1. Canukistan
    Joined
    04 May '04
    Moves
    6457
    29 Nov '06 05:32
    Originally posted by Shinidoki
    Personally I would imagine that FICS would be the weakest crowd...

    why? well, because other sites require payment.....and if your willing to spend cash on suscription i think its a good bet you'd also spend monney of books/dvds -- and actually read them.
    Of course, this explains why the well-to-do Russians have dominated chess while the impoverished Americans have only managed to produce one fluke world champion.
  2. Hainesport, NJ, USA
    Joined
    22 Jun '04
    Moves
    17527
    29 Nov '06 14:41
    I think the Ruskies have dominated world chess because they have more players than anybody AND they take it seriously, like a national sport. The same reason why Canada is so good at hockey.
  3. Standard memberXanthosNZ
    Cancerous Bus Crash
    p^2.sin(phi)
    Joined
    06 Sep '04
    Moves
    25076
    30 Nov '06 05:00
    Originally posted by buddy2
    I knew the statisticians would deny it. How about Im more likely to get beat on FICS. Would that make it a tougher bunch?
    Buddy is a homosexual. I bet he'll deny it. And you know why he'll deny it? Because it isn't true.
  4. London
    Joined
    04 Jun '06
    Moves
    929
    30 Nov '06 15:13
    FICS's ratings are definitely lower than Playchess & ICC numerically.

    I've only been over 2000 a few times on FICS - whilst on playchess and ICC had no problem reach 2200.

    However, this says nothing about the standard of the site.

    The fact is, there are a few decent players on FICS - but not that many. None of the blitz players seem to have IM, GM titles, and the highest elo I've ever seen stated in finger notes was around 2300 (I think.)
  5. Hainesport, NJ, USA
    Joined
    22 Jun '04
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    17527
    01 Dec '06 15:21
    I find it amazing, Tommy that your blitz is around 2000, when your rating at RHP is 1600. With me it's exactly the opposite. How do you account for the difference? What are your blitz time control. I usually play 2/12.
  6. Standard memberMarinkatomb
    wotagr8game
    tbc
    Joined
    18 Feb '04
    Moves
    61941
    01 Dec '06 15:27
    Originally posted by buddy2
    Here are my ratings on 4 blitz sites

    ICC=1562
    World Chess Network=1446
    FICS (Babbas)=1414
    Playchess (Fritz)=1533

    Aside from the fact that i'm pretty miserable at blitz, you can see that i'm highest on ICC and Playchess and lowest at WCN and FICS by about 100 points. That ratio has been pretty steady over about a year. You statisticians out there wi ...[text shortened]... e i'm concerned). Probably, there are plenty of people who've had the same experience. No?
    I can't really comment on the ratings, but i might point out that i also SUCK ASS at blitz. When i started playing chess i spent about a year on yahoo where my rating was roughly about 1600. I've been here two years now and recently went back to yahoo to play some 10 minute (after not playing for two years). I suck! I struggle to stay in the 1400's, let alone break 1600. What is that all about? When i play here i score about W60% L30% D10%, on Yahoo i lose 70%. I was a better blitz player before i studied any theory. I've covered quite a lot of books now but yet my rating just gets worse, i don't understand it at all. 🙁
  7. Standard memberwormwood
    If Theres Hell Below
    We're All Gonna Go!
    Joined
    10 Sep '05
    Moves
    10228
    01 Dec '06 16:03
    Originally posted by Marinkatomb
    I can't really comment on the ratings, but i might point out that i also SUCK ASS at blitz. When i started playing chess i spent about a year on yahoo where my rating was roughly about 1600. I've been here two years now and recently went back to yahoo to play some 10 minute (after not playing for two years). I suck! I struggle to stay in the 1400's, let ...[text shortened]... uite a lot of books now but yet my rating just gets worse, i don't understand it at all. 🙁
    when I started on rhp I had played about 3-4 moths, and did very well (1600) regardless of that I knew nothing about chess. then as I started learning about things, I suddenly did worse. at some point I went to review the old games to see what had changed. and what I found out was, that even if the early games were 'theoretically' worse, they were reclessly aggressive which did the job.

    maybe you also played more agressively before, and after a lot of CC are too worried (for blitz) about the 'soundness' of your attacks?
  8. London
    Joined
    04 Jun '06
    Moves
    929
    01 Dec '06 16:47
    Originally posted by buddy2
    I find it amazing, Tommy that your blitz is around 2000, when your rating at RHP is 1600. With me it's exactly the opposite. How do you account for the difference? What are your blitz time control. I usually play 2/12.
    I mostly play 3+0. I also quite like to play 15+0, but it's hard to find decent opponents with that time limit. Bullet I don't like - especially as I only have a touch pad at home on the laptop. But I don't like it anyway.

    My RHP rating is not based on many games, and I don't take that many of the games here particularly seriously. So the rating is not reliable. I beat an established 2100 player here for instance (EddieT) and put a lot into that. On the other hand, some other games I blunder because I take only one second per move - especially if I have lost interest them.

    Having said that, I probably am better at blitz than any other form of chess, by quite a way - whether OTB or correspondence (I play correspondence more seriously on a rival site where my rating is 2300ish, probably equal to around 2000 here.) The difference is not hard to account for; I think it's mostly that in blitz I don't get bored waiting for my opponent (OTB), nor do I forget what I had in mind completely (correspondence.)

    Btw, my handle on FICS is 'Ihaveagirlfriend'. Have we ever played?!
  9. Hainesport, NJ, USA
    Joined
    22 Jun '04
    Moves
    17527
    01 Dec '06 21:53
    No, i haven't played you, Tommy. I would have remembered the handle. Marinkatomb is in my league. I wonder if age has anything to do with it. Mechanically, if you're working from a touchpad, i'd think youd be at a disadvantage. I get disgusted with my blitz, but keep trying. Seems like the longer i play on site the better i get, though it still isn't spectacular. maybe at RHP i take the time to look at the game for a minute helps. Sometimes i even set up a board. maybe a serious attitude at blitz slows you down. i don't know.
  10. London
    Joined
    04 Jun '06
    Moves
    929
    01 Dec '06 23:302 edits
    Originally posted by buddy2
    No, i haven't played you, Tommy. I would have remembered the handle. Marinkatomb is in my league. I wonder if age has anything to do with it. Mechanically, if you're working from a touchpad, i'd think youd be at a disadvantage. I get disgusted with my blitz, but keep trying. Seems like the longer i play on site the better i get, though it still isn't sp ...[text shortened]... es i even set up a board. maybe a serious attitude at blitz slows you down. i don't know.
    Challenge my some time if you like - is your handle the same?

    Not sure about age - interesting question though. I lost to a 175 ECF in a slow-play OTB tournament recently (I am 160 ECF~2050 Elo) and he can't apparently get over 1700 on FICS. He is in his 40s. Anyhow - I'm 29. What about you?

    I wouldn't get disgusted at blitz play if I was you; blitz is blitz and blunders always happen. I am not so serious so you might be right about attitude. I often lol at my blunders. But I usually log off for five minutes after a bad loss - otherwise your attitude in the next game tends to be unrealistic and overwhelmed by the will to win.
  11. Standard memberMarinkatomb
    wotagr8game
    tbc
    Joined
    18 Feb '04
    Moves
    61941
    02 Dec '06 01:21
    Originally posted by buddy2
    No, i haven't played you, Tommy. I would have remembered the handle. Marinkatomb is in my league. I wonder if age has anything to do with it. Mechanically, if you're working from a touchpad, i'd think youd be at a disadvantage. I get disgusted with my blitz, but keep trying. Seems like the longer i play on site the better i get, though it still isn't sp ...[text shortened]... es i even set up a board. maybe a serious attitude at blitz slows you down. i don't know.
    I find that i generally play well at blitz, but i ALWAYS throw a piece away through a blunder. I get into a rythm of moving every 5 seconds (say). I'll reach a point where thought is needed, but i'll still throw out a move in 5 seconds, like a machine. I agree though, the longer i play the better i get too. 😉
  12. Hainesport, NJ, USA
    Joined
    22 Jun '04
    Moves
    17527
    02 Dec '06 03:47
    Well, I just played someone in FICS twice. He was around 1100. I'm about 1400 FICS. He just crushed me. I suspect an engine, but it could just be my lousy play. Then i play some jerk, making obscene comments all during the game. I didn't realize it until later because i turn off chat during the game. I thought about reporting him, then i thought, "What's the point. The site is free, so how much effort can there be to regulate these sort of things? I like the interface in FICS (babbas), but it doesn't seem to regulate itself too well. Also, of course, you have lots more people on ICC or Playchess. there's a time lag problem on FICS too. you might think you won on time, but you'll get a minus time for up to five minutes(!) before theyll give you the game.
  13. London
    Joined
    04 Jun '06
    Moves
    929
    02 Dec '06 09:05
    Originally posted by buddy2
    Well, I just played someone in FICS twice. He was around 1100. I'm about 1400 FICS. He just crushed me. I suspect an engine, but it could just be my lousy play. Then i play some jerk, making obscene comments all during the game. I didn't realize it until later because i turn off chat during the game. I thought about reporting him, then i thought, "What ...[text shortened]... e, but you'll get a minus time for up to five minutes(!) before theyll give you the game.
    Could be lots of reasons why you lose to a 1100 player, eg, it's a shared account, or he got drunk one night and his rating plummetted. I've lost recently to a 1100 player there too. I had the sense he was really putting in the effort against me due to my rating.

    Reporting the guy might not be a bad idea, as they may put him on their abuser list, which means it'll be hard for him to get a game. If I was you, I would definitely also add him to your +censor and +noplay lists - or at least the first. And add !abuser to your settings.

    Time-abuse is one of the worst things in FICS, but you should set your autoflag to 1, which sorts out most of the problems. They have a technical problem which I made them aware of a while back and which they haven't as far as I know fixed. That is, if you use Jin and reverse your system clock say by an hour, you get an infinite amount of time and your clock never moves! (This happened to me accidentally, btw!)
  14. Hainesport, NJ, USA
    Joined
    22 Jun '04
    Moves
    17527
    02 Dec '06 12:16
    Well, tommy. What are the chances of an 1100 beating you otb twice in a row otb in real life? and i wasn't playing down to him either. as for the censoring, you have a good idea. that would be the easiest way to get rid of the jerk. but it seems to me you're always going to have more morons on a free site because they have nothing invested. thanks for advice.
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