Rating Rants

Just went through preliminary analysis of the tournament data accumulated over the years. I have found quite a number of discrepancies in the rating list, probably serious enough to warrant an overhaul of the rating list.

Did you know that the rating list was initially preseeded (one group at 1500, another at 1200). Nigel told me that when he took over it was the norm to perform the ratings without preseeding, so why the switch in the first place? now, there is a ripple effect throughout the rating list and many players are quite possible severely underrated.

Another problem created is a very flat bell curve in the rating since malaysia has a smaller scrabble playing population and yet its range is wider than even australia or US. Because of this and the ripple effect, some players can continue sandbagging just by playing(bullying would be more accurate) new players in the lower division. It will take forever for them to raise their rating to their true level and give problem to organisers to find a fair point to designate the cutoff.

This is only the tip of the iceberg that is about to sink the malaysian rating. Hopefully I can persuade the players to adopt a new and consistent approach towards the rating but I am worried that the switch, which is taking place early in the wsc selection period, will not be adopted because players are fearful for their ratings.

Oh well....guess we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Let's get started

Just compiled the data from the Interschool Championship held in Berjaya Time Square.

I also had the luck to interview three groups of students.
If i cannot publish the interview in the Star, will post them here so that everyone get to read about them/themselves.

my initial reflection of the event is that it feels like the King's Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, albeit on a much smaller scale: Scores of schoolchildren and noisy music in the background. The only thing lacking is the presence of masters playing in a separate division but i think Ganesh and I fulfill that to a certain degree. Unfortunately for Ganesh, i whooped him in all the games we finished. Heck! I even score and track the last game we played in my head, corrected his score twice and he surrendered!

As to the level of play, no MIKVEHS, like the one my dear friend from Singapore pointed out to me in Bangkok.
In the U-18 category, team Farbucks from St. Francis Institution probably spends too much time on ISC that they get more practice and and are better than everyone else. so everyone, the secret is out and here is the link www.isc.ro. So get cracking and you might catch up with Farbucks and give them a run for their money next year. Nice to see the established institutions like Sultan Abdul Samad and St. John Institution being humbled for once though.
U-15, a much closer fight but I am sorry that I cannot name anyone or any single team that stands out in my mind. So study hard and play more games and wow us seniors so that we will definitely write about you.

Still, the competition probably heralded the presence of St. Francis Institution as a Scrabble powerhouse in the school scene. Good for them since they live quite isolated from the vibrant Scrabble scene in KL and Penang, but they have also made the effort to travel up here to play as well. Hope to see more of them soon.

Enough gloating for now, my next post will probably be uncensored, unpolite and honest.

New Links

Finally add some links below my profile, hope you find them useful.

Henry

First Post

Hello everyone,

Welcome to this corner of the competitive Scrabble(r) scene in South East Asia.
I will be posting up tournament results, ratings, and tournament announcement here, so keep your eyes and ears glued to this screen