Ratings Reminder

There is this chessplayer who has a blog which I find very rich, insightful and well written. He calls himself the blue devil knight. And I just read how he had a disappointing U1200 tournament. He was rated 1180 and played 9 games in which he won 2, drew 2, and lost 5. The crux of the issue is that his rating was supposedly at the upper end of the cohort, however his performance seem to be a glaring underchievement. You can read it here if you are interested.

This reminds me of 2 things. One is the attachment of rating/ranking to performance. Benchmarking, which is what people who are into mambo jumbo terms would say. Already in the entry Notable Nakamura, this year's US champion, I pondered on the detrimental effect of rank/ratings. Ratings/Rankings have a dubious psychological effect on people. One of my earliest encounter was when during my first week at a respectable high school, another boy came up to me, and asked which class I was from and what score I had. After I told him, he seemed to respect me, but also seemed to be readjusting his own 'position'. It might appeal to a prideful ego but then it is so shallow, because he didn't even know anything about me or how I did it or why I even did it. And whatever my score meant to that kid, it was just numbers. Apparently sometimes living people are influenced by dead numbers.

Numbers, stats, and numerical trends are important in organisational planning/business. However I think if I were to buy into ratings or numbers blindly, there will be a trap and probably a nasty surprise somewhere. Most numbers, stats, ratings are at best indicative. AH, I just remembered those ads on investment funds that are on the subway trains. The words they used were 'past performance and any forecasts are not necessarily indicative of future or likely performance (of the funds). First they use benchmarks to seduce you (or your money, really) and then they make a small print disclaimer. We all know which one is the truth. But alas greed, pride or ambition lead us to disregard the small print. And to wrap up this point, the small print to ratings is they are not to be leaned on.

The 2nd thing I am reminded of... is that I actually entered a chess tournament before! It was an open tournament organised by the local community centre and two friends went to support me. I was nervous being my first time doing it. My tournament results was three wins out of seven. I also remember there was a significantly challenging game against a very obnoxious opponent, after which my friend and I jumped to hug each other in blatant joy when i won it. I was especially happy to win that game, but even more memorable was the present support of my friends, the pressures and joy we shared through the whole ordeal. It felt... just like Harry Potter, strangely enough!