I don't really believe in self promotion since I play in tournaments on a regular basis. I would like to think that if I do exceptionally well at a tournament that I could improve half a rating point. My results at the NJ Open, however, prove otherwise. The results are in.
Before the tournament I was rated -11.46300. After the tournament I was rated -11.39507. This is a ratings improvement of 0.06793, less than a tenth of a ratings point. Plus my sigma went down and is now at a low 0.26936. Having a lower sigma should slow things down even more.
Given these results I would expect to break into 10k if I can go 4-1 at my next four tournaments. This just doesn't seem right to me. It isn't that I am in such a hurry to be 10k. I would just like to see results that make sense. Less than a tenth of a point for four wins just doesn't make sense to me. The fact that one of the opponents I won against had self promoted two stones didn't help, and is all the more reason to resist self promotion myself to avoid providing a future opponent with similarly disappointing results.
At the end of the month I will be playing in a tournament at the University of Pennsylvania and will have to decide at what rank to enter. I will probably enter at my AGA rating if for no other reason than to see how small the increase in rating will be if I happen to win all of my games.
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2 comments:
Self-promotion isn't such a bad thing. If you at least one at the higher ranking you shouldn't drop below your current ranking. There are, of course, many variables (the pairing softwares rank adjustment algorithm, the order in which you win or lose at the given tournament, and I'm sure countless others).
But the big advantage, provided you are ready for it, is it will loose your sigma. So your next tournament, things will be a little more fluid.
Perhaps this is gaming the system, but I guess that is just a personal decision to make, and it's not without risk. Lose them all and you may end up lower.
If rank really matters at all. ^_^
Self-promotion is a double-edged sword, on one hand you get to play stronger players and will improve that way. On the other hand you might lose every single game and get a worse rank than before. But frankly I don't think it makes much of a difference at 11-8k level. So if you feel like you should enter with a higher rank, just do it. If not, it's fine too ^^
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