22 Jan 07
Originally posted by blakbuzzrdit's very good for chess vision (ie. spotting tactics) but doesn't do much for your calculation skills. CTS is maybe 90% of the training I've done since starting chess 1½ years ago, so as far as RHP goes, it's pretty good.
I was just looking at that site yesterday. Those of you who use it, is it useful for a lower-rated player to use? I've been using CT ART 3.0, and that's been more than enough to chew on, but I always keep an eye out for possibilities.
combined with calculation exercise (like CT-ART) it should be extremely beneficial.
22 Jan 07
Originally posted by blakbuzzrdIt's ok but...
I was just looking at that site yesterday. Those of you who use it, is it useful for a lower-rated player to use? I've been using CT ART 3.0, and that's been more than enough to chew on, but I always keep an eye out for possibilities.
For me the main problem is that to get full marks you have to find the move in 3 seconds. Some of the positions are not straightforward and you can develop bad habits where you try to play quickly rather than correctly. Even if you have the answer ready it's not easy to make the move you plan in the 3 seconds given, and any mouse click mistake is not forgiven by the system. I try to solve the problems and don't get too worried about how long it takes; the problem with this is that the positions are rated and in order to get the harder positions you need to get a high rating, which you won't do if you are taking your time. Also the glicko rating system is stupid, it sounds like a good idea, but if you've had a lay off and get one position wrong you lose 50 odd points and then can't get them back because the system shifts the goalposts.
Having said all that the site is free and quite good. I think it's more of a problem for high rated players as they get hit harder by the various awkwardnesses (like having to move in 3 seconds) which hold down your rating there.
22 Jan 07
I was thinking of getting CT-ART, but reading the description it appears to have a beginners starting level of 1600 ELO, which is several hundred points higher than my current RHP rating. Would anyone still recommend it for budding players? Or would the puzzles be a bit too advanced for one like me?
22 Jan 07
Originally posted by DeepThoughtI think people just get confused because the ratings seem numerically lower than on most other systems. even GMs score only 1800-2000 there, but people easily think their 1400 or whatever is low, when it's actually pretty good.
Having said all that the site is free and quite good. I think it's more of a problem for high rated players as they get hit harder by the various awkwardnesses (like having to move in 3 seconds) which hold down your rating there.
and it's a whopping 19 (6+3+10) seconds you have time for an average problem you get served, not three. 🙂 you also get 1 second for every 20 pts rating difference the problem has over you.
if you performance is at previous level, your rating will get back on your 'real level' very quickly no matter how big the RD is. drop 200 pts getting the first one wrong after being a year away, okay. solve next two and you're 100 pts higher than you've ever been. - if you get stuck lower than before, it's because your performance is consistently worse than it was before. you can't argue with the statistics.
22 Jan 07
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Originally posted by UndeadNightOrcthe easiest problems are probably easy enough, I think I got maybe 3 wrong from the first 100, and you can use as much time per problem as you need. in fact, it's probably best to wrestle them until you get them right.
I was thinking of getting CT-ART, but reading the description it appears to have a beginners starting level of 1600 ELO, which is several hundred points higher than my current RHP rating. Would anyone still recommend it for budding players? Or would the puzzles be a bit too advanced for one like me?
22 Jan 07
Originally posted by wormwoodNo, you have 3 seconds to get full marks. If you take longer than that you will get a lower score for the problem. The typical time to get zero points seems to be around 10 seconds, which really isn't that long for some of the problems. If you take longer than that you will lose points even if you get the problem right. Some of the simpler problems are harder, as you have an obvious recapture and have to stare at the position to ensure that there isn't something better - which half the time there isn't, and as I said I'm more concerned with getting the problem right than getting it right quickly. I am a slow player and need time to work out what pieces are on the board, never mind what the possibilities for places to put them are; the chess tactics server caters more for speed merchants so I feel justified in pointing out it's limitations for players like me.
I think people just get confused because the ratings seem numerically lower than on most other systems. even GMs score only 1800-2000 there, but people easily think their 1400 or whatever is low, when it's actually pretty good.
and it's a whopping 19 (6+3+10) seconds you have time for an average problem you get served, not three. 🙂 you also get 1 second ...[text shortened]... rformance is consistently worse than it was before. you can't argue with the statistics.
The problem with the system is that once your rating is set it is very difficult to change it. I used to have a 1,450 rating there (but over 90% for correctness) and didn't use the site for around 6 months. When I logged on again I dropped about 150 points in 2 or 3 problems and then had no way of getting it back. I don't think my performance is consistently worse than it was before, it is simply that once you are getting 2 or 3 points per problem you need to get virtually every problem right within the time in order to get back to a higher rating. The system there sets your rating quite quickly and then you are pretty much stuck with it. Look at it this way, suppose they used this system on this site and you got a win against a 2,200 player - as things stand you'll get 30 odd richly deserved ratings points for it; if RHP were using the glicko system (not that I see a way it could work in correspondence chess) and you had a low RD you would get about 3 points for it - not much of a reward.
If I think that statistics are incorrect I will argue with them.
22 Jan 07
Originally posted by DeepThoughtfor a problem rated exactly the same as you: 6 seconds before the 'opponent' moves, 3 seconds to get full points, 10 more seconds to get neutral score, that's 19 seconds combined. also every additional move gives you a second or so more time, as your time doesn't run when the 'opponent' moves. and you're already familiar with the problem, and at least should've seen the additional moves before your first move.
No, you have 3 seconds to get full marks. If you take longer than that you will get a lower score for the problem. The typical time to get zero points seems to be around 10 seconds, which really isn't that long for some of the problems. If you take longer than that you will lose points even if you get the problem right. Some of the simpler problems a ...[text shortened]... much of a reward.
If I think that statistics are incorrect I will argue with them.
you'd need to do over 50 problems for your RD to decrease so you would get only 2-3 points a problem insted of 150. if you're still off your initial rating at that point, there's no chance in hell it's a coincidence.
as for how would glicko work on CC, the provisional system works (for all practical considerations) just like glicko. a real glicko system would also bounce mass resigners back to their apropriate rating just in a couple of games, instead of the dozens or even 100+ games it takes currently. which would be good for all parties considered.
low RD doesn't really affect the rating convergence nearly as much as you seem to believe. two weeks ago I had 37.5 degrees fever, which made me plummet from 1610 down to 1520 within one session. my RD was less than 20, which translates to about 1 point per problem. if what you say was true, that couldn't have happened. you can easily change your rating no matter what RD.