New Media Chess Essay

Two Columbia journalism students put together a website that explores chess people and chess in New York City. They interview six players on video (including Nakamura, Ashley, Waitzkin, and Vicary), present some photos and video of chess sites in New York City, and have a History of the game. The content is somewhat scattershot, but there is a lot of content to explore. While the site is ostensibly called "Masters and Hustlers", besides the interviews of some masters and a few hustlers, there really isn't a unifying principle that threads the site together.

The interviews of the players are the best part, and is worth checking out just for those-- the one with Nakamura is especially illuminating. There is an interview with a chess hustler as well, which seems put in for completeness sake.

The timeline of the history of the game was interestingly presented, but only on some years did I get Padolfini's narration; I'm not sure if that's a site error, or there wasn't any narration on some of them (mysteriously, you have to click on the "GAME" link, and not something called History). Unfortunately, some things just seem like they were added at the last moment (e.g., inconsistent fonts, typos), but this only slightly detracts from the presentation.

Furthermore, they try all sorts of Flash-esque techniques on the website (cursor changing, zooms, fades, rolling clickable landscapes, and so forth). Some are useful and some are superfluous and ultimately frustrating. When they keep it simple -- the embedded video with a textual sidebar overview, for instance -- it works the best.

In summary, even though it is unfocused, a little sloppy, and tries too hard at times to be clever, the website does present some insightful, probing, and worthwhile content. If you are interested in chess players or chess in New York City, then by all means, check it out.

USCL Ratings End of 2006

At the end of the 2006 season, the USCL rating list would have looked like what is displayed below.

Note that the same conditions apply as the end of the 2007 list, namely that (1) players must have played in the 2006 season, and (2) players must have played three lifetime USCL games to be published.

Final 2006 USCL Rating List

1	2617	Vinay Bhat
2	2571	Eugene Perelshteyn
3	2566	Julio Becerra
4	2563	Jaan Ehlvest
5	2555	Georgi Orlov
6	2537	Josh Friedel
7	2529	Larry Christiansen
8	2527	Pawel Blehm
9	2524	Gregory Serper
10	2523	Jacek Stopa
11	2516	Vince McCambridge
12	2510	Pascal Charbonneau
13	2484	Robert Hess
14	2475	Lev Milman
15	2473	Tegshsuren Enkhbat
16	2469	Peter Vavrak
17	2468	Irina Krush
18	2454	Magesh Panchanathan
19	2453	Igor Foygel
20	2443	Oleg Zaikov
21	2443	Ron Burnett
22	2443	Slava Mikhailuk
23	2442	Bryan Smith
24	2441	Charles Riordan
25	2440	Andrei Zaremba
26	2440	David Pruess
27	2436	Richard Costigan
28	2434	Davorin Kuljasevic
29	2433	Eric Tangborn
30	2432	William Kelleher
31	2430	Miguel Espino
32	2423	Dmitry Zilberstein
33	2421	Jay Bonin
34	2413	John Readey
35	2412	Bruci Lopez
36	2410	Blas Lugo
37	2402	Larry Kaufman
38	2388	Alejandro Moreno Roman
39	2384	Marcel Milat
40	2380	Sam Shankland
41	2369	Matthew Hoekstra
42	2360	Elvin Wilson
43	2350	Craig Jones
44	2350	Steven Winer
45	2349	Matthew Bengtson
46	2348	Matthew Herman
47	2348	Vadim Martirosov
48	2345	Marcel Martinez
49	2339	Norman Rogers
50	2338	Jonathan Schroer
51	2333	Ray Kaufman
52	2333	Katerina Rohonyan
53	2322	Mark Pinto
54	2317	Igor Schneider
55	2310	John Rouleau
56	2307	Todd Andrews
57	2303	Nat Koons
58	2297	Keaton Kiewra
59	2286	Michael Lee
60	2285	Ilya Krasik
61	2278	Peter Bereolos
62	2267	Jennifer Shahade
63	2266	Mackenzie Molner
64	2257	Ralph Zimmer
65	2251	Michael Shahade
66	2251	Nelson Lopez
67	2250	Boris Baczynskyj
68	2237	Boris Privman
69	2237	Luis Barredo
70	2233	Gerald Larson
71	2227	Daniel Naroditsky
72	2223	Jerry Wheeler
73	2215	Javier Torres
74	2188	Jose Cabrera

USCL Ratings (with 2007 Final List)

I have independently created a United States Chess League rating system that takes into several elements that other rating systems do not. Most importantly, the USCL ratings take into account that players are part of a team, and their strategy about how to conclude their individual games depend on the games situations of their teammates.

Here is an overview of the USCL rating system.

1. Modified Glicko

Rating calculations are based on the Glicko system, with some minor modifications. These modifications are as follows:
(a) Maximum RD is 100 (not 350);
(b) Ratings are updated after every game;
(c) At the end of each season, each RD is modified by increasing it 1/2 its distance to 100. For example, if a player's RD is 40, then the new RD is 40+((100-40)/2) or 40+(30) or 70. This eliminates step 1b in the Glicko process.

2. Initial Ratings Based on Board

Initial ratings for each player are based on which board they played the first time they played in a USCL match. Players who were Board 1 start with an initial rating of 2550; Board 2, 2450; Board 3, 2350; Board 4, 2250. All are set with an RD (ratings deviation) of 100.

3. Expected Score Depends on Color

Expected score from each game is modified by the color each player has. An initial investigation showed that, in the USCL, the performance rating of a player with the White pieces is about 72 points higher than the performance rating of a player with the Black pieces. Therefore, when calculating expected score of a games between two players, we temporarily add 36 points to White's rating, and subtract 36 points from Black's rating.

4. All Games Rated with Equal Weight

All games, including playoff games and blitz tiebreak games, were given equal weight in the ratings.

5. Scores for Draws Depend on Team Result

In team chess, where the goal of the team is to win the match (with 2.5/4 points or more, or 2/4 in a match with draw odds), individual results can be skewed by the circumstances of the match situation. For example, if it looks like your team is about to win two games and lose one game, winning the match comes down to what happens on your board. Suppose that in your game you have a moderate advantage, but the position is dynamic and unstable. In such a case, you might decide to trade all your pieces to reach a dead drawn endgame, so that you will draw the game and clinch the match for your team. This is fundamentally a good result for your team, as your will win the match.

Therefore, the result of the team match is considered when assigning scores for individual players' draws. If the final team match is drawn, each player who drew gets 1/2 point. If a team wins, all the players on the winning team who drew their games get 2/3 point each. Conversely, all the players on a losing team who drew their games get 1/3 point each. (Wins are still 1 and losses are still 0, regardless of the team match score.) Note that these point assignments are only for rating calculations only.

---

Final 2007 United States Chess League Rating List

• Every game in every season of the USCL was rated, not just 2007.
• Only players who were played at least one game in 2007 (i.e., active) are included in the list.
• Players must have played at least three games in the history of the USCL to be included in the list.
• While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, re-rating might occur to correct any mistakes.

1	2591 Sergey Kudrin
2	2589 Vinay Bhat
3	2586 Patrick Wolff
4	2581 Larry Christiansen
5	2580 Hikaru Nakamura
6	2579 Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
7	2576 Joel Benjamin
8	2571 Drasko Boskovic
9	2569 Gregory Serper
10	2566 Julio Becerra
11	2543 Davorin Kuljasevic
12	2523 Jacek Stopa
13	2522 Eli Vovsha
14	2519 John Donaldson
15	2505 Pawel Blehm
16	2495 Josh Friedel
17	2494 Alex Stripunsky
18	2491 Lev Milman
19	2487 Georgi Orlov
20	2487 Dean Ippolito
21	2484 Pascal Charbonneau
22	2481 Eugene Perelshteyn
23	2477 Irina Krush
24	2466 Jay Bonin
25	2463 Vince McCambridge
26	2460 Bryan Smith
27	2454 Tegshsuren Enkhbat
28	2453 Dmitry Schneider
29	2449 Denis Shmelov
30	2441 Eric Tangborn
31	2440 Ron Burnett
32	2433 Marcel Milat
33	2432 Slava Mikhailuk
34	2428 Sam Shankland
35	2423 Oleg Zaikov
36	2415 John Bartholomew
37	2415 Robert Hess
38	2411 Richard Costigan
39	2407 Dmitry Zilberstein
40	2406 Jonathan Schroer
41	2405 Keaton Kiewra
42	2402 Irina Zenyuk
43	2399 William Kelleher
44	2397 Blas Lugo
45	2389 David Pruess
46	2389 Francisco Guadalupe II
47	2388 John Readey
48	2387 Andrei Zaremba
49	2386 Aviv Friedman
50	2382 Mikhail Zlotnikov
51	2381 Marcel Martinez
52	2380 Todd Andrews
53	2366 Parker Zhao
54	2365 Elvin Wilson
55	2361 Bruci Lopez
56	2360 Chris Williams
57	2358 Katerina Rohonyan
58	2354 Larry Kaufman
59	2354 Vadim Martirosov
60	2353 Daniel Yeager
61	2343 John Rouleau
62	2334 Mackenzie Molner
63	2333 Eric Rodriguez
64	2327 Bayaraa Zorigt
65	2322 Victor Shen
66	2319 Miguel Espino
67	2314 James Critelli
68	2311 Marc Arnold
69	2309 Michael Thaler
70	2307 Peter Bierkens
71	2304 Luis Barredo
72	2303 Loren Schmidt
73	2301 Evan Ju
74	2301 Gregory Young
75	2300 Matthew Herman
76	2297 Alejandro Moreno Roman
77	2295 Craig Jones
78	2287 Michael Lee
79	2279 John Timmel
80	2276 Ralph Zimmer
81	2265 Daniel Naroditsky
82	2264 Udayan Bapat
83	2263 Ilya Krasik
84	2261 Tsagaan Battsetseg
85	2258 Josh Sinanan
86	2239 Matthew Bengtson
87	2228 Peter Bereolos
88	2211 Jerry Wheeler
89	2209 Gerald Larson
90	2183 James Wu

NOTE: While the commissioner of the United States Chess League is aware of the existence of these ratings and the rating system, neither the ratings nor the rating system have been officially endorsed nor sanctioned by the Unites States Chess League, its affiliates, or sponsors.

Nine year old master

Nine year old Nicholas Nip became a USCF Master with an unofficial rating of 2207. Personally, I think it is unconscionable to be a master if your age at which you became a master is earlier than your bedtime at that mage. He had better go to bed at 9:30!

Read all about it here. And f-pawn (aka Michael Aigner) wrote about it here.

D&D Creator Slain by Life

Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has died. D&D played a big role in my life, as it increased my love of all types of games.

I fondly remember the three books D&D started with (before there was Advanced D&D), and the near pornographic (at least to an 12 year old) cover of the third book, Eldritch Wizardry.

CNN story here.