On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:30:56 -0500, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:

Ok Ken. So it makes sense then to compare USCF and FIDE ratings, even though
they're not the same and USCF ratings are almost always higher. Does this
apply even when comparing a USCF 2230 and a FIDE 2230?

I didn't mean to imply that the formula works 100% of the time or that there
was an actual conversion factor. It seems to me that USCF ratings are ABOUT
100 points higher than FIDE ratings. That's what it looks like to me, and
that's the number I've seen mentioned here and there.

You are making a common mistake. The 100 point difference between USCF
and FIDE ratings only applies to the very highest rated players, like
Kasparov for example.

For players on the low end of the scale, FIDE ratings are higher. To
give an extreme example, John Warlick of the US Virgin Islands had a
2205 FIDE rating and a 1540 USCF rating.

I have defeated many players with FIDE ratings over 2200 in tournament
games, particularly when I was living overseas. Most of them were only
expert strength on the USCF scale.

More recently, John Fernandez has come back from Europe bragging about
all the many highly rated players he beat over there.

Ken Sloan has studied this specific issue and I think his findings
agree with mine. Taken over all, from top to bottom, players with
ratings in both systems will probably be more likely to have a higher
FIDE rating.

Sam Sloan