Cannot set Min. and Max.Ratings in Live Chess

Hello,

I am new to this site and when tyr to play Live Chess there is no option to set the Ratings for the opponents above the "Start Game"-button as described in the Help section.

Any hints how to deal with it ?

Thanx in advance

Select "Custom" in the popup menu in the "New Game" tab, and then "Rating options".

Yes, that's normal. They've made some changes to the pairing system recently to make new pairings faster and better (eg., if you behave you will play others who behave, &c.). But that requires you to play in the standard pools (with the default rating ranges). 

But you can always enter the info for the time control yourself with your own rating options.

you get a much better, faster pairing when you use the default settings. it first looks at +/- 25, then 50, then 100, then 200. 

we strongly discourage people from using settings that try to make you only play UP (stronger opponents) because it is bad community behavior. if you aren't willing to play people lower than you, then why would you expect anyone higher rated than you to play down to you? :)

        My settings options look like they always did. I have settings of minimum minus 50 and maximum plus 150. In view of the above note, is this OK?

you shouldn't have a hard time finding an opponent like that. but again, leaving default settings will get you the fastest game. and if you expect someone 150 points above you to play against you, why wouldn't you permit someone 150 points below you the same courtesy? :)

And if you want the chance to play higher rated opponents, may I suggest you try the Open tournaments here?

        I'm not clear what "default settings" are, in the context of strength of opposition. When I play live chess and press "start game", my required opponent is set to minus 50 and plus 150, as stated above. This only changes if I decide to alter it.

I think that if you choose one of the predefined time controls (ie., not "Custom"), it will use the default settings. But I'm not entirely certain. Perhaps it's better if you clear the min/max fields of your specified rating range first and then select one of the predefined.

        I don't see "custom" anywhere.

See that little black triangle next to "1 min"?  That indicates a drop down menu.  Click on it and you'll see all the time controls and at the bottom is "custom" and "analysis".

        I think I get it so far, but not "pre-defined where min and max ratings are concerned. I have found custom and analysis, but they are connected to game times, not ratings.

Right, but if you click on Custom, then a "rating options" button pops up. You have to click on that to get an unrated game or set a rating range.

        Thanks, but as I said above, I've already got a rating range (min 50 - max 150). What I didn't understand was the term predefined.

Are there any tournaments that play to longer games say 45min/or even 90min. Anything longer than 15mins, that's not chess.

Sure.  There are some groups that you can join that have regular tournaments at long time controls.  Here's the best known, but there are a few others:

http://www.chess.com/groups/view/dan-heisman-learning-center

The live chess system is ridiculous. I don't mind playing down, but either make the points per win always equal or design the pairing in such a way that I don't get -10 or -11 if I lose. Anything above -9 for a loss is plain ridiculous 

i find it ironic that ther does not seem to be an easy to find USER GUiDE, or instructions for these great features?

 i mean, if it wasnt for YouTube i wouldn't have figured out the Game Analyzer on here . . . . 

Yes, it is amazing, isn't it? This world, these posts, they could almost be as real as you and I.