"Chess One" writes:


Its not as if there is any strict mathematical relationship in the present
system, with 0.5 point for draw being half-as-good as 1 point for a win.

Ah, but there is. I admit that it's not appreciated by the Cornish
school of mathematicians - but it's there.

This system is as seemingly arbitrary as any other, and does not effect
ratings, only event management practice.

Not at all. It may actually *be* arbitrary, but it is seemingly perfect.


If anyone really wanted to eliminate short-draws, or not reward them as if
it were a hard fought and contested game, they would change the basis so
that winning rewarded the winner with more than double the score for a draw.

Any draw...or just short draws?



Much GM chess these days rewards the drawish player who scores 10 draws from
a tournament in the same way as someone who scores 5 wins. If we are happy
with drawish chess we will continue the way we are.

On the other hand, if we are unhappy with drawish chess there are any
number of possibilities to chose from. The trick is in discarding the
hair-brained ones and constructing an alternative which is actually
better than the current system.

--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences (205) 934-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX (205) 934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/