I thought I needed a subject that would declare what my post is about, to get some attention. I think that ranking limits that are specified for a tournament should be enforced. If I choose to play in a tourney that is for players ranked 1300 to 1600, for example, it doesn't seem like some 1800 ranked player should be allowed to enter. I play in opens so I can get experience with better players, but a ranking restricted tournament should be just that! If you are a high ranking player, entering rank restricted tourneys way below your level is bullying.

I thought tournaments could be created with a rating min and max criteria.  Then there would not need to be any enforcement.

You CAN create min and max rankings for your tournaments.  If someone outside of those rankings tries to enter, it will not allow them.  What happens is that some players enter a tournament when their rating is within the range, and then they win or lose (a) game(s) and their rating changes to something outside of the range.  However, they can still play in the tournament because they have already registered.  The officially sponsored Chess.com Tournaments will automatically re-assign you to the correct group if your rating changes between registration and the start of the tournament.  However, I see no way to avoid that situation in private tournaments.  I honestly don't believe anyone is TRYING to be a bully.  It would be just as unfair to say, "Hi. Welcome to my tounament." and then congratulate them on a well fought win by saying, "We don't want your kind here.  Get out!"

I didn't realize there were two categories of tournament, I'm new to chess.com, and I guess on the private tournaments it is up to the person who starts them to abide by the criteria they specify. I recently joined one where the criterion was 1300 to 1500 and among the entrants was someone over 1800. I guess they improved their chess game quite a bit since entering. OR?

If a tourney declares that it is for a given range of rankings is that something different than, as Billium248 says, "creating a min and max range for your tournament, ie is there a second step, other than just saying so, that creates true ranking limits. I am fine with someone's rating changing in the interim between the signup and the start of the tournament, but at signup time if someone is 300 points over the declared max that doesn't seem right. There are also many people signed up for the Central American tourney that are not from that region, on a similar note.

There is no second step needed.  When you initially set up the tournament, you decide the rating range (or open), the length of time per move, the minimum number of games needed, the maximum timeout percentage, and even the maximum time/move average.  All of these things help avoid people signing up for a tournament and then never returning to the site to play any of their games.  If anyone outside of these settings tries to "join tournament" it will not allow them.

If there is a tournament set for a rating of 1300-1500 and someone is reistered who has an 1800 rating, then either that person won a lot of games since registering for the tournament, or the Tournament Director changed the rating range after said individual had already registered.  (i.e. the original range was 1200-1900, but the TD decided to alter his/her plans and shrink the field.  The 1800 player would have been allowed to join under the original settings, and would not have been automatically removed when the changes took effect.) 

In the 1st tournament I joined, one player had a 900 rating at the beginning of the tournament, and had climbed all the way up to 1900 by the end of it.  And a brand new player (to the site, obviously not to the game) with a 1200 rating and a record of 0-0-0 ended up winning the tournament without a loss (20-0-2).

As far as the Central American thing, that's definitely a private tourney with it's own unique requirement.  No way to really enforce that without the TD manually removing people who don't qualify.  Likewise, in my The Dark Knight Opens tournament, I have asked that in their games as black, everyone's 1st move be either Nc6, Nf6, Na6, or Nh6 (in other words - The Dark Knight Opens).  However, there is no way to automatically prevent anyone from moving 1...e5.  Personalized requirements are all done on the honor system.  There's always going to be rogues here and there, but I believe most of the users on this site are honorable.

fine, I guess it was a mare's nest. I very much appreciate how well chess.com works and the spirit of the play.

                                         Thom

i too think that most players here are honourable,wanting only for a good game whatever the rankings.ive found with my experiences here, tourneys of closely ranked opposition provide me with more enjoyable games. than those with a more diverse array of skill levels.although the best games for my liking have been against players with rankings far higher than mine,WIN orLOSE.so while raking levels are important when setting up tourneys i dont think they have alot of influence on the level of enjoyment

I would like to hear from folks regarding their opinions on the rules related to entering tournaments with ratings limitations.  I recently entered my first tournament and although I am not doing that well I am enjoying it immensely.  My enjoyment has been considerable dampened by finding out that the rules, in my opinion, do not result in a level playing field.  It seems that the default requirement for the number of games prior to entry is 5 games.  In reality, it appears that it requires many more games than 5 before a player's actual rating starts to reflect his or her ability.  Some say 20 games, but in any event definitely more than 5 and probably more than 10.  Further, for premium members the requirement is waived.  Result...a large number of players whose ratings are more than 200 points greater than the maximum rating limitation for the tournament are playing and the limitations on ratings have a negligible effect. The reason I care about this issue is that I hope to enter many more tournaments and would like to play against players who I may have some chance of beating