Historical rating
A historical Elo number is an Elo number that was calculated for chess masters who were active before the Elo numbers were introduced. It should help to compare the skill levels of previous and current chess masters.
The FIDE introduced the Elo ratings in the 1970th Since then, all tournaments registered for evaluation have been recorded and evaluated. The compilation of all previously determined tournament results is, however, entirely possible, and nothing stands in the way of applying today's calculation method to a time long past.
Already Arpad Elo even hired such calculations, but he lacked a comprehensive and reliable database.
The US -American mathematician Jeff Sonas captured temporarily all available historical competitions and tournament results and published its calculations in the Internet . However, he did not use the term “historical rating”, but called his system “Chessmetrics”. As of 2005, Sonas has not published any updated data.
The data determined in this way provide a certain information about the skill level of the chess masters of the past - or about their actual, namely mathematically calculated rank - in comparison with their contemporaries.
Based on his back calculations, Sonas also calculated the theoretical numbers of the tournaments that were later evaluated by FIDE (the calculations are continuously updated) and came to different results. In particular, the (often criticized) inflation susceptibility of the Elo number came to light here, since Sonas' numbers are far higher than those published by FIDE. Due to the heterogeneous structure of Sonas' game database, his calculations also include games that - then as now - were not played under tournament conditions, such as fast games , simultaneous games and games in themed tournaments .
The highest historical rating was calculated for Bobby Fischer ; in October 1971 it was 2,895.
Web links
- Chessmetrics - Sonas' calculations
- Sonas presents Chessmetrics at ChessBase :
- Edo Historical Chess Ratings Historical calculations by Rod Edwards
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hugo Kastner: The chess hodgepodge: day by day anecdotes, curiosities, calendar, biographies, games and records. Humboldt Verlag , 2011. p. 239, ISBN 978-3-86910-184-2 .