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At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 4:47 am
by RBerenguel
I'm thinking about entering this year's Barcelona Go Tournament (http://bcngotournament.blogspot.com/). Since my previous appearance in a tournament was about 6 years ago (as 14k, I think), maybe it's time to update my EGF rank by entering at another level. But I don't know how to map KGS (and my rank may not be that reliable there, even) to EGF precisely. From the tables around Sensei Library (the old and the new tables), maybe I should enter as around 11k (+- 1).

Thoughts?

PS: I'm not sure about whether I'll go or not yet.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 4:58 am
by Dusk Eagle
Don't worry about your rank much. Just go.

I've never been to a Go tournament I didn't enjoy.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:30 am
by RBerenguel
I've also enjoyed all my appearances, but I don't want to enter at a too low rank (like 14) and feel like a cheater or enter too high and lose all games badly (I prefer to lose them close ;))

:)

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:36 am
by Laman
hard to say. this comparison table is a useful guide, but in no way exact. if you know a player with a reliable egf rank who you can relate your strength to, use it as another criterion. and organisers at place are usually helpful and if you tell them at registration that you are not really sure about your rank and that you have x-th kyu at KGS, they can adjust your estimation. also depends how used are you to playing in real life and at tournaments

anyway, as Dusk Eagle says, don't worry, go, have fun

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:22 am
by karaklis
As you are 6k on KGS, I'd suggest 9k for EGF.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:33 am
by wessanenoctupus
my personal experience is that there is a 1:1 correlation between european and kgs and AGA ranks. I am a 1 kyu in all of them with about 40-50% win rate in all of them.

Though I understand that this might be just me...:)

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:02 pm
by SoDesuNe
I'm with karaklis.
In my experience EGF kyu-ranks are usually three stones stronger than KGS ones.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:11 pm
by Actorios
My recommendation : register at your IGS rank. It feels about right fom my personal experience (for me, it converts from 3k KGS to 7kIGS).
It goes roughly together with the recommendation from karaklis.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:28 pm
by RBerenguel
Okay, that's 3 votes for 9 EGF. Now I have to decided whether to register or not, I'm still undecided (inscription fee, devoting a whole weekend to this when I'm a freelancer it's hard, too...)

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:44 pm
by Dusk Eagle
Regarding the rank question, keep in mind that a lot of the other people at this tournament, especially but not limited to the low-SDK and DDK range, may only have an up-to-date rank online, and will be registering based off of that.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:52 am
by karaklis
Actorios wrote:My recommendation : register at your IGS rank. It feels about right fom my personal experience (for me, it converts from 3k KGS to 7kIGS).

Not sure whether this rule still applies. I am IGS 12k but EGF 6k, so there's a difference of 6 stones. I should probably update my IGS rank, but I think in these ranges the difference is still 3 stones. For French EGF-mid-SDKs the IGS rank might be a good approach though.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:38 am
by Phelan
My experience is that EGF is two stones stronger than KGS, but I'm not sure.
Have you tried contacting the organizers? They usually can help you find a more appropriate rank.

I'm also considering entering that tournament. :)

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:26 am
by RBerenguel
Not yet, because I'm not sure about joining. I'm sure they'll have some kind of table, or I can go to our local club and play, probably (maybe this week, even)

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 9:04 am
by PeterHB
karaklis wrote:As you are 6k on KGS, I'd suggest 9k for EGF.


I agree with karaklis. Use 9k EGF.

My guess was 6k KGS might equate to 8k EGF, but there are often so many players stronger than their entry grade that padding by a grade to stop you having a miserable tournament seems realistic.

I see your 19x19 profile reads as 8k KGS. If that is your accurate KGS grade, try a little higher for your EGF grade, i.e. 10k or 11k.

Re: At what rank to enter?

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 9:58 am
by RBerenguel
Hi Peter,

I hadn't updated my rank for a while, now reads 6k (as my rank stands for now). If I go, I'll pick probably 9 as suggested :)