how can someone rated 1283 play in tournament 1001-1200??

In 2nd quick knockouts I saw several higher rated players in 1200 & under????

They probably started out in the 1100s and then each game they win in the tournament increases their rating.

the rating applys before the tournament begins only. ONce it begins if they happen to win games guess what? they go up dahh and go above there ratings...

well, it's imposssible to really check that your rating is within the tournament. Unless you're much stronger (diff of at least 400 pts) there shouldn't be a problem so as long as you started with a rating within the category. For example, I joined the 1000-1200 4th Chess.com tournament, but my rating is now 1219, thanks to 4 games that I played in the group.

I started an under 1400 tournament, but b4 I even finished my first round match (he played slow!) my rating was over 1700. I didnt think it fair to continue in such a tourney, so I resigned.

Since nobody answered the original poster's question here is the excessively long answer.

Anyone within the stated ratings range can register. After registering a player's rating can increase or decrease before the tournament starts.

There is a policy with official chess.com tournaments to shift the players just prior to the start. Although not specifically stated in Quick Knockouts you can see it here. "NOTE: If you register now and your rating changes before the start date, you will be AUTOMATICALLY moved to the correct group when the tournament starts."

In the mean time there is the usual grumbling about the higher rated players.

The grumbling continues throughout the tournament as the improving or unreliably rated players destroy the opposition.

This is a huge problem in any group that contains players around the 1200 rating with very few games played, or even zero games played in the case of premium members. These could be very strong players.

From the same link above "I'm playing someone whose rating is over 1200 in my group. What's going on? Is anyone controling this tournament?". Over 1200, try over 1600 or over 1800.

1st Chess.com Quick Knockouts (1001-1200) is down to it's last two games there are two active players currently rated over 1600. Nobody was rated under 1350 at the start of the final round.

Thanks

The whole idea of a ratings limited tournament is that you are playing against equally ranked players. This idea is totally defeated by allowing players who have played less than 10 games to enter as their true rating will not be sorted out until after many more games than 10.  The default number of games played is currently 5 but that requirement is waived for premium players.  These ratings limitations will have no meaning until the number of games played requirement is raised and applied to all member alike. I have suggested this to chess.com and they indicated they would take it under consideration.  I think more people need to speak up but there seems to be a general lack of understanding on this issue.

You sure got your question answered, Marie!    

I must say that I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the system as it stands right now.  I've played in several tournaments and done fairly well in them by my own standards.  In some cases I've risen out of the rating limit of the tournament.  I think that you'll notice that the people winning tournaments often rise because they are winning.  They may lose later and fall back down.  It seems only fair that the winners' ratings be positively affected.  In my case it's not an issue of how many games I've played.  When I started my first tournie (<1400) I was 1293.  By the time I played my last game in that tournament I was 1524.  After that tournament I played well and rose to nearly 1600.  This took time and a lot of studying.  Now I'm 1650+ but it's not because I was this good the whole time taking advantage of lower rated players.  I got better.  It's just that simple.  I'm learning more openings and better tactics.  I imagine that as my endgame improves I will continue to improve in my rating as well. 

futility

Aye, I always thought that an average of the players rating over a period of time (say two weeks just to pull a number out of the air) would be a better way to determine somebodies rating for entry to a tourney. However, this would probably be a massive job and would take up (wo)man power that is currently being used to make new features and stuff.

If you want a really close tourney, with set rules of entry, the easiest solution is to create your own.

In the example provided, nobody in the 1001-1200 tournament that I saw in the 25 brackets in Round 1 was over 1200. The fact that they rose to be over 1200 is to be expected; by that point they had defeated many players in their class and improved. There's nothing wrong with that.

That said, one potential issue I have with the (5) game requirement is, it does create situations where if you win your first five games your rating might be artificially high. My current rating for example is 1825, so if I want to play in the official tournament I'm in the 1801-2000 bracket.. My opponents were 860, 1600, 1550, 1550, 1550; with an ongoing game against a 1660... basically I'm now going to have to play in a category that I'll likely get smoked in; seeing as I'm not that good :P.  If RD was considered too, I might be in a lower bracket.

[My real life chess rating, which is 2 years old, is 1400... I'm about a 1400 on Blitz atm on the site, and my tactics trainer rating is currently 1745... In any case; I'm probably somewhere in the 1500-1600 range; and I'm now 2 levels above that because of low game totals =/.]

In official chess.com tournaments players are shifted just before the tournament starts. Everyone's rating is in the tournament range.

Premium players can register in official chess.com tournaments with zero games played. In this way a 2700 rated player, with zero games played on the site, can enter a 1200 max tournament.

Yeah I get that, but what I mean Tad is only that, having won my first 5 games to be able to play, my rating is actually artificially higher than it should be :p, so I'm going to get spanked.

?????

They may play some other games outside the tournament and win some of them so their rating is going up