Like many of you, I've read some of the stuff written by Mig when he
worked for Kasparovchess.com and now at chessninja.com. While reading
some of his "daily dirt", I noticed that he mentioned that he was
going to play at the 2003 World Open.

Having read some of his previous comments about his appraisal of his
chess strength (I think he mentioned he played against some of the
kasparovchess.com staff in blitz and did well), I was curious to see
what his performance would be like.

The USCF website has his rating listed at 1825 (looks updated from a
tournament he played in February). The World Open website has his
rating at 2300 (I think he mentioned that was his Argentinian rating).

He scored 3/9 at the World Open. According to the USCF rating
calculator, his performance was at 1837. Using his 2300 rating, he
would have dropped to 2239. Using his USCF rating of 1825, it would
have gone up to 1828.

Not having played in many years certainly has a negative effect (I can
attest to that. I lost about 200 points after not playing for 5 years,
but regained them rather quickly). Since Mig hadn't played for 6
years, it might take a few more tournaments to see what his real
strenth is. I don't know if it'll be in the 2300 range, though.

With all due respect to Mig and the poster (some will read that as "Mig the
Impostor" and flame me), it's very tough to improve or regress 500 rating
points during your 30s (assuming Mig is 30-something). It appears he had an
established B-rating about six years ago. For all practical purposes, at his
age 2300 is unattainable without some serious work. Even then... I'd be
surprised if any adult in USCF land has improved 500 points after age 30.

Angelo DePalma


. Since Mig hadn't played for 6
years, it might take a few more tournaments to see what his real
strenth is. I don't know if it'll be in the 2300 range, though.

I take no offense. I'm not defending Mig. I'm simply providing
a quick and dirty calculation of his performance using the
USCF rating calculator.

The whole point of the post was that, as you mentioned, it
would be very difficult for an individual with Mig's current
established rating, to get to the 2300 rating that he
established in Argentina. It's anybody's guess what his
"real" strength is. Let him play a series of tournaments with
regular time controls and see how he fares.

"Angelo DePalma" wrote in message ...
With all due respect to Mig and the poster (some will read that as "Mig the
Impostor" and flame me), it's very tough to improve or regress 500 rating
points during your 30s (assuming Mig is 30-something). It appears he had an
established B-rating about six years ago. For all practical purposes, at his
age 2300 is unattainable without some serious work. Even then... I'd be
surprised if any adult in USCF land has improved 500 points after age 30.

Angelo DePalma


. Since Mig hadn't played for 6
years, it might take a few more tournaments to see what his real
strenth is. I don't know if it'll be in the 2300 range, though.