I wish the bloody ECF grades would hurry and get published!!!

yeh man i will be very close to 100

though ni don't think they r due for 3weeks

On the topic of ECF grades, what determines the 'category'? I've seen a category D player with a rating of 170 and a category A player with a rating of 142. (Both go to the same club as me.)

I thought those categories were a USCF thing? Do they have them in England as well?

I'm in the Netherlands (we have the KNSB). Here A through F are youth player age groups; an A player is (I think) between 16 and 20 years old, B is 14-15, C is 12-13, etc. Roughly.

Ok, I found out how categories work now. They are based on how many games were used to calculate the rating, or how 'active' a player is:

A - Grade based on 30 or more games in the latest season 
B - Grade based on 30 games in the two latest seasons, of which at least 20 were played in the latest season 
C - Grade based on 30 games in the latest three seasons, of which at least 10 were played in the latest season 
D - Grade based on 15 or more games in the latest three seasons, of which at least 5 were in the latest season 
E - Grade based on 9 or more games in the latest three seasons, of which at least 1 was played in the latest season 

i am cat A with 45 standard last year

Amnesiac, rapidplay and slowplay are two different sets of grades. All grades will be the 'new grades'.

The number in red currently is your new grade from last year, which they will be basing your changes upon.

Will get my first ever ECF grade this year.  Only a grade E (as above) though .

Still, it's a start.

 so does that meen my new grage of 90 = to 63 and when the calculate my better results i cuold go higher

bigmac: yes. For the purposes of grading, the ECF has been using the 'New Grades' this year, the year just passed is the last one with published 'old' grades.

Your grade of 90 is what it has been for the past year, and your rating may well go up from this (or, of course, down) in 2 or 3 weeks when this year's ratings are published.

wicked i might make it over 100 then

im 155 and 157 blitz this year, and my new grades should be 170 and 173 according to the website :-)

 well done i shall endevor to catch up with you

Gumpty, in your experience, what would you say are the main aspects of chess that separate a 100 ecf player to a 155?

Does a lot boil down to experience or are there any fast track recommendations you can make if a player is keen to reach 150?

Thanks.

Gumpty - I'll be around the same as you I think.

Which means I think you're criminally underrated on here on Online Chess! I find under 2000s on here make mistakes that I simply don't really see in people graded 140ish ECF.

Maybe it's just because I make full use of databases and the analysis board?

marvellosity, i play OTB style, i only spend maybe 3 minutes a move if its complex, i move in a few seconds sometimes :-)

Knightsight, i was 120-130 for 10 yrs until i joined this site...i use tactics trainer, i study the articles etc, it has helped me a LOT with my OTB chess. In reply to your question, i would say the main difference between a 100 ecf and a 150 ecf players is 1) cutting down on the amount of 'game losing' one move blunders. 

2) Learning to be more patient in building up an attack, not 'pushing' too hard and weakening your own position. I know that at times in the past, i went for mate in 20 every game, i had some great wins, but half the time i lost, now i have learnt to be more patient, and although i still love to sac and attack, i wont play anything too weakening unless its a concrete win. I also think the main difference between a 150 and a 200 player , is ENDGAMES, which i am really bad at, oh well, maybe one day :-)

Thanks Gumpty.  Amazing that you were at the same level for 10 years and now you're mid 150s.  I'm concentrating on Tactics Trainer, Mentor and Videos on this site and they are really building my chess knowledge.  Hopefully I'll see an improvement in my OTB games soon.

That would help explain things, gumpty :)

I would say that clear mistakes of varying degrees of magnitude are responsible for game results right up to 180 BCF and maybe beyond.

Basically the sliding scale from 100-180 BCF is simply the making of fewer mistakes.

Due to issues with the new grades, the new list will come out in late July or early August. At least, that seems to be the general consensus.