So I am enjoying OGS very much, especially the turn-based part. But I'm not getting as many games as I would like, and also I think that at least a bit of real-time playing will be good for my brain.

Any tips for the transition to KGS? Or is it just a matter of, go and do it? I am still only playing 9x9 and 13x13, and I vaguely remember those being unrated on KGS.

(Also, does rank self-assessment matter at all? I have seen a couple of threads in passing that suggest that it matters, but I have no idea. If it does matter... is this reasonable, and I should put myself in as 16k from an OGS rank of 23k? That seems like a big discrepancy.)

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Confucius in the Analects says "even playing go is better than eating chips in front of tv all day." -- kivi

Yes, just go and do it.

Regarding 9x9 and 13x13 games, those are unrated on KGS. Based on your comment about ranks, it's not clear to me that you understand the way the ranking system works.

On KGS, you don't provide a self-assessment of your own rank - the system calculates it based on rated games. And as you've observed, 9x9 and 13x13 games are not rated. Therefore, if you play only 9x9 and 13x13 games, your rank will always be "[?]", because the system has no idea of what your rank should be.

If you want to get a rank on KGS, the only option is to play rated 19x19 games. When you win or lose, the system will update the rank for you. If you'd like, you can also play against computer opponents to get a rank.

A rank is not necessary to play 9x9 or 13x13 games - just put up or accept a game offer. If you decide to play without a rank, note that some players may have no idea of your strength, so you could indicate your estimated level of experience in the game offer - or just tell your opponent.

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be immersed

Looks like I'd better tear through remainder of my self-imposed small-board requirement and start playing 19x19 then

Thanks, that's very helpful!

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Confucius in the Analects says "even playing go is better than eating chips in front of tv all day." -- kivi

No problem. There's one other option, I didn't explain. If you sign up for KGS and only want to play 9x9 or 13x13 games, for example, you can check an option to have no rank. In this case, your rank will always show up as "[-]". You cannot play rated games when this option is checked.

This option doesn't have much purpose, except to hide whatever rank you may have accumulated on the server from other people.

So, yeah... If you want to have a rank, 19x19 game is the only way. If you really enjoy smaller boards, you can enjoy them without the pleasure of a rank

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be immersed

IMO, beginners should not bother having a rank until they have played for one year, or until they play at SDK level, whichever comes first. They advance so rapidly that thinking of themselves as thus and such rank is more hindrance than help.

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The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

The [-] is a nice way of signalling that you intentionally don't have a rank, compared to a [?] where you might have just not earned a rank yet. It also serves the function of making it possible to remove a player's games from the rating calculations without deleting the account.

I wasn't aware of this latter point. That's interesting.

The former point has little value, because a player can toggle [-] on and off as they please. Both [?] and [-] could describe the same user. Maybe today the guy wants a rank and tomorrow not.

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be immersed

Sure, if a player wants to go out of their way to make a feature useless for their account they can, but many players use it effectively to distinguish between an account that doesn't have a rank yet vs. a rank that will never have an account.

That, on reflection, seems very good advice. I will endeavour to heed it

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Confucius in the Analects says "even playing go is better than eating chips in front of tv all day." -- kivi

A player is not going out of their way to make the feature useless in this case. Like I said, the feature serves a single purpose - hiding one's rank from other people (and, presumably, to keep one's rank out of server calculations). The feature does not serve the purpose of indicating that one will never have a rank, since users can toggle it.

If the server desires to have a feature that allows one to indicate that an account will never have a rank, then the feature should exist as such: users should not be able to toggle the [-] on and off. For example, when you register, you could create a permanently unranked account.

I'm not saying that KGS should do this, but let's not pretend that the feature is something it's not. The [-] rank indicates this: the user is currently opting not to have their rank shown. The length of time for which this is in effect is entirely up to the user.

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be immersed

I was under the impression that admins could force [-] as a sort of punishment and way of maintaining the rating system against wanton sandbaggers, but maybe I'm wrong.

I suppose that this is true. But there isn't a way to distinguish between an admin-enforced [-] and a user-selected [-], as far as I know.

So when someone has the [-] rank, either of the following could be true:
* Admin is currently forcing the user to be unable to play ranked games and have a rank
* User is currently opting to not display their rank

In both cases, the length for which this is in effect is up to the party who made the [-] happen in the first place, and this is does not permanently map directly to a user-account.

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be immersed

I use it to hide my rank from myself in order to not think too much about my rank.