Just tell how much average opponent rating matters to you, and your average opponent for Live Chess stats.

It would also be interesting to know who on chess.com has the highest average opponent, if anybody's figured it out! =D

Doc for one thing I've notice is that you keep filling up my "tracked activity" !

to answer your question, I think is matter to me a little bit because at the moment my rating is 1760 and my opponent rating average is 1580 so if my opponenet ave rating say something like 1400 is mean I am beating alot of lower rating players ! which is not good for me really is it ?

p.s. that why I challenge myself to play against higher rated players to get better at chess and to improve my rating.

Often, challenging higher-rated players could cause your rating to drop, rather than rise (at least temporarily). In Live Chess lately, I've been playing rated standard games against 1700+'s - of course, this means I usually lose - however, this also lead me to my new best win, of which I am extremely proud! =D

I consider average opponent to signify half of the strength of an opponent; consider this: would a player rated 1500, for example, with an average opponent of 1200 be considered as strong as one with an average opponent of 1600? Doubtfully - that's the reason I always look at average opponent - it tells half of the story.

rating(bullet)=1809

average =1537

this good?

I also look at Av. Opp. both for Live and Turn-based. Some people's ratings are inflated by beating lots of lower ranked players.

At the moment my Av. Opp. for turn-based is slightly higher than my actual turn-based rating.

I find it really tough to get my Avg opp rating up to my own on turn based, it always seems to be 100-150 below.

But I'm not impressed with avg opp ratings many hundreds of points lower, especially if the best win is also not even close to his own rating.

If I see a 1800 with a best win of 1450, I really find that that 1800 rating dubious.

Avg opp. rating is bs..

2 reasons..

one if that i played lower rated opponent when i first made the account,

two that its hard to get it up.. i got it up 100 in like 80 games and i only playaed like 160 games..

I spent my first year here in the 1200-1300 bracket, so I was playing mostly people within my own range. I took a break for a while, came back a few months ago. I've been studying, which is something I never did before, so I'm now in the 1500s but my average opponent rating is only 1300ish, and climbing very slowly.

I pay a lot of attention to the best win stat too. Mine isn't so bad.

I agree, it is very hard to get up, That is why I look at it in conjunction with Best Win, at least that gives an indication of the strength he is willing to take on.

Maybe these stats should reflect a shorter period, say last 50 games, instead of all the games you;ve played?

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I would rather play up, always. It is very annoying to move from 1950 to 2000 over say 20 or 30 games, and then lose 50 points when some 1500 comes in and wipes me off the board.

So, I would rather play 1900+ opponents (on the site I work for, that is) and lose 10 points to them if I fail, than 30 or more points to someone who happened to outplay me that day for whatever reason.

Also, playing up is always more challenging and fun, in my opinion. Not only do the wins feel better, but the losses don't hurt nearly as much. Pitted against a 1400 I can probably win 9 of 10 games without too much hassle. But facing a 2000 player is a whole different ballgame.

If you are trying to actually improve, and not just inflate your rating, I recommend playing only opponents who are 50+ points higher than yourself. :)

Yup, this is the generally-given advice.

Well. that's a nice theory, but it can't always work like that.

If all your higher rated opponents followed that rule, they would always refuse to play against you. You need a balance, and learning how to lock out a weaker opoonent is maybe even more important than avoiding a loss against a stronger one.

I think you should play a balanced range of opponents within 200-300 points of your own rating on either side.

my stats show i only play people around my own strength and get 50-50 against them.

my avg. opp is 1652 which is probably why my win/draw/loss percentage is so bad.

I have a different way of doing things.  I just set up the parameters and let whoever wants to play me sign up.  This prevents me from intentionally selecting who I play strengthwise.

I like to win... sue me.   This method also allows me to play lesser players without having to feel bad about it.  If they are 500 points below me it doesn't really help my rating but it sure makes me feel smart.  Beats loosing all the time.  haha!