Originally posted by Wulebgr
The changes in the rating system mitigate the effects of deflation slightly, but they have not eliminated it. Scholastic players still join in droves, get rated in scholastic events (where the median rating is below 600), and then gravitate into adult events where they prove stronger than their ratings indicate.
You allege that there is inflation, but have offered no evidence of that.
Perhaps you should read the whole article.
You referred to my claim as "nonsense" which transistions this discussion over to the distasteful category as far as I'm concerned.
If deflation has occurred over a period of many years, there may be some who have kept the same skill who have seen their rating lowered by 100s of points. The article is clear, the purpose of the ratings changes is to raise these ratings back up, not merely slow their descent. If a person was active up until the rating change, but has been inactive since, that person could expect to see competition a little easier at the same rating if he/she went back now.
Posting this whole article would be a copyright violation, but many on RHP are able to view. If you read the article, you will see that my claim is correct. If posting a reference to an article released by the USCF is not "evidence", I don't know what is.
I am not at all discounting your description of how ratings [/i]tend[i] to deflate, but I do contend that the USCF has deliberately set out to reverse some of these effects.