It’s been a long time since they modified it, I know. But the point is not arguing about KGS2 and KGS3, the real endpoint of this post was to criticise how KGS algorithm deals with players who don’t play much.

And, in fact, if there had been a “slow drift towards the bottom of the scale” I think it could have been better… Currently KGS3 overrates players compared to all other real-world ratings on the lower levels.

As for the validity of KGS ranking algorithm it’s very good but only if you play a lot, if you don’t play enough the system has not enough data and in the kyu ranks that creates some overrated players.

Maybe I was expecting too much…hehe

I think the problems that made you a 2 dan could have happened on KGS2 system.

“Isn’t it enough that rank guides us towards finding an interesting game with a suitable oponent?”

Yes, should be, but you also recognise that you find people who are incredibly strong or weak at your same level, which is something that the rating system should avoid.

Now, I will appear as a weak 2d player. Toooooo weak, indeed.

This is one of the consecuences of this bug of KGS… what should I do? Losing against bots till I reach something near 9k? Lose against a 1k player who will start thinking that he has beaten a 2d, affect his rating and so on?

I understand the problem with KGS2 and handicapped games… hadn’t thought of it… but, anyway, isn’t there a better way to fix this problem at the 9k level? For example, following an average between the other ranks, the “weakest 9k” should be around 12k; just increasing one stone per level… as usual, as all the other ratings do.

And I’m sorry, but I don’t accept that my rating increases even if I don’t play, it should be somewhat stable. I understand the method they use for calculating your rating based on others’, but this leads to such incredible situations:
I beat someone who is 15k… then I’m, at least, 14k… Next game I lose against a 13k, then I’m 14k… Two months later, the 15k player has reached 3k level and this affects me in a way that I become somewhat like 7k.

I still dislike those two problems of KGS ratings…

(Anyway, I’m going to modify the size of the “commentary writing”, they are too small…)

Your criticism of how ranks tend to solidify when you play a lot and become crazy is valid. I don’t see the problem of getting weird ranks when you stop playing however – after all, you are not playing, so why care about that rank? (it even gets marked with a questionmark for everyone to see that that rank may be wildly inaccurate) – but for players who play a lot it can take a long time of winning the vast majority of games to move up sometimes.

Looking, for instance, at the EGR (European Go Rating) system there is ample evidence that this system suffers from geographical variance; I’ve heard rumors about similar circumstances in AGA. It is possible that there might exist such discrepancys on KGS too. E.g. people only playing certain hours of the day, mostly playing people in certain rooms. But this is only speculation. The point is that these disturbances occur and they are not easy to manage.

That said.. KGS ranking system certainly is weird. Some players around my level are unbeliveably weak/strong. This seems very strange to me.