If we have a 5k blitz player, 5k live player, 5k correspondence player, whose play would be the strongest one? Naturally it depends on time settings, but since pools of players are different, it’s possible that reaching X rank is one pool is easier than in others. For example, if correspondence is full of beginners, and blitz is played mostly by experienced players, I think it would be easier to reach X rank in correspondence because everyone is generally weaker. So in that case reaching X rank in blitz should be held in higher regard.
So, which ranks are the strongest one? Corr, live, blitz?
Also worth considering that on this server, correspondence players are permitted the consult of joseki dictionaries (this does not mean bots, they are always illegal). So, weaker players have some percentage better chance of not dying until at least the mid game in correspondence play than in the other formats.
If you look at it a different way, it is possible to have a meaningful answer to the question.
I think it is easy to understand that the standard of play is higher at 5k correspondence than 5k live or blitz.
That is because the players have more time to think (and even research in the case of correspondence).
This doesn’t mean that a 5k correspondence player is stronger than a 5k live player though. In fact, this question is like asking who is a better swimmer, a butterfly or a freestyle swimmer. What do you mean: better?
Same with your question: what do you mean “stronger”?
Not true: each time you win a game you get some rank.
The more you win, the more your rank increases, the less you will gain from a win against a very weak player.
Does this series have a finite limit?
In other words: playing and winning infinite games against (say) 30k will it lead to a finite rank?
I just dont’ know.
(well, maybe the 9 kyu difference limit will break the series)
Huh, it seems no one knows what I’m talking about, let’s try again.
Let’s just put aside this, after all players adjust to what they’re playing to some extent. Let’s forget about it for now. And let’s forget about people improving so it’s easier to see what I mean.
Now we can say that all players have their real playing strength, and their rank on the server. Suppose people with dan-level real playing strength like blitz a lot, so in blitz games we have 90% of dan players, for argument’s sake. However their ranks won’t be dans. They start as 13k and because blitz is infested with dans, some dans will have rank even lower than 13k, and some higher, but generally they’ll spread out around 13k.
Now let’s suppose correspondence is 90% ddks, because ddks like to think a lot. They’re also going to be spread around 13k because they play with other ddks.
In the end we have: to hold 13k by playing blitz one would need to beat up dans, but to hold 13k by playing correspondence one would need to beat up ddks.
That’s what I’m asking. Is there a difference between the pool of players.
Wow. Thank you for rephrasing, that’s actually a really good question.
I think practically speaking there is enough overlap of people who play 2-3 formats that this won’t happen… But it’s definitely an interesting hypothesis. I suppose if the pools were sufficiently isolated we would indeed observe something along these lines.
I think it happens on other servers, but not really OGS. OGS doesn’t have different ranks for different time controls, so everything kind of gets blended together. Especially on blitz and live, there’s enough players that play games at both time controls that the ratings between the two pools are probably about the same.
In chess, it seems like blitz > rapid > correspondence. Bullet games (<1 min total time) don’t correlate as well, since the strategy is so different. Lots of strong bullet players are bad at slower time controls, and lots of strong rapid or blitz players are bad at bullet.
More like sequences that dans can read in a second may take a minute for DDKs to find (even with the analysis board in correspondence).
Perhaps comparing the live and correspondence ratings for players active in both formats would help with answering the question.
If (based on your hypothetical scenario) most true dans play only live games and most true DDKs play only correspondence games, a true SDK who plays both would have a DDK live rating but have a dan correspondence rating.
