#102
Managing 55 smart people does not make you smart.
Winning, losing, or drawing are relevant in chess.
In a discussion only the truth prevails.
All your insulting 'bested', 'attitude', 'lack the sense', 'misapplying', 'toppled', 'misapplications', 'GIGO', 'garbage' just mask your lack of understanding.
You are more smug than smart.
I guess you managed your 55 smart people by bullying them.
Your curves about age related decline of cognitive functions have nothing to do with chess.
Real curves of decline of chess ability are available from... chessmetrics.
http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S062745000000111000000000000010100
elo was invented as a simplified estimation suitable for manual calculation from tables. Chessmetrics uses more accurate, but more complex estimation formulas.
Also this site does not use elo, but the improved Glicko.
Chessmetrics processes game one by one instead of elo in a batch of 6 months with the simplifying assumption that ratings stay constant for 6 months.
#99
The gain in strength by Fischer from 1970 to 1972 comes from activity: from playing.
The decline in strength by Fischer from 1972 to 1992 comes mainly from inactivity: from not playing and to a lesser extent from ageing.
The chessmetrics site shows this clearly in the graph
http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S038178000000111000000000000010100
Chessmetrics is an improvement over elo.
Jeff Sonas has a BSc in mathematics and computer science, you do not even grasp high school mathematics.
I seem to know enough to have bested you repeatedly ...
Before I retired, I managed a 55 person software development team with backgrounds equal to and far exceeding Mr. Sonas. Some of them had an attitude just like yours, and it never served them well. You know your math, but you completely lack the sense to know when you are misapplying it. I and many other posters have toppled a number of your premises based on such misapplications previously. You're like the poster boy for GIGO.
Chessmetrics is garbage. Be sure to let everyone know when it replaces elo ratings.