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.