CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Good?

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  • CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Good?

    Posted on the Cooperative Chess Coalition ( CCC ) Facebook chess discussion page, " CCC - Chess Posts of Interest " :

    CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Juniors Becoming Ridiculously Good??

    In Canada, we definitely see the improving quality in our junior players. One of our teens just got his GM - Eric Hansen. And we have a spate of new junior IM"s and FM's.

    And juniors at all levels are getting better. Our Scarborough Chess Club, in Toronto, Canada, now has 44% of its membership being juniors, and they regularly come in the top finishing places in all three sections of our regular weeknight tournaments.

    The change has been brought about by the increased emphasis on teaching kids chess generally, especially chess inside schools in outside-of-school-hours, and the much more extensive use of coaches by chess parents.

    Bob Armstrong, CCC Member ( Canada )

  • #2
    Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

    Why would this be surprising? There are now dozens of chess teachers in the country, people can get good games with a click of the computer I/O switch, and the strongest juniors often have parents with pretty deep pockets. It's a lot easier to become a strong player if your parents can afford to give Johnny or Janey chess coaching and send them to literally dozens of really strong tournaments. I am not speaking of Eric in particular (I have no knowledge of his particular situation); I am speaking of the case in general.

    On the other hand it is probably a lot easier to stick with chess as a job when your parents are blue collar types than if your mother and father are doctors, lawyers and other white collar workers. The expectations are just not the same, imo.
    "Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.

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    • #3
      Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

      Well, the CFC bonus point system is doing itself no favors by granting hundreds of bonus points every tournament. While there may have been deflation in the past, there's definitely some serious inflation going on right now. It's not helped by the possibility that adults have been losing rating points to juniors and are trying to raise their rating up with this new system. I think another Post of Interest is - Are chess adults getting weaker!?
      Shameless self-promotion on display here
      http://www.youtube.com/user/Barkyducky?feature=mhee

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      • #4
        Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

        Originally posted by Bindi Cheng View Post
        Well, the CFC bonus point system is doing itself no favors by granting hundreds of bonus points every tournament. While there may have been deflation in the past, there's definitely some serious inflation going on right now. It's not helped by the possibility that adults have been losing rating points to juniors and are trying to raise their rating up with this new system. I think another Post of Interest is - Are chess adults getting weaker!?
        As a chess adult, I can answer that last question definitively. Yes, I am getting weaker!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

          Originally posted by Bindi Cheng View Post
          Well, the CFC bonus point system is doing itself no favors by granting hundreds of bonus points every tournament. While there may have been deflation in the past, there's definitely some serious inflation going on right now. It's not helped by the possibility that adults have been losing rating points to juniors and are trying to raise their rating up with this new system. I think another Post of Interest is - Are chess adults getting weaker!?
          I... I... I yi yi......... Agree :(
          No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.

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          • #6
            Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

            Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post
            Are Chess Juniors Becoming Ridiculously Good??
            It is a natural process - more study hours, more concentration (during the whole game), no holes in memory, no crawling (crying) kids to take care.

            Thus my philosophy: beat them the first time, there will be no second chance.

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            • #7
              Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

              Originally posted by Bindi Cheng View Post
              Well, the CFC bonus point system is doing itself no favors by granting hundreds of bonus points every tournament. While there may have been deflation in the past, there's definitely some serious inflation going on right now. It's not helped by the possibility that adults have been losing rating points to juniors and are trying to raise their rating up with this new system. I think another Post of Interest is - Are chess adults getting weaker!?
              I brought up this point on here back when they first started inflating the ratings. I was assured by many adult players that no, they were in fact getting stronger. What they didn't consider was that the whole world of chess players is getting stronger. So if you improve by the equivalent of 25 points per year (as measured vs the "you now" vs the "you then"), but those around you are improving by 50 points per year, your rating is going to (correctly) go down. Baby Boomers just do not want to accept that there are effects of aging.
              "Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.

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              • #8
                Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

                I'm certainly watching the inflation issue. So far most of the bonus points are being earned by low rated juniors and there has been no net increase for players above 1400. Remember, there was another bonus point system in place before we introduced the current formula. The new formula has bigger rewards but requires better results to earn points. Having said that, it is too soon to form any conclusions as we won't have enough experience with the new formula yet. In all the historical data runs and case studies we ran before implementation, inflation was not a serious worry. We expected, in fact wanted, some substantial increases in ratings for the low rated juniors that were being generated by junior events.

                There is something else going on with FIDE/CFC ratings of the strongest players. CFC ratings (and USCF ratings) seem to be quite a bit out of line with FIDE ratings for the strongest players. This has been happening for some years. Is it a concern?
                http://www.chess.ca/cfc-vs-fide-rating-comparison
                Paul Leblanc
                Treasurer Chess Foundation of Canada

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                • #9
                  Re : CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously G

                  Originally posted by Bob Armstrong View Post

                  In Canada, we definitely see the improving quality in our junior players. One of our teens just got his GM - Eric Hansen. And we have a spate of new junior IM"s and FM's.
                  There is only one way to see things this way : to consider our juniors in isolation without looking at what is happening in the rest of the world. If our juniors were that good, our olympic team would not finish in the fifties and it wouldn't take 40 players to bring back one or two medals from the WYCC. A few individual successes, however commendable they can be, should not hide the overall picture : chess in Canada is lagging behing and probably losing ground on the rest of the world at all levels, including juniors. Some progress are being made ? Good, but a lot more is needed before we can even think about gloating.

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                  • #10
                    Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

                    Originally posted by Tom O'Donnell View Post
                    I was assured by many adult players that no, they were in fact getting stronger.
                    I wish I could make that claim.
                    Gary Ruben
                    CC - IA and SIM

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                    • #11
                      Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

                      Originally posted by Paul Leblanc View Post
                      There is something else going on with FIDE/CFC ratings of the strongest players. CFC ratings (and USCF ratings) seem to be quite a bit out of line with FIDE ratings for the strongest players. This has been happening for some years. Is it a concern?
                      http://www.chess.ca/cfc-vs-fide-rating-comparison
                      My main concern which I've stated for years is regarding Olympiad qualifying. For rating considerations, CFC should hardly be a factor, only FIDE. I heard Quebec will now FIDE rate most of their tournaments which will finally raise some of their underrated players.

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                      • #12
                        Re: CCC Discusses Chess - Posts of Interest - Are Chess Jrs. Becoming Ridiculously Go

                        Originally posted by Eric Hansen View Post
                        My main concern which I've stated for years is regarding Olympiad qualifying. For rating considerations, CFC should hardly be a factor, only FIDE. I heard Quebec will now FIDE rate most of their tournaments which will finally raise some of their underrated players.
                        I agree, and I voiced this in another thread.

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