The rating of problems is based not only on how hard the problem is to solve, but also the time. For example: if i give one person 10 tactics and they solve all of them in 1 minute, and i give that same set of tactics in 10 minutes, which is the stronger player? Sure - both got the right answer, but that doesn't mean they are the same strength. So, for really accurate tactics ratings, time has to play a factor.
Tactics Trainer - Negative Score
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Eric - Thankyou for your reply and I know yr answer is correct. BUT, the object of the exercise is to 'train on tactics' and to my mind that should not be time based. I suggest that the purpose is to assess and mull on tactical options and for me I need time. I am a newbie here and while very impressed with the site I have this tiny frustration with this aspect.
If you want to think long, nobody is stopping you; just like erik said, if it takes you twice as long as the average person to solve it, then your rating should logically go down. The point of the rating system isn't to reward you or punish you; it's to decide what problems to give you.
If you still have a problem, you can go to your Tactics Trainer settings and switch to unrated mode.
Apr 22, 2011
0
#5
you are right - you SHOULDN'T focus on the timer or the ratings. don't even think of those things - they are only there to help us serve you the right problems for your rating. they aren't points or a measure of your personal worth - they are a measure of your tactics ability within the chess.com tactics universe. so, don't worry about them!
also, you can hide the timer bar in your settings.
erik wrote:
you are right - you SHOULDN'T focus on the timer or the ratings. don't even think of those things - they are only there to help us serve you the right problems for your rating. they aren't points or a measure of your personal worth - they are a measure of your tactics ability within the chess.com tactics universe. so, don't worry about them!
also, you can hide the timer bar in your settings.
It's hard not to think about the rating though, because if it doesn't go up, it means you're not improving.
If you really are improving, you'll be able to go faster.
I disagree, some people are slower, but that's just a rough guide, not the be all and end all. I, ve heard of at least one GM who was always losing games on time, but was still a GM, can,t recall his name though. As for time well some times its just luck, somethings you see at once, other times it takes longer and some puzzles are deliberately designed to mislead.
my ratings for 20 minute games is 1250 but for 10 days per move (we each move about once to twice daily) it's 1570. So how good a player am I?
Cyrus who fumbles under time pressure.
May 3, 2011
0
#10
Don't worry about your time in TT. If you get the problem right, even after 20 minutes or more of thinking, the penalty is very small. After solving it, look over the problem again and try to visualize the winning line from move 1. The same or very similar problem will come up again (and again and again if you keep on missing it, or solving very slowly), and I'll bet that you will see the solution faster the second (third, fourth, fifth) time. Keep doing this, and your rating score will painstakingly increase. Speed of calculation and pattern recognition is an important factor in your chess ability, and no one said it would be easy.
thanks for the two answers above. I too think real chess takes much consideration but I'm considering apples more real than oranges, maybe? ha
I will stop worrying about time in Tactics Trainer and review the big picture once I've solved it.
Why does a game bring our emotions into play so much? We are such easily humiliated creatures!
Cyrus
Why oh why is it that with the tactics trainer and when I am a little slow I get a negative score even when I solve the problem correctly. Why solve it correctly yet go backwards .. is very frustrating. And then I get progressively simpler problems - not where I wanted to be sorry.