Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Chessmaster 9000 - what do the ratings mean?

I don't like chess - I barely even know how the pieces move. But both of my kids will be in schools that offer this as an extracurricular next year and they attended chess camp two summers ago. So I've been encouraging them to use the chessmaster 9000 game we have.

Last night I decided to check it out and watched my 9 y.o. play a game. He went really quick and even I thought he wasn't very good. The game was matching him up with a player with a 500-ish rating. Then my other son got logged in and he was matched with a player with a 1500-something rating. But then we got distracted and he didn't play but my huisband has told me that he doesn;t pay much attention either.

My question is - is 1500+ good for a 7 year-old? Or is the game not reliable or using a different scale? I did a few quick searches because the difference seemed so large, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to work through the info. I figured someone here would know off the top of their head. Is this pretty good?

Hi Jane

DS7 played chessmaster, I found the rateings a little lower then the actual scholastic tornament ratings. I find most ratings under 1000 unreliable in both tournaments and chess programs. 1500+ is very good for a 7 year old if they play a lot. One or two games is not a good indicator. 25 games with an average of 1500 is very very good, even on chesmaster. I played (Adult) the computer and was around 1500-1700 and winning (Played 5 games) I then played a 1500 rated player and he beat me 3 games in row no problem.

Thank you Edwin. I saw your post last night and looked more closely at the application. Since my other son seemed to have an implied rating of around 500, I assumed that DS7 had an implied rating of 1500. But judging from the profiles for the other players (dad and babysitter) it looks like maybe it defaults to 1500. I'm thinking maybe it got reset somehow.

I asked my husband and he said he does well, but isn't all that good.

I'm going to have him play a few games over the weekend and see what happens.

As a point of reference, this is a link to the United States Chess Federations list of top 100 players 7 and under by rating (for games played in tournaments over the board).

http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_top_players/Itemid,371?op=list&month=1008&f=foreign&l=Top Age 7 and Under&h=Top Age 7 and Under regardless of Country, Residence, or Federation.

Regardless of what your DS' true ratings are, school chess clubs can be a great way to find like-minded friends. And, if they like to compete, tournaments are filled with gifted kids.
My DS didn't "discover" chess until he took a park and recreation class when he was nine. It has been a great arena for continuous learning since.

Wait...so my son is NOT the 7th best 7&U chess player in the country?!

@#(*&$(*#&(%!!!

I do want them to play chess, partially because I think the reason I dislike it is lack of patience. Hopefully they will not have the same trait to the same degree.

You highlight one of my favorite things about chess (second only to the social). When DS started playing and trying to win in tournaments, he needed to be reminded and encourage to take his time. The games were G/30 (each player gets 30 minutes to make their moves). He'd come out after 15 minutes wondering why he'd lost having only used six minutes on his clock. Now, three years later, he comes out of five to six hour games wishing he had more time complaining of "time pressure".

My point is, if your children like the chess, they will learn to take their time.

And, yes, I thought (hoped) you'd find humor in the list.