My son has been having a good month and his rating has gone from 1432 to approximately 1620 (last result pending) over the last month. I know a rating of >=1600 will give him a rating floor of 1400, but I am wondering if he needs to hold a 1600+ rating when the next monthly cutoff is created or if the fact that he broke 1600 will be sufficient. Thanks in advance for your response.
Ken McDonald
Player in Question:
Matthew McDonald USCF ID#13004927
As of this morning, his rating has not yet reached 1600.
When it does, and since he has an established rating (only established ratings are used for setting floors), his floor will be based on his peak rating, not his published rating.
Published ratings are nothing more than a snapshot in time, ie what someone’s rating was as of the cutoff point.
They’re useful for planning purposes, such as deciding what section someone should play in. This is a matter of convenience for both players and organizers, as well as those trying to set their teams for upcoming team events.
I think players would be annoyed if they showed up at a Saturday tournament and were told that they had to play up a section because their rating just crossed over the maximum rating for that section based on an event that was rated at 11PM Friday night, and it would certainly be a lot more work for organizers to look up everyone’s rating at the last possible moment. (The fact that ratings can change intra-day just makes things worse.)