Palm HIARCS ELO levels roughly comparable to USCF? - Chess Forums

auditt · 11-15-2007, 02:32 PM

Hi,

Just a question out of mild curiosity (since most of my books and web sites are US based): are the set Palm HIARCS ELO levels roughly comparable to USCF. Anyone with USCF experience with these levels?

(posted this on the HIARCS forum also)

cheers, Mark

Perseus · 11-15-2007, 02:58 PM

I'm not sure.

I do know that USCF ratings and FIDE ratings differ somewhat, even though they're both based on Arpard Elo's rating system. 2500 FIDE is about 2600 USCF I think.

Expect some discrepancy. But if it's Elo's system, it's probably intended to be on par with either the FIDE or USCF rating systems. Different computers have different strengths though.

JacksonWShowalter · 11-15-2007, 03:33 PM

I would be skeptical of any comparison of human vs. computer ratings. The reason being computer ratings are calculated in matches/tmts. against other computers. This would especially be true at lower level settings. At least I haven’t seen a program running on a lower level that plays the same way a human player at that level plays.

The SSDF Rating List

M. Schweinsberg · 11-15-2007, 05:30 PM

I really wish they would just enter the computers into human tournaments, and so give us a truly accurate account of what their rating would be. I'm very curious as to what my K-Chess plays at. Although the above poster is correct, one frustrating thing is that it is true that the computers I have used do play very differently than any human I've played. It's good training, but leaves you untrained against many possible surprises a human can play against you.

auditt · 11-15-2007, 09:57 PM

Palm HIARCS (in my opinion) does indeed seem to play a very reasonable and none-computer like game of chess, even at the lower ELO settings. Its strategy seems consistent, yet it makes reasonable tactical oversights that players also make at the lower levels. I also have experience with Chessmaster 10 (I think an overall great product), but HIARCS plays in my opinion more natural chess than the throwaway pieces that CM 10 gives at the lower levels.
On a Palm I find HIARCS seems to set me up well when playing against humans, which is why I'm kinda curious about other peoples (USCF) experience with these HIARCS levels.