Here are all the things you need to know in order to play on the GrayMatter chess ladder. If all you want to know right now are the absolute basics, please consult another document entitled GrayMatter Ladder - the Least You Need to Know. Together these two documents will enable you to enjoy this ladder. You will find it fun, flexible, and dynamic.
How Does Ladder Competition Work? Players are ranked using a simple 'ladder' system in which each person occupies a unique 'rung.' The highest ranked player holds rung #1, the next highest rung #2, etc. The goal is to 'climb' up the ladder - perhaps all the way to the top! Ladder Chess is competative, but puts the focus less on achieving high skill ratings than on climbing up the ladder to occupy higher rungs.
When you first join you are placed in an 'unranked' category.
You become 'ranked' after winning your first ladder match. Unranked members may challenge ranked players and move onto the ladder. Unranked players may also challenge other unranked players and the winner then enters the ladder at the lowest rung.
When you defeat a higher-ranked member you move up in rank 50% of the distance between your opponent's rank and your own. For example, if you are on rung 20 and you defeat the player on rung 10 then you move up to rung 15.
Normally if you lose a match your position on the ladder does not change; you simply stay on your current rung. However if you lose to the person immediately below you you will go down one rung. For example, if you are on rung #15 and the player on rung #16 defeats you, then you move to rung #16 and your opponent takes your place on rung #15.
Furthermore, when players on rungs below you are victorious against players on rungs above you it is then also possible that the player below you jumps over your rung and you move down a rung. For example, assume you are currently on rung #7. Suppose the player on rung #10 defeats the player on rung #1. In that case the player on rung #10 advances to rung #5 (50% of the distance between them) and you fall to rung #8.
The current ladder standings may always be found in the Ladder House where it is constantly updated as the results of completed matches are reported. This may be accessed via the Standings tab in Ladder House.
Tell Me About Registration and Game Play
Every one who competes on the GrayMatter chess ladder must be registered both with the GrayMatter Ladder Chess Group on CHESS,COM and with the GrayMatter's Ladder House site (technically a 'league' hosted on http://www.myleague.com). Both the Ladder Chess Group and the Ladder House are private: you must apply at each to join. Both sites are free although premium memberships are available at cost and can add features you might enjoy. But the free memberships work just find for our purposes.
In order to avoid confusion it is required that you sign up on both sites with precisely the same username.
Note that there is no provision for actually playing your match at the Ladder House: all games are plyed on CHESS.COM. It is at the Ladder House that the results of your completed matches are reported.
Inactive accounts at the Ladder House are automatically removed after 90 days. This means that you must compete in a match the results of which are reported in the Ladder House at least once every three months. This keeps the ladder free of people who may no longer want to compete on the ladder.
How Do I Challenge Someone To A Ladder Match? A ladder challenge is simply a request for a chess match on CHESS.COM with another player, usually one who currently occupies a higher rung on the ladder than yours. You are free, however, to challenge and play someone below you is you should so choose. But you move up the ladder only when you issue a challenge to someone one above you, play and win the match on CHESS.COM, and then the match results are recorded in the Ladder House. The standings at the Ladder House will then be automatically adjusted to reflect the win.
Certain rules apply to challenges regardless of whether you are the person being challenged or the person making the challenge. Violation of the rules may result in games whose results do not impact the standings on the ladder. Such violations of the rules may also result in penalties that limit your ability to compete on the ladder. If you have questions about this, please consult with a Ladder Administrator. Furthermore, if you notice someone else violating these rules it will be to everyone's advantage if you contact a Ladder Administrator.
It is up to you to create a challenge game using the normal CHESS.COM procedures. There are a number of options that both players must agree to before the game beings: length of time between moves, color to play, whether the game is rated or unrated, whether it is a 'live chess' or an 'echess' game, etc. So you may want to send a message via CHESS.COM to your opponent ahead of time to determine the details of the challenge game he will be willing to accept. When you create the game on CHESS.COM please use the 'game name' field to identify this as a "GrayMatter Ladder" (or "GM Ladder" or something similar) game. In this way the person you invite to play will know it is a ladder challenge and it will be easily identifiable in your game list.
What is the difference between "Normal Challenge" and a "Formal" Challenge? Two different systems for issuing a challenge to another player exist. The simplest and most common is a Normal Challenge. But under certain circumstances, hopefully very rare, a Formal Challenge may be advisable.
Normal Challenge System (on CHESS.COM)
The is the standard, and by far the preferred, way to challenge someone. The vast majority of your challenges will be "regular" ones.. You simply consult the Standings in the Ladder House and chose the player with whom you want to play. You then make contact with that player at CHESS.COM and arrange to play the match on CHESS.COM. When the game is completed he loser reports the results of the match (see below) in the Ladder House and the Standings are automatically updated. It is really quite simple. Please note two important facts about normal challenges:
You may play multiple ladder matches (whether as the person challenging or the one being challenged) simultaneously - you need not wait to complete one game before starting another challenge match with either the same or a different player. In other words, you can challenge whomever you want whenever you want as often as you want.
The person challenged may decline a challenge for any reason.
Formal Challenge System (in the Ladder House)
The system for normal challenges is very flexible and can result in very dynamic movement on the ladder. But because a player may always decline a normal challenge, it is possible for a someone to unfairly block movement on the ladder or to obstinately hold onto his/her rung simply by refusing normal. This would definitely be against the "Spirit" of Graymatter Chess, but it could never the less occur, most likely on the upper rungs or with players who are actually inactive but who may still on the ladder. In order to overcome these problems the Formal Challenge system has been developed by the host site of the Ladder House (MyLeague.com). The Formal Challenge system requires the player to accept a challenge and penalizes him/her for refusing. In this way everyone has a fair chance at the top rungs. Here is how it works:
Formal Challenges may only be initiated in the Ladder House. For this you use the "Formal Challenge" tab on the "Standings" page.
The player who has been challenged will automatically be sent an email letting them know that you have issued a formal challenge. The two of you must then arrange (typically via email or messages at CHESS.COM) to play the match on CHESS.COM. You simply create a new game in the normal way and play it to conclusion. Please not: a Formal Challenge may not be refused. If the player issuing the Formal Challenge is not able to get the challenged player to agree to a match he/she should contact a Ladder Administrator and a penalty will be assigned.
In order to issue a Formal Challenge you must be within a certain number of rungs (depending on the size of the ladder, currently set at 8) from the top rung at the time you make the formal challenge. This encourages players to first work their way up the ladder before forcing the players on the upper rungs to accept a challenge.
You have a maximum of 45 days to complete a Formal Challenge match and have the results reported in the Ladder House. After that you account at the Ladder House will be flagged and a penalty will be assigned by the ladder administrator.
You may be involved in only one Formal Challenge at a time, whether as challenger or the player being challenged.
You are restricted from issuing a Formal Challenge to the same player twice in a row for a certain period of time (currently set at 15 days). This keeps players from pestering a given upper level player.
A Formal Challenge can only be initiated in the Ladder House. The match must then be set up and played at CHESS.COM in the normal fashion. At the completion of the game the results must be reported in the Ladder House just as with a normal challenge match.
Obviously the Formal Challenge system is complex and restrictive than a Normal Challenge. It is not intended to be the standard method for challenging. It has simply been developed to give everyone a fair chance at getting to the top of the ladder. For questions or problems about Formal Challenges please contact a Ladder Administrator.
Who Reports Ladder Match Results and How?
In order for the results of Ladder Match to influence the ladder standings they must be reported in the Ladder House.
All match results (regardless of whether the game resulted from a Normal Challenges or a Formal Challenge) are reported in the Ladder House by means of the "Report Loss" button on the Standings page.
It is the responsibility of the loser of the match to report the loss within a maximum of 24 hours of the game's completion. This keeps players from falsely reporting wins that they have not earned.
If, however, the winner of a match determines that the loser has not reported the loss, then the winner should use the "Unreported Match" tab under the Support page in the Ladder House and follow the instructions there.
Any problems encountered reporting matches should be brought to the attention of an Administrator.
What About Draws?
The way the software at the Ladder House works, only win/losses can be reported. A draw does not result in a change of standings on the ladder and you simply do not report it. You are, of course, free (and encouraged!) to play your opponent again - perhaps switching colors - until a win/loss is arrived at. Ladders in local chess clubs and on the internet handle draws in a variety of ways. The system used here is not unusual.
For Formal Challenge matches there are a couple of things to keep in mind in the event of a draw. As noted above, Formal Challenges may not be ignored without penalties being assigned. The Ladder House itself tracks when a formal challenge has been issued and when the match is reported as won/lost. If no loss is reported by either player within 45 days of initiating the challenge, penalties will be assigned. This means that in order avoid penalties you must replay a formal challenge match until one side or the other wins. If, as a result of such required replays, the 45 day limit appears to be approaching, please contact the Ladder Administrator so that penalties may be avoided.
What Happens With Inactive Players?
It is assumed that if you are on the ladder you will play with some regularity. If you no longer want to compete on the ladder, please inform the administrator and remove yourself from the ladder.
If you are inactive for a period of 90 days (i.e. you do not compete in a match where the outcome is reported) you will be automatically removed from the Ladder House. You may, however, request reinstatement by contacting the ladder administrator and in that case you will be placed on the bottom rung.
It is especially important for the top players to remain active so that those below them have a fair chance at the upper rungs. Therefore the players on the top 10 rungs are required to complete and report the results of at least one game every 30 days. If the 30 days are exceeded then the system will automatically reduce their ranking by 10 rungs. This keeps players on the upper rungs from unfairly blocking the ladder for others.
Miscellaneous
You may observe that there are a number of features and tools in the Ladder House that the hosting site (MyLeague.com) provides which may not be pertinent to our needs. For example, it determines skill levels for ladder play (not the same as rankings on CHESS.COM), wins/losses, winning streaks and losing streaks, and numerous other statistics that may or may not be important for you. You may simply ignore them.
You will also find that there are options for playing tournaments at the Ladder House. GrayMatter Ladder Chess does not currently organize such tournaments on either CHESS.COM or in the Ladder House. If there were sufficient interest in tournaments to warrant them and if there were players interested in directing them, then it might be realistic to do this. Please see contact an Administrator about this possibility.
Furthermore, please feel free to contact an Administrator either at GrayMatter Ladder Chess or in the Ladder House with any questions you may have. We are here to help you have a positive experience in the 'Spirit' of GrayMatter Chess!
What is The Background of GrayMatter Ladder Chess? Late in 2008 I (Graybeard) set up and began administering the GrayMatter Ladder Chess Group on CHESS.COM. It has been a pleasure for me to help facilitate a positive and family-friendly environment. I appreciate CHESS.COM very much - especially for the great tools for interaction between group members. And I'm especially drawn to ladder chess because it tends to be competitive yet not become overly obsessed with ratings. However, I have found that the practical logistics of having to administer the ladders manually gradually became rather burdensome. This is largely because CHESS.COM does not provide tools for ladder-type competition. As a result we have found ourselves trying a round peg (ladder style competition) into a square hole (CHESS.COM). This led to a complicated set of rules and a rather rigid approach to challenges, to reporting, etc. It also required a lot of administrative work behind the scenes in order to manually track challenges, update ladders, make sure players make valid challenges, etc. It ultimately become necessary to find an easier, more practical way forward. Erik (the guiding light behind CHESS.COM) is aware of this and has expressed his intention of provide tools to facilitate ladder competition and reduce the administrative hassle of running a ladder at CHESS.COM. It is on his wish list, but it does not appear that his programming team will be able to accomplish this in the short run. So in November 2008 I developed the approach described here. I'll be anxious to see if and when CHESS.COM makes on-site resources available for ladder chess competition. I, for one, will be a great cheerleader for that!
GrayMatter Ladder - The Most You Need to Know
Here are all the things you need to know in order to play on the GrayMatter chess ladder. If all you want to know right now are the absolute basics, please consult another document entitled GrayMatter Ladder - the Least You Need to Know. Together these two documents will enable you to enjoy this ladder. You will find it fun, flexible, and dynamic.
Players are ranked using a simple 'ladder' system in which each person occupies a unique 'rung.' The highest ranked player holds rung #1, the next highest rung #2, etc. The goal is to 'climb' up the ladder - perhaps all the way to the top! Ladder Chess is competative, but puts the focus less on achieving high skill ratings than on climbing up the ladder to occupy higher rungs.
- Every one who competes on the GrayMatter chess ladder must be registered both with the GrayMatter Ladder Chess Group on CHESS,COM and with the GrayMatter's Ladder House site (technically a 'league' hosted on http://www.myleague.com). Both the Ladder Chess Group and the Ladder House are private: you must apply at each to join. Both sites are free although premium memberships are available at cost and can add features you might enjoy. But the free memberships work just find for our purposes.
- In order to avoid confusion it is required that you sign up on both sites with precisely the same username.
- Note that there is no provision for actually playing your match at the Ladder House: all games are plyed on CHESS.COM. It is at the Ladder House that the results of your completed matches are reported.
- Inactive accounts at the Ladder House are automatically removed after 90 days. This means that you must compete in a match the results of which are reported in the Ladder House at least once every three months. This keeps the ladder free of people who may no longer want to compete on the ladder.
How Do I Challenge Someone To A Ladder Match?A ladder challenge is simply a request for a chess match on CHESS.COM with another player, usually one who currently occupies a higher rung on the ladder than yours. You are free, however, to challenge and play someone below you is you should so choose. But you move up the ladder only when you issue a challenge to someone one above you, play and win the match on CHESS.COM, and then the match results are recorded in the Ladder House. The standings at the Ladder House will then be automatically adjusted to reflect the win.
Certain rules apply to challenges regardless of whether you are the person being challenged or the person making the challenge. Violation of the rules may result in games whose results do not impact the standings on the ladder. Such violations of the rules may also result in penalties that limit your ability to compete on the ladder. If you have questions about this, please consult with a Ladder Administrator. Furthermore, if you notice someone else violating these rules it will be to everyone's advantage if you contact a Ladder Administrator.
It is up to you to create a challenge game using the normal CHESS.COM procedures. There are a number of options that both players must agree to before the game beings: length of time between moves, color to play, whether the game is rated or unrated, whether it is a 'live chess' or an 'echess' game, etc. So you may want to send a message via CHESS.COM to your opponent ahead of time to determine the details of the challenge game he will be willing to accept. When you create the game on CHESS.COM please use the 'game name' field to identify this as a "GrayMatter Ladder" (or "GM Ladder" or something similar) game. In this way the person you invite to play will know it is a ladder challenge and it will be easily identifiable in your game list.
What is the difference between "Normal Challenge" and a "Formal" Challenge?
Two different systems for issuing a challenge to another player exist. The simplest and most common is a Normal Challenge. But under certain circumstances, hopefully very rare, a Formal Challenge may be advisable.
Please note two important facts about normal challenges:
- In order for the results of Ladder Match to influence the ladder standings they must be reported in the Ladder House.
- All match results (regardless of whether the game resulted from a Normal Challenges or a Formal Challenge) are reported in the Ladder House by means of the "Report Loss" button on the Standings page.
- It is the responsibility of the loser of the match to report the loss within a maximum of 24 hours of the game's completion. This keeps players from falsely reporting wins that they have not earned.
- If, however, the winner of a match determines that the loser has not reported the loss, then the winner should use the "Unreported Match" tab under the Support page in the Ladder House and follow the instructions there.
- Any problems encountered reporting matches should be brought to the attention of an Administrator.
What About Draws?- The way the software at the Ladder House works, only win/losses can be reported. A draw does not result in a change of standings on the ladder and you simply do not report it. You are, of course, free (and encouraged!) to play your opponent again - perhaps switching colors - until a win/loss is arrived at. Ladders in local chess clubs and on the internet handle draws in a variety of ways. The system used here is not unusual.
- For Formal Challenge matches there are a couple of things to keep in mind in the event of a draw. As noted above, Formal Challenges may not be ignored without penalties being assigned. The Ladder House itself tracks when a formal challenge has been issued and when the match is reported as won/lost. If no loss is reported by either player within 45 days of initiating the challenge, penalties will be assigned. This means that in order avoid penalties you must replay a formal challenge match until one side or the other wins. If, as a result of such required replays, the 45 day limit appears to be approaching, please contact the Ladder Administrator so that penalties may be avoided.
What Happens With Inactive Players?- It is assumed that if you are on the ladder you will play with some regularity. If you no longer want to compete on the ladder, please inform the administrator and remove yourself from the ladder.
- If you are inactive for a period of 90 days (i.e. you do not compete in a match where the outcome is reported) you will be automatically removed from the Ladder House. You may, however, request reinstatement by contacting the ladder administrator and in that case you will be placed on the bottom rung.
- It is especially important for the top players to remain active so that those below them have a fair chance at the upper rungs. Therefore the players on the top 10 rungs are required to complete and report the results of at least one game every 30 days. If the 30 days are exceeded then the system will automatically reduce their ranking by 10 rungs. This keeps players on the upper rungs from unfairly blocking the ladder for others.
Miscellaneous- You may observe that there are a number of features and tools in the Ladder House that the hosting site (MyLeague.com) provides which may not be pertinent to our needs. For example, it determines skill levels for ladder play (not the same as rankings on CHESS.COM), wins/losses, winning streaks and losing streaks, and numerous other statistics that may or may not be important for you. You may simply ignore them.
- You will also find that there are options for playing tournaments at the Ladder House. GrayMatter Ladder Chess does not currently organize such tournaments on either CHESS.COM or in the Ladder House. If there were sufficient interest in tournaments to warrant them and if there were players interested in directing them, then it might be realistic to do this. Please see contact an Administrator about this possibility.
- Furthermore, please feel free to contact an Administrator either at GrayMatter Ladder Chess or in the Ladder House with any questions you may have. We are here to help you have a positive experience in the 'Spirit' of GrayMatter Chess!
What is The Background of GrayMatter Ladder Chess?Late in 2008 I (Graybeard) set up and began administering the GrayMatter Ladder Chess Group on CHESS.COM. It has been a pleasure for me to help facilitate a positive and family-friendly environment. I appreciate CHESS.COM very much - especially for the great tools for interaction between group members. And I'm especially drawn to ladder chess because it tends to be competitive yet not become overly obsessed with ratings. However, I have found that the practical logistics of having to administer the ladders manually gradually became rather burdensome. This is largely because CHESS.COM does not provide tools for ladder-type competition. As a result we have found ourselves trying a round peg (ladder style competition) into a square hole (CHESS.COM). This led to a complicated set of rules and a rather rigid approach to challenges, to reporting, etc. It also required a lot of administrative work behind the scenes in order to manually track challenges, update ladders, make sure players make valid challenges, etc. It ultimately become necessary to find an easier, more practical way forward. Erik (the guiding light behind CHESS.COM) is aware of this and has expressed his intention of provide tools to facilitate ladder competition and reduce the administrative hassle of running a ladder at CHESS.COM. It is on his wish list, but it does not appear that his programming team will be able to accomplish this in the short run. So in November 2008 I developed the approach described here. I'll be anxious to see if and when CHESS.COM makes on-site resources available for ladder chess competition. I, for one, will be a great cheerleader for that!
---------------------------------------
Nov 15, 2009