ACF Ratings and Honor Points

[Eric Strange]

My coder has almost finished our newest project. Making ACF rating calculation automated.

-players easily selected by simply clicking their name.
-new members are added to database by clicking (add new member) once new member is added a player ID is automatically generated for them.
-after tournament players are selected you input # of rounds and click submit... a cross table is ready to go all you do is input results after each round.
-cross table supports BYE (Bye's) and DRP (Droupouts), Bye=3 points, DRP = 0, neither BYE or DRP count towards ratings.
-Once tournament is finished you click submit and it properly calculates ratings and total accumulated points. (players can see rating right after tournament!)
-The cross table is then submitted to us for analysis to make sure tournament organizer submitted information properly and is then submitted to official ratings.

Official ratings should be updated within 24 hrs after tournament is finished keeping everything UP-TO-DATE. ratings will be done with ELO system.

We still have a few options to get done before it is fully released for tournament use but with what we have done I can get ratings up to current very soon.

Now I need your help.... we need to add a way to calculate honor points in the system for tie breakers. What I understand about honor points is.

It's normally the sum of the opponents scores, but dropping the lowest score (or bye). If any opponent dropped out, then his score is first pro-rated as if he finished the tournament before determining who is the lowest.

Can I verify this is correct??? If it is I would like it reworded a few different ways so I can make sure I fully understand so it is done correctly.... maybe get some examples????

[john reade]

Honour points is simply the sum of opponents' scores. Modifications of this are not generally agreed.

The method of tiebreaking used by the WCDF is Sonneborn-Berger points which is honour points weighted by multiplyong opponents' scores by the points you got against them.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Honour points is simply the sum of opponents' scores.

Don't forget to drop points from opponent wih lowest score. This make it more accurate and fair.

[Eric Strange]

okay so just simply add up opponents scores, drop lowest and bam.... simple math then... awesome

I am also incorporating provisional rating period. In Elo you would take standard start point which is best to be an average of rating. I calculated ACF rating average to be 1671. So I am starting all new players at 1600 with a K-Factor of 32. From there only the provisional players rating is effected by a games outcome for either 20 or 30 games (I am undecided). This way once the provisional players has a rating that effects others by the outcome of a match he will be closer to his real rating. This will stop inflation in the rating system.

Since checkers is a game u get better at then players below 1600 mark wont be able to boost their rating off of new players who start at 1600. Better players wont be able to boost off of them either since their starting rating may be much lower than 1600. This also prevent players like is Fredo or Ray who start to play tournament matches from stealing points off of high rated master players because they start at 1600.

I have also read that it is a good idea to create a floor that players cannot drop below. Our floor seems to be good at 1000. No player will be able to drop below this rating threshold. we are very close to having an amazing system for ratings everyone. I do not know about how all of you feel. But I am very excited.

[rich beckwith]

Eric,

Your original description of honor points is correct for most ACF tournaments – that is, drop the lowest-opponent score (pro-rating the score for any dropouts, in case this has an impact). This is covered in detail on pages 12-13 of my Tournament Guide (downloadable from one of the Info menus on this site.) The reason for dropping the lowest score was because someone might get randomly paired with a weak player in Round 1 before Swiss pairings kick in. There is also a cap on how much a pro-rated dropout can score this way (in unlikely event someone wins their first round and withdraws due to sudden illness or injury -- hey, it happened to Asa Long at 1988 National). Also note that the honor point calculation described herein is unique to ACF (as is final-round repairing) and is not commonly used by other games or other countries, as John Reade was pointing out. I imaging these other tie-breaker approaches are simpler to program, though.

Let me say that all your efforts in these areas are appreciated!

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Richard, I also want highly encourage ALL states to accept the rule of pairing last recovery round as "State Title Recovery". This may prevent unwelcome situations and many questions as we had it recently in IL. All after all - state title must be considered as more important then overall winner title. Do you agree with me ?

Often enough I am pairing in last round with the highest score state resident and his/her competitors have better chances to win state title. I really don't like and hate when other players are staying behind my table and wait when I beat their competitors

If you agree with me, you can update your Tournament Guide on website with "State Title Recovery" rule and make it as strong recommendation and suggestion to state tournament directors and organisers.

[Eric Strange]

Yes please do make rules on pairings done as soon as possible. Once ratings system is complete my coder will be moving onto an online pairings system. In order to make the pairings correct I will need standard Swiss rules and any adjustments we need to make specific to the ACF.