Well, what can i say...you 'pawnstars' don't miss much.
My sudden rise to fame in the forums is such an honour, i would love
to tell you what is going on before you all have heart attacks.
I, Donadoni, have been playing with my father, czbish in loads of
games over the last month to boost my rating....because i heard
there is a prize of $1,000,000 for the player who achieves the highest
rating by the end of July. Is this true?? (I'm sure someone can
confirm)
In the future i'll try not to forget to post a warning that i'm doing it
again...xenaphobe, fancy a game? (we could split the million?)
I hope this has put an end to the speculation, maybe now you can all
go chat about other things you usually talk about (if you want to chat
about something, check out the messages posted by Baron von M and
fatgingergeeze during all their games-a tip off for all u
detectives!!)...keep playing GOOD chess everyone!!!!!
p.s. JayP- this wasn't aimed at you, i know your a friend of my dad,
maybe we could play sometime?
Thanks for letting people know what's up - and your sarcasm about it
is humbly noted. I think you have a right to be annoyed.
For a lot of people, ratings and the competitive nature of chess are an
important part of the game. And that can be great part of the games
here - unless we forget that this a site where people play for lots of
different reasons and not everyone is interested in ratings, or - more
generally - treating this site like a competitive tournament.
People come here to play for all sorts of reasons. One of the great
things about playing chess here - and the reason I began playing
here at all - has been the ability to keep in touch with some friends
spread out in different cities - so quite a few games with the exact
same people. And in the future, there will be many more games with
the same people. Since then I've played fine games against great
folks who I only know from the boards, folks spread out across the
world. And that is another great thing about the site. But I'd be pretty
depressed if someone looked at all my games with two or three
people and got suspicous. I'd wonder "of what?". Is there something
wrong with wanting to play chess against my old friends?
Part of the problem seems to be that people put too much wieght on
the ratings here, and treat it like something that it is not. About all
the system does is give people at least some gauge for finding
opponents of a similar skill level. Sometimes I wish the ratings here
hadn't been done in a way that made them look like ELO ratings.
They simply aren't the same type of beast, and I think their similarity
has caused much grief here. The nature of RHP, with its relatively
small size and correspondence style of play, makes it a very intimate
place for chess - and this very intimacy is part of the reason the
ratings are not accurate. We choose who we play here, and we choose
for a thousand different reasons. A game with one person can take
days, weeks, months - and given the large amount of time spent
across the board from the same person, people tend to give quite a
bit of care to who they play against. A hard fought game against one
person may lead you to want to play the same person again - or
make you may decide to never play them again. Some people may
go out of their way to find tough competition, and be happiest when
they lose most of their games - because that means they are having
to play their hardest. These people will have ratings that are artificially
low. Others may troll for easy wins, and have artifically high ratings.
Maybe someone plays against a friend to keep in touch, even if the
games are all lopsided. Again, the ratings get shot to hell. All these
things wreck havoc on ratings accuracy. Part of the great thing about
RHP is the combination of being able to choose who you play against,
while at the same time easily finding new people to play.
I'll personally chose the small town, closeknit feeling of RHP - alot of
which comes from the ability to play games with whomever you
choose, as often as you want - over accurate ratings any day. But the
two things seem to be incompatible with each other.
Maybe one day tournaments will start here, and there could be a
second tournament rating for folks who are interested. Properly run,
ratings from controlled tournament style matches would be much more
accurate and provide the competitive scale which some of us (yes I
include myself) would like to be measured against. But until that
happens....lets' all stay mellow.
Ok. This is getting friggin sappy. So I end with humor:
YO DONADONI, YOU GOT IT WRONG! THE MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE IS
FOR THE PERSON WHO POSTS THE MOST IN THE FORUMS. THE ONE
WITH THE MOST CHARACTERS TYPED WINS! SORRY SCHIEMANN - I'M
GONNA WIN THE LOOT! NOBODY CAN TYPE AS MUCH ABOUT SO
LITTLE AS ME. THE MONEY IS MINE MINE MINE!
🙂
Well...so you are going to outdo me on here...maybe so...not trying
to have a contest. I guess I spend way too much time here...but I like
to have fun talking about different subjects. Trust me...I have toned
down hugely from message board stuff...that is how I met my wife..on
the exmormon bulletin board...one of the biggest sites on the net. On
here though I try to stick mainly to chess and not stories from my
life...the kite story being the only one so far...trust me I have a ton
that are tooo funny...one day I might tell how my cousin and I
managed to burn down my grandmother's barn...that will leave ya in
stitches.
But I wish the tourney thing would happen...I can help run it..I was an
asst TD for IECC and a club level TD for USCF. We could have a cool
weekend deal with say an hour or two T.O. in a 5 round swiss. Now of
course this would require wives to stay the hell out of the way (or
husbands for our wonderful ladies that play here) for awhile and
probably alot of coffee...and no beer for me...but I think it would be
great...just break everything up into rating classes and have at it.
What do you think guys?
Dave
Pure genious - got to happen ! Simple as that - Batman & Robin
(being Chris and Russ) need to take heed and get it off the ground.
To the question, how do you improve the best site around, I simply
say - Tourneys !!
Show your support for this and when Chris has found hi new IT role,
maybe he could help us take this a stage further ...
forgive my ignorance on the subject, but not having been around a
chess club scene or anything. But are these tourneys by invite or are
they meant to be compulsory in whatever level you play at. I cant
see me sitting around for a weekend or days on end with a beer or
coffee doing this. Got a life to run and its getting busier everyday. I
go without sleep to play this game. Cant go without my life. so I
sure hope these tournaments are just for fun. I get too worked up
over this game as it is. ;>
Not compulsory...but by a person wanting to. As for the time limit on
the games...they could run just like they do now....and that would be
allright...I just thought it would be cool to set up a weekend that at
the end..you would know who won rather than waiting a few months.
And remember...chess is for whatever you want..if you think of it as
just for fun than that is what is.
Dave
The tourney concept is a good idea. To have participants that must play everybody in a group and not just the ones they prefer to play
against (among participants of course - there can be no obligation). Yes, groups could be based on rating range. A possible variation is
to allowing people to play in higher ranges than their current position (knowingly choosen). This could give it a more "open" character.
But i have doubts about the quasi-real time aspect. This is not in accordance with the spirit of correspondence on which this wonderful
site is based, and besides that, how would the timing be decided in a worldwide all-timezone covering event? And what with technical
limitations? But if you find enough people to do it, why not?
I understand the difficulties of organizing a tourney over several weeks/months as well, don't get me wrong.
I don't think I helped a lot here .... LOL
You can always play "up" in a tourney...just not "down"....meaning
that you can play in a higher rating group than your own rating...just
not in a group that has a lower rating tha yours.
I know the time thing is kinda screwed up...so I guess we would have
to space it out. It would suck if my game with a person started at say
7:00 a.m. my time...but they would have to get up at 1:00 in the
morning to play.
We can figure out something I am sure.
Dave
Not sure what your name is. Is it Don? In a previous post, I
mentioned that you might explain it. I have a new one for you. If you
pay homage to King of Map and King of Highest Rated at Red Hot
Pawn, and annual contribution to our Diplomat. You will (at an
undisclosed date, by an undisclosed person) receive $10,000,000 Us
dollars.
John
The Ambassador
King of Mop
Little Grasshopper
Most Titled Player
Ps: I never call another player a cheater. LOL. Your explanation was
funny to read. Are you really that gullible. I'm not. Enjoy chess.
Don,
Sorry if that is not your name. I can't speak for all the pawnstars.
We all became pawn stars for our own reasons. I became one
because I recognized the people behind this site need some
compensation for operating it for us. I was not obliged to do so. That
is the way I am. You obviously have a good sense of humor and could
join "US" the "we pawnstars".
John
The Ambassador
Little Grasshopper
King Of MAP
Most Titled Player