Is rating just a number on this site

  

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Garvin Gray    (2026-02-13)
Is rating just a number on this site?

I am taking this comment from the chat to this forum for further discussion.

In my opinion, this statement is false. On this site, your rating is not just a number. Your rating dictates which tournaments you can enter and most importantly, when you enter a class/rapid group tournament, or a wch tournament, your rating dictates your chances of success.

Example: If you have made it through to the round robin final and you are the seventh seed, this means generally there is about 50 rating points between the top seed and the bottom seed.

But with TER being used as the first tie break, if you are the bottom seed, you have to win the group outright. Any ties and you are done. And so forth if you are the sixth player by rating for anyone higher.

The top seed in that group, who could only be the top seed by 1 or 2 points, in effect gets draw odds against the field. That is such an enormous advantage that it can not be understated how much of an advantage it is.

I think it is now so clear that your rating on this site is not just a number. It dictates everything about your playing experience. From which tournaments you can enter, to how you progress in the wch cycle and if you can get tickets to higher level tournaments.


Garvin Gray    (2026-02-19 04:56:14)
Is rating just a number on this site?

So much discussion in the chat bar, but as soon as I take it to the forum, all I get is crickets.


Ulises Pineda    (2026-02-21 04:35:44)
Is rating just a number on this site?

It became just a number after tickets were introduced.

I could easily have been 2400 if tickets were promoted from the beginning and I bought them whenever it was possible, even though I would have been playing at the same level.

For rating to matter you can't just let players play in the next tier, there's the strong 2400 players that got there beating others on their tiers or lower, but now there'll be 2400 players that bought tickets and drew their games of that tier, making it be just a number.


Garvin Gray    (2026-02-22 07:45:14)
Is rating just a number on this site?

There are two types of tickets.

The first kind is when you win a lower class/rapid event and that qualifies you to enter the next higher rated event, but you have to wait until five players above the rating cut off have already entered.

This system was introduced to get tournaments started as each tournament would sit for months waiting for seven players who had ratings above the rating cut off to enter.

And then Thibault has extended the system to pay to enter, where you need to be 50 points lower than the rating cut off.

As has been said previously, one of the biggest issues is not either of these concepts, it is the difference in the rating bands for entering a tournament.

When a tournament is 2200 to 2600, no one who is rated 2500 is going to enter that event when 4 players who are rated between 2200 and 2300 have already entered.

I have already proposed a solution to this, but once again Thibault will not embrace change and we are stuck with what we have.

And I am going to say this directly. Those who are playing on here are growing increasing frustrated and how it is being run.

From TER, to rating bands, to tickets and many other issues, nothing changes.

And I think quite a few of us are reaching the point of walking away. I certainly am.

There is no point continuing on when the site owner will not change anything anymore. The only option left is to leave.


Paul Guralivu    (2026-04-03 08:40:09)
Is rating just a number on this site?

In terms of Tournament Rating range:

what can be done... like in IECG/LSS create 2 tiers of tournaments...

the current one where we have 2200-2600

and create another system: 2200 - 2400
2500-2600

(same for all the other categories)

Best regards,
Paul G.


George Jempty    (2026-04-15 13:53:53)
Is rating just a number on this site?

Hello, I'd not responded earlier because I'd taken 45 days leave to begin the year, largely because of frustration around these very sorts of things. Even the 2300+ players do not enter 2200+ tournaments. It's not even because I want to keep drawing 2300+ players to inch my rating up, it's because I want the competition, to enrich my opening repertoire. Enriching my repertoire is the only reason I'm around here anymore, but not for long, not now that I've settled on 1.d4 and 2.g3


Daniel Parmet    (2026-09-01 18:25:55)
Is rating just a number on this site?

Yes, it is just a random number that barrs you from playing your peers. Here I am 2292 while on ICCF I am a 2400+ IM and on LSS I am 2550+. Which number do you think is most accurate? The answer is LSS because they let me play my peers while FICGS and ICCF do not. Since I am 2292 here, I cannot even enter relevant events.


Paul Guralivu    (2026-09-01 19:07:21)
Is rating just a number on this site?

@Daniel Parmet: the decision to decrease the rating ranges for the tournaments was a server decision(basically, players talked about it in this forums).

We had tournaments where 1900 could play a 2200 -- a bit risky for the 2200.

we decided to reduce that to 2100 - 2200 and so on...


Paul Guralivu    (2026-09-01 19:31:00)
Is rating just a number on this site?

@Daniel Parmet: what do you mean -- you can play your peers?

The people in the 2100-2299 range
and the ones in 2200-2399 range...

are your peers.

Plus: LSS has the same system in place.


Daniel Parmet    (2026-09-03 07:37:11)
Is rating just a number on this site?

@Paul. You did not read what I wrote. Reread it again until you understand it before replying nonsense.


George Jempty    (2026-09-03 13:48:43)
Is rating just a number on this site?

@Daniel, I don't believe Paul's responses have been nonsense. That however is not to say, your frustration is not warranted. Have a fantastic day!


Ulises Pineda    (2026-09-03 20:59:27)
Is rating just a number on this site?

The other option is to accept ratings are indeed just a number and continue playing chess, I'm sitting at 2343 and just joined two tournaments with only 2200-2300 players.
Let your rating drop, your suffering is caused because your rating points have become more valuable that playing the game, you don't want to play lower rated players and see it drop, everything is solved once you embrace the drop in rating.


George Jempty    (2026-09-03 22:08:50)
Is rating just a number on this site?

Funny you should write that Ulises, because I now realize my lower rating due to mass fortfeitures, has allowed me to get winning positions against some lower rated players. My rating is bouncing back from 2090, to 2181, if Thib would only finally update EVERYONE's ratings.

Perhaps instead of forfeiting or resigning games for no reason, Daniel could try, as Black, to salvage the apparently losing Balogh Defence. Just a thought ;)


Thibault de Vassal    (2026-09-04 16:05:49)
Is rating just a number on this site?

Possibly 2200 players today are as strong as 2400 players... so the way to reach a 2300 or 2400 rating is obviously either to manage wins/defeats in time, or to take higher risks to decrease the draws ratio. In both cases, it takes time.