
- joe_the_user 16y agoStabilizing online ratings is difficult problem. In the game of Go, online ratings are general subject to deflation. New players appear, are given the lowest possible ratings and then rise to some higher ranking, knocking down the ratings of other players. Also, players who only play each other can improve together without any improvement in rating.