Rating News Period 4 2025
By Rowan Wood
Twenty-two standard rated tournaments have been processed involving 481 players and 1884 games. The open tournaments are New Zealand Women’s Championship, New Zealand Senior Championship, Merv Morrison Memorial and Wellington Capital Classic. The club tournaments are Auckland Championship and Spring, North Shore Spring, Howick-Pakuranga Booth Shield, Waitakere Championship and Spring, Papatoetoe Championship, Mount Maunganui Championship and Eighth Main Event, North City Championship, Kapiti Championship, Wellington Championships, Canterbury Chas L Hart Cup, Otago Championships and Richard Sutton Trophy.
Twenty-six rapid rated tournaments have been processed involving 555 players and 2621 games. The open tournaments are North Island, Auckland November, Auckland Academy October and December, Summit Championships October and December, Papatoetoe Open and Wellington Junior Championship. The club tournaments are North Shore Championship and Junior Championship, Howick-Pakuranga Allegro, Papatoetoe Joe Sapeta, Canterbury Arie Nijman Trophy and Junior October, November and December.
Changes have been made to the NZCF bonus points system. The Bonus Threshold Constant in the Bonus Points Formula (B × √games played) has been increased from 6 to 10. Bonus points are calculated for a rating period instead of separate tournaments, with a minimum of 5 games in a rating period required.
Analysis determined that a constant of 6 has caused accelerated rating inflation over time. For the top 50 rated players, 76% of NZCF standard ratings and 50% of NZCF rapid ratings were 100 points higher than their corresponding FIDE ratings. With the change to a constant of 10, the percentages are now 4% and 8%, a much-improved correlation between NZCF and FIDE ratings.
The FIDE rating regulation of “If an unrated player has a standard rating at the beginning of a rapid tournament, their standard rating is used for rating calculation. Such a player is considered rated.” has been implemented. This applies for established standard rated players.
These changes have been retroactively applied as is normal with technical changes that have been made over the years. Consequently, most players have lower ratings because it is harder to get bonus points and the subsequent ripple effect has been reduced.
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