Non-User
Obvious reasons.I would compare using database with being allowed to use books when you have an examen at school,which would be great sometimes but...
And I would compare not using a database with trying to study for a test without using books.
I think Gonnosuke is about to lose this argument to a fine Spanish woman.
I am constantly amazed at how people make assumptions about other people on the internet. By its very nature it is anonymous, people can be whomever they please if even for a short while.
Please do not construe this comment as being about Diana L specifically, but rather a general comment about the naivety of people in general.
Amusing comment. :))
This has been a very interesting thread and will no doubt continue for some time. Might I make some further suggestions to Mainstreet's idea for a tourney?
It would be good to have some sort of data to backup/dismiss the many claims that have been made on this topic.
The main suggestions have been
a) users ratings are higher than they would be if they did not use DBs/books
b) people who use DBs are not always helped because of a lack of understanding of strategy/plans that follow the book openings
c) users ratings would be x points less if they played as non-users
To investigate these points we would need to run several simultaneous tournaments (each with a range of about 250 - 300 ratings points as follows:
User vs Non-User Tourney 1 - Players play as they normally would
User vs Non-User Tourney 2 - No use of DBs/books etc. is allowed - everyone plays as they would OTB
User vs Non-User Tourney 3 - Everyone makes use of whatever resources are allowed according to chess.com rules
For each tourney each player plays every other player once as black and once as white. There should be a maximum of 8 - 10 players per tourney. The entrants would need to be the same for each of the 3 tournaments to give any sort of reliable data.
There will be cross-over of the grading ranges so that a complete picture can be established.
I'm not sure whether it should be rated or unrated - I'd imagine rated matches would be taken more seriously, but there'd be more temptation for people to break the rules. Thoughts on this?
The tournaments would be easier to sort by invitation. I'm sure there are a few contributors to this topic who'd be happy to set up a few tournaments (including myself). If there are 12 or less players per tourney then any of the premium subscribers could do it.
Who is interested?