Optimism
At the bottom of this spiel for playchess.com, we see the following feature: a rating graph which automatically keeps track of your progress over time:
But then I starting thinking, “Progress?” Clearly, the phrasing and picture are designed to get you psychologically excited about seeing your skill increase. But then I made a chart of my “progress” since restarting tournament chess, and determined…yeah, that’s not so much necessarily the case:
Do you ever play at FICS? I play several games there each week.
Comment by Tomn | 14 October 2007
Why is your graph upside down?
Comment by Blunderprone | 14 October 2007
@Tomn: I have a handle, but haven’t played recently. I’m preparing to move and haven’t had time for much chess. (In fact, I still need to play l3rucewayne!) Starting November, I’ll be on once or twice a week.
@Blunderprone: Shhhh! I’m trying to trick people into thinking I suck.
Comment by Donnie | 15 October 2007
:: rubs his hands and prepares to take advantage of situation by playing some practice games. ::
Comment by l3rucewayne | 15 October 2007
@l3rucewayne: Mentally preparing for the beatdown…
Comment by Donnie | 16 October 2007
Donnie, I play on playchess too and my rating bounces from highs of 1750 or so (when I’m fresh and eager!) to lows of 1450 (when I’m drunk and brash). My graph looks like the electrical signals from the brain of a paranoid schizophrenic…
Comment by Shazgood | 17 October 2007