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Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:58 pm
by csobod
When you initially sign up, the lowest rank you can enter for yourself is 20k. I'm wondering why this is, since it seems like it shouldn't be that hard to just add ranks down to 30k. Sure, you can answer with "just play lots of ranked games with higher players" but that's such a cop-out.
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:04 pm
by Kaya.gs
csobod wrote:When you initially sign up, the lowest rank you can enter for yourself is 20k. I'm wondering why this is, since it seems like it shouldn't be that hard to just add ranks down to 30k. Sure, you can answer with "just play lots of ranked games with higher players" but that's such a cop-out.
Just remember that lower bounds are always artificial. The same argument to expand to 30k could be made to expand to 40k. If you are "30k" in some other server, the equivalent on Kaya is 20k.
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:55 pm
by Bill Spight
It makes little sense to distinguish ranks below 20 kyu. Not that absolute newcomers may not play better than, say, 35 kyu. But they may play their next game as well as, say, 30 kyu. Above 10 kyu, ranks are steppingstones, giving reasonable goals for advancement. Below 20 kyu, they may become stumbling blocks when people take them seriously.
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:39 pm
by speedchase
worrying about the difference between 25kyu and 26kyu is like worrying about your AGA sigma value. it's really silly, and no one is really sure what it means.
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:29 am
by walleye
Bill Spight wrote:It makes little sense to distinguish ranks below 20 kyu. Not that absolute newcomers may not play better than, say, 35 kyu. But they may play their next game as well as, say, 30 kyu. Above 10 kyu, ranks are steppingstones, giving reasonable goals for advancement. Below 20 kyu, they may become stumbling blocks when people take them seriously.
speedchase wrote:worrying about the difference between 25kyu and 26kyu is like worrying about your AGA sigma value. it's really silly, and no one is really sure what it means.
If you sign up as 20k and keep losing, your rank will adjust to 21k, etc.
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 1:22 am
by speedchase
walleye wrote: If you sign up as 20k and keep losing, your rank will adjust to 21k, etc.
umm yes?
Re: Why does the ranking only go down to 20k?
Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 10:16 pm
by Mindraken
Personal choice over all, but I have met several Chinese players of dan level who have come to my Go Club in Toronto, from china, and they will all tell you that in China (where the game originates) all players begin at 20 kyu. So I don't really know why 30 kyu seems so prevalent. That said, rank truely isn't that important when you love the game
I have beat players in real life in even games over 10 stones stronger, through a mix of dumb luck, a good day for me and a bad day for them. Conversely, As a 13 kyu I have lost a good few games (embarrassingly I might add) against players consistantly ranked 20 something kyu on KGS. Alot of your performance comes down to composure and not being a lazy reader.