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Masters events - What???

Posted By: Keene
Date: Friday, 27 December 2013, at 3:19 p.m.

In Response To: Masters events - What??? (Bob Koca)

My primary complaint really is that the rest of the side events arent used for ratings. If its going to be done, then do it properly. Rate them all. Just adding the AJ and Masters to the ratings is excluding all those players who: Dont qualify for the AJ; Dont want to / Cant pay for Masters entry fees.

Perhaps if all side events were rated then participation in those events would increase - I mean, for the most part they are Trophy events also.

I also dont buy the 'too much work'. Thats a lame excuse. If the USBGF cannot find a way to distribute or automate the work for it, then thats just stupid. I get that there will have to be manual work for at least a piece of it, but quite frankly, we have a monstrous community here that tirelessly transcribes matches, that over-analyze positions, discuss the merits of performance ratings until the words lose meaning. If anyone is going to say 'we dont have the man power', then you are just wrong. You just havent applied the right lever in the right place.

So. Back to Masters Events. Am I the only one who thinks its unfair to give ELO for results in that, but not a blitz?

The variance of the contenders is also already accounted for in ELO - are we trying to prevent the Advanced / Intermediate players from losing their high ELO's because they only get to play other Advanced / Intermediate players? Quite frankly when I look at the USBGF ratings, I find them to be so skewed that really they arent an accurate marker for ability, and if I dont recognize a name that has a high rating, I am immediately asking myself "is that an Advanced player?".

I do apologize to Bill Riles - I am sorry that my complaints are being aired so publicly here. If I had thought about where I was going with them, I would have probably sent you an email first.

So - "too much work." - thats bs. "its a mixed field - both open and advanced players play in it" - thats the goal isnt it?

Also, regarding the financial aspects of the game. I came from Bridge originally, where the entry fees covered trophies and organization only. Backgammon has money attached to it because the prestige isnt enough. Thats broad, and I am willing to take some flak because of it.

My complaint about the costs are that to many players, they are simply prohibitive. Saying something like "I pay the extra $$$ because I can" is utterly ridiculous. There are many reasons why someone would choose not to. We dont all have access to unlimited funds, or perhaps choose to spend that money elsewhere. Questions like "Should I enter the Masters event, or get myself a new phone" shouldnt be relevant - but they are. Other examples - why do so many of us choose to share a room when we go to a tournament? Because its a sensible cost saving measure.

Start rating all events. End of Rant.

Keene

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