Is unrated chess for cowards? Are these players AFRAID to lose rating points?
Posted: 18 December 2014 12:15 PM  
Member
Rank
Total Posts:  2
Joined  2014-12-18

Playing poker for no stakes is BORING, so is unrated chess online. Playing OTB is a different story.

Profile
Posted: 29 March 2015 09:12 AM   [ # 1 ]  
Member
Rank
Total Posts:  10
Joined  2015-01-28

I’d say people shouldn’t be afraid, since the rating system is self-correcting.  The lower you go, the more points you get for beating weaker players, and your rating will rebound naturally.  Also, if you want to improve, usually your rating will tank while you’re rebuilding your game to be stronger, so don’t be afraid to lose points.  Just train properly, know there will be volatility, and trust the results and your rating to take care of themselves in the long run.

Profile
Posted: 16 May 2015 10:25 AM   [ # 2 ]  
Member
Rank
Total Posts:  5
Joined  2015-05-16

I used to think that players in unrated games would be more relaxed - that they would not try to flag or to play to the bitter end in lost positions in order to gain or avoid losing points. Turns out that’s not generally true.

Profile
Posted: 02 November 2015 01:26 PM   [ # 3 ]  
Member
Rank
Total Posts:  3
Joined  2015-06-30

I suppose some people would feel slighted if they observe others playing unrated chess.  I think its funny they would since it doesn’t affect them in any way, but some people care more about ratings than anything else.  I have played unrated games before, usually because I want to play a particular opening that I am not very good at and don’t want the resulting losses to affect my current rating.

Profile
Posted: 28 May 2016 02:16 PM   [ # 4 ]  
Member
Rank
Total Posts:  1
Joined  2014-11-07

Unrated is for not losing rating points to computer using cowards.  Isn’t it interesting that IM’s have 3 minute ratings in the 1800’s?  Isn’t it interesting that 1800 rated players (or lower!) can play games for which stockfish predicts 95% of the moves?  I think it’s not very interesting.  It’s a shame that icc has changed so much since 1996, when one could experiment with openings in unrated games and try out the new repertoire in rated games.

And the IP’s question about cowards and ratings raises another question:  why have titles when we have ratings?  Are titles for cowards?

Profile
‹‹ Study Partners      Team 45 45 League news ››