This looks like a rip-off of Reassembler’s By the Book post. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about for weeks. How do you explain chess ratings to someone who is familiar with basketball?
Magnus Carlsen: LeBron James (the best player on the planet, but hasn’t won a championship yet)
Super GM: Kobe, Wade, Howard, etc.
GM: Gets non-garbage time minutes in an NBA game
Jacob Aagaard: Shawn Bradley
IM: D-league, or maybe Dorell Wright
Master: Division I college squad
Expert: Transfered to a Division II squad to get playing time
Class A: Varsity high school squad (ie, can get a cheerleader)
Class B: J.V. high school squad (ie, cannot get a cheerleader)
Class C: Middle school squad
Feel free to fill in the rest (the USCF goes all the way down to Class J.)
Just to clarify, Expert is typically someone INSANELY talented but just really busy with much more important stuff. 🙂
p.s. Jacob Aagard is deeply offended.
Great list. I think that the IM title really defies meaningful classification, though. Some of the best players I have faced on ICC as well as some of the worst purport to be IM’s. On that point, I have always found the following rating card to be one of the most interesting ones on the USCF website:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12584447
@Derek: So Expert should be “A Division I talent that cares about his grades”? Duly noted.
@Greg K: Am I seeing this right? An IM that hasn’t broken 2200 USCF?
Donnie — Correct. Check out this item from an old Mechanics’ club newsletter:
6) Are USCF Experts Stronger than Russian IMs?
It use to be common knowledge that Russian Experts were stronger than American players with USCF ratings of 2400, but has the tide turned? Recently Expert Andrei Blokhin of Maryland (currently rated 2138 USCF/ 2395 FIDE) received the title of International Master in recognition of IM norm performances achieved in round robin events in Moscow in late 2001 and early 2002. Mr. Blokhin, who has played in several Under 2200 sections in World and Chicago Opens without ever winning top prizes is not a sandbagger. His USCF rating, based on plenty of activity, has floated between 2081 and 2167 for the period 1993-2002. Shortly after making his norms he scored 3.5 from 6 against USCF 2100s in Chicago. Does this mean that things have changed and USCF Experts would be 2400 IMs in Russia?
http://www.chessclub.org/news.php?n=199-224%20(compilation)
Class J – Knights de la Maza (after they improved)
Bravo!
Aagard did win a British Championship a few years ago, so maybe he’s like a third forward who gets some starts because of an injury to a starter and averages 15 and 7 before going back to 18 minutes a game for the rest of his life?
@Greg: Clearly, Derek should move to Vladivostok and earn his IM title.
@Robert: Haha, yes! That’s an apt analogy. There’s also a bad teeth joke in there somewhere.