A lot of improvers struggle with a unhealthy relationship to ratings. So would all be better if there were no ratings at all? I’d argue no. In this Newsletter I want to share the positive side of ratings and why only our interpretation makes them toxic.
A World Without Ratings
If you struggle with rating pressure, you might have wished already for a world without chess ratings. Let’s shortly imagine what this would look like.
Playing
When you get online and click “play a game”, you get a random opponent. One of three things will often happen:
- Your opponent is way stronger and crushes you.
- Your opponent blunders a Queen on move 5, plays on until checkmate without having a chance.
- Whenever your opponent has a position they don’t like, they simply resign and start a new game.
Not really funny.
Studying
Without any ratings, there is no way to understand which resources are for you. You jump between books that feel way too hard and books that explain things so simply you might as well fall asleep while working through them.
Not great either.
Competition
You travel to a tournament, maybe take some time off work and pay for all the costs. And then, you get paired either against someone who is far superior, or someone who just started playing.
Without any rating, there is no bracket and no way to ensure you’ll have games worth travelling for.
Chess Without Rating Is Less Fun
The point I want to make with this little thought experiment is:
Chess is more fun with ratings.
It motivates players to play at their best, which is generally more fun. And more importantly, it helps you play against players that are on a similar level.
The Main Point of Ratings
I recently started playing Padel. I love it. But there is one problem: if all 4 players are not roughly on the same level, the game kinda sucks. Both when I am way stronger than my opposition, or way worse, each point is less hard fought and the game loses it’s main joy factor: long rallies.
There is a neat solution for this problem: a rating system.
On the Playtomic App where you can book both personal matches, and join open matches, there is a rating system from 0-7. Initially you make a self assessment, and then whenever you play competitive matches you win or lose some rating points. There is also a accuracy % depending on how many games you’ve played.
Very similar to chess.
And this is amazing! I love playing competitive matches, because I want to find out my true rating. This allows me to play against players that are about my level, which makes the sport so much more fun.
The only problem is, many of us have a toxic relationship with ratings. We don’t see it as this tool to help us play against players of similar rating, but instead a ranking system where higher rated players are more worthy than lower rated players.
Our Interpretations
If you feel anxiety playing rated games and struggle with losing, it is extremely likely that your interpretation of your rating is the problem.
Consciously or subconscously, you assign an emotional importance to your rating that is only in your head. Something like:
High rating = Genius
Low rating = stupid
For every game, that means:
Winning = I’m smart
Losing = I’m stupid, worthless
This interpretation is what stings so much. That’s what makes it toxic. The rating itself is only a number on the internet assigned to a username nobody might even know. But in your brain, this number has control over your self worth and how you think about yourself (and others).
If I asked this audience, ranging from beginners to some 2600+ GMs what they think about a 2000 rated player, the responses would vary. It is just an interpretation of a, in itself, meaningless number in your head.
And because chess is so closely linked to intelligence (bs in my opinion), the emotional connection is often way stronger than let’s say in Padel. Again, that’s just a construct society created in our collective minds. Nothing objective.
The Solution
A rating system is a great way to pair players of similar levels to make the game of chess more fun. The more accurate your rating, the more fun you’ll have.
Once you see rating this way, without any interpretation, ego or emotions, you can simply relax, do your best and see where you land.
And if you want to get better, you simply get the joy of playing against even stronger players, which for most of us, makes the game more fun.
Keep improving, because you want to enjoy the game even more.
GM Noël
PS: Just look at World #2 Nakamura, how he behaves like a baby when he loses (or doesn’t win the streamer award) and you’ll understand that the wrong interpretation sucks even if you are the second best player in the world (= first loser for some).
PPS: This article was initially sent out to my Newsletter list. If you want to get chess improvement advice for free in your inbox, join 17,000+ chess improvers by signing up for Friday Grandmaster Insights here.
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