Here’s the current document on Victory Points from the Board, the concept was approved by the Board at their November meeting.
This is a relatively simple cumulative system to coexist with ratings and titles. It will have no effect on either, but will offer the prospect of increased credit to all players, even those who are declining. It will reward not only activity and success, but also aggressive play (no credit for draws) and play at slower time controls. And though it will not show current strength, most with high point totals will be high rated players. Here is how it will work:
WIN OVER 1001-1200 1/8 POINT
WIN OVER 1201-1400 1/4 POINT
WIN OVER 1401-1600 1/2 POINT
WIN OVER 1601-1800 1 POINT
WIN OVER 1801-2000 2 POINTS
WIN OVER 2001-2200 4 POINTS
WIN OVER 2201-2400 8 POINTS
WIN OVER 2401-2600 16 POINTS
WIN OVER 2600/ABOVE 32 POINTS
Victory Points are available only in events slower than G/60.
Fractional points are available only to players who have less than 100 lifetime victory points. Any excess fractional points in an event are rounded down, for example, a player with 100 or more points who scores two half points in an event would get one point, but three half points would also get one point, and a single half point would get zero.
Note that players floored at the class minimum would count as the class below for generating Victory Points.
What might a player get for Victory Points? To start with, we should publish lists on occasion in Chess Life, and more often and in more detail on the web, lifetime totals and annual totals for the national Victory Points leaders, the leaders who live in each state, the most Victory Points scored in each state (not the same thing), and there could be other categories such as largest number of states in which the player scored at least 5 or 10 or 20 Victory Points playing in each state, etc. There would be special awards for players with 1000 or 10,000 or whatever Victory Points in a year or lifetime. We don’t need to decide now what these awards will be called, but it wouldn’t be the same name as anything in the rating system or title system.
Another possible use for Victory Points is to award class prizes, but such prizes should be for those in the class who have over a certain total, not under it . Once we see how many players in each class have how many lifetime Victory Points, organizers could offer class prizes to players in each class who have a certain minimum number of points (it should be a number no more than half the players in the section are likely to have). Such class prizes will favor the older players, who tend to be winning little now, and probably even more so than titles. Players may want Victory Points not only for the recognition, but also the added prize eligibility.
The Victory Point system should do some important things better than titles or ratings:
a. Even most declining players can easily add to their total.
b. No one, after reaching a goal, should feel that further progress is impossible.
c. Most players will see progress immediately online after each tournament.
d. The point system format is suitable for simple promotional breakdowns by state, year, age, etc. or rivalries between club or team members.
e. Rewards aggressive play.
f. Encourages play at relatively slow time controls, which is good for the development of young players.
g. Credits available even in short events such as quads and team matches, or for house players.
h. Allows a new type of class prize, one limited to players in a class who have scored a certain minimum number of Victory Points. The offering of such prizes would likely increase opportunity for players who are not improving, and promote activity and the Victory Point system. This idea can also be tried with titles. In both cases, a higher point total or title should mean greater, not less, eligibility for class prizes. For example, if a tournament offers a number of Under 1800 prizes, one of them might be restricted to players under 1800 who have a certain minimum victory point total or minimum title.
