From: Larry Kaufman COMCAST NET> Date: 15 feb 2003 Subject: Re: Interesting games in the Internet match ----- Original Message ----- From: "bogin" YAHOO CO JP> To: TECHUNIX TECHNION AC IL> Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 4:35 PM Subject: Re: Interesting games in the Internet match > Congratulations Sweden and ISC > > Sounds like everyone had a good time. I have one question. I assumed you'd > use Shogi Club 24 ratings. I didn't know that that you could use ELO > ratings on that site. Is Shogi 24 now using the FESA rating system? > > Thanks > > Bill Gaudry > I think you are confused. The listed ratings appear to be Shogi Club 24 ratings, not FESA ratings. The Shogi 24 system may also be loosely referred to as an "ELO" system, though technically it differs in detail. The two systems are not connected, but result in similar ratings, except that the Shogi 24 ratings are about 400 points lower on average, with the difference somewhat less at the high end and somewhat more at the bottom. Theoretically the "spread" between top and bottom should be the same, but in fact it is wider on Shogi 24. The reasons for this have been debated somewhat, with perhaps the leading explanation being that on Shogi 24 players only play by mutual agreement, whereas in tournaments one does not choose his opponents. This tends to spread out the Shogi 24 ratings, because some people near the top tend to challenge only those people whom they believe to be ove . At least that's the best theory I've heard so far. The same phenomenon is seen on chess servers; the spread is greater when people choose their opponents. Larry Kaufman