Why am I floating the idea of a "for fun" Malaysian rating system? GilaChess Rating?
I've worked with IA Lim Tse Pin for years before the national rating was abolished by MCF. Tse Pin did the hard work calculating and all I did was take that data to cut n paste on my website :).
I still remember that fateful day when the late Peter Long told me that the National Rating is not relevant anymore since FIDE will rate all our local rapid and classical tournaments in Malaysia for free - he was MCF Secretary at that time. I was sad but didn't offer any argument to this. Who argues with Peter Long? Peter was against any National Rating so there were no replacement for that until the entire MCF board members was changed after Covid.
Somehow, I feel the new MCF rating is not the same. It's not "inclusive" enough. Only MCF sanctioned event are included in the rating calculations.
This new proposed rating system would technically appear to act as a rival to the MCF rating. But it is not! This is more of a cultural and grassroots challenger rather than an official rival! 🏴☠️♟️
It can be launched with data from the upcoming 21st Malaysian Chess Festival 🇲🇾.
🔍 Market Separation not Direct Competition
-
🏛️ MCF Rating = Official yardstick for National Selection, only for sanctioned classical/rapid/blitz events.
-
🎮 GilaChess Rating = Captures the "dark matter" of Malaysian chess – unrated ad-hoc tournaments, backyard LAN parties, casual blitz/bullet! 🕹️💥 It will include MCF sanctioned local events in it's calculation too if published publicly on Chess-Results.
📊 The Data Advantage
By anchoring at the Malaysian Chess Festival, we’d instantly get baseline ratings for hundreds of local players and even foreign players. And since we track all events (official or not), our database could quickly become more active & comprehensive than the official register! 📈🔥
🎯 Gamification vs. Bureaucracy
-
⚡ GilaChess = Instant updates, fun leaderboards, daily bragging rights!
-
🐢 MCF = Manual arbiter submissions, periodic updates.
Players might start valuing their "Gila Rating" more for casual flexing! 😎🏆
⚔️ Quick Comparison:
| Feature | MCF Rating | GilaChess "For Fun" Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 🎯 Primary Purpose | Official ranking & national selection | Community engagement & grassroots tracking |
| 📅 Event Scope | Strictly MCF-sanctioned | All events – sanctioned, unrated, ad-hoc, LAN! |
| ⏱️ Formats Tracked | Standard, Rapid, Blitz | Standard, Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, variants! |
| 🚧 Barrier to Entry | Organizers pay sanctioning fees | Free crowdsourced / community-submitted data |
💭 Final take:
It won't replace MCF for official tournaments, but for the "soul" of the local chess community – making ratings accessible, fast, and fun for the casual player base! 🧡♟️✨
Will this happen? Probably not because it's totally #SyiokSendiri - it is an immense amount of work. Sure you can use AI but tokens are not free. AI assistants need to be paid too :)