I lost BK access all together last night :o(

I'm not sure if it was BK problems all together, seemed more like DoS attack on one of the providers in Europe since i've got 11-12 hops to www.brainking.com last night I had 20+ then the timeoutes came...

There is a program here at brainking where a needy pawn can get an upgrade to member status for 6 months free of charge.
Pawns must play here regularly. Be at or near their game limit and cannot afford to pay for membership. If you are a pawn or know of a pawn that fits into this category please message me for more information to be considered into this program. Membership is for 6 months only.

Please only those that qualify should apply.Thanks.

1) Having a computer connected to a phone line through an ISP doesn't necessarily mean you 'can afford it'.

2) Just because you can manage to struggle through #1 most definitely does *not* infer you can afford more.

i think i would just prefer to pay someones membership ,rather than go through boost a pawn programme

I think LindaJ's program (whether original or not) is a very nice gesture. It can also help those who, though they cannot afford to sponsor a pawn on their own, could donate smaller amounts to the cause. I only have one question: How will the 'not be able to afford it' be determined? If it works anything like public assistance, pass!

I agree with Lythande here... anyone can bluff its way into getting sponsored.
I bought a membership for my co-worker as a xmas present, perhaps an idea in that way...

A.

I personally prefer to "get to know" the person I'm thinking of sponsoring..
I think the program is a great idea, but use it in conjuction with your own good judgement too..

Please, whether you are for or against this program posting about it here is doing no more then covering it up and the very reason I reposted.
I answered quesions about this at the debate club yesterday and will do it again today if anyone has any. You can also send me a pm with questions although I would rather do it at the debate club to avoid answering over & over. If you are not a member of the debate club and want to learn more about this program request an invitation to the debate club..Thanks.

I think everyone is missing one important point. I don't care who gets the memberships I donate (i.e. that's why I do it in tournaments) because the money goes to the site. That's what it boils down to is helping out the site.

Linda get Fencer to put it on a green board or include it in his membership page

I didn't know we (pawns) could get invited to join club discussions... Any more info how this is done? and by whom? etc...

You can't chuck.You have t be a member.

Is anyone else having problems with the site going very slow ?
There are about 140 on line at present though.
I hope it is not going to meltdown like last night again LOL

This site has been slow for me also - but actually other sites that I'm on right now are also slow, so I figure it is not a BrainKing issue - but some other issue in the "internet"

It's been slow for me too.

I just hope it doesn't go like last night, that was a nightmare.
I don't have a problem with 2 other site i have open though ?

Haven't really noticed anything from here.. must be a backbone/router problem.

Slow for me also (again).
Good night :-)

Ok everyone, you have 24 hours to sign up for my New Years Chess blowout!!! HERE. The winner gets a 6 month rook membership. Some of the top players on the site are in this and it should be very fun. Good Luck.

Interview with... Bumble In the next day or so I won't be taking any more questions, so if you have a question for him, please send it to me in the next day or so. Thanks!

****

Linda's post... Boost a pawn
There is a program here at brainking where a needy pawn can get an upgrade to member status for 6 months free of charge.
Pawns must play here regularly. Be at or near their game limit and cannot afford to pay for membership. If you are a pawn or know of a pawn that fits into this category please message me for more information to be considered into this program. Membership is for 6 months only.

Please only those that qualify should apply. Thanks.

*cringes*

I have completed 30 chess games but still have a provisional BKR, why is this? I thought it changed after 25.

if none were non rated Backoff, I think if any finish before a couple of moves, they dont count too.
So if a game is started but times out, they are like that.

Backoff: You cannot count unrated games [with 2 or less moves of each player]. See also FAQ page.

Had had 5 with less than 2 moves, I didn't even notice that before.

Is the site slow, or my connection??

no probs here today.. must be you !! ;-D

It depends. You know, database server performance goes up and down, up and down, up and down ;-) It needs more RAM.

I have had many ntl probs recent months, was not too sure if it was them again

its been slow here at times depends what im trying to acces i think

yep I agree, It took almost 3 times longer than normal to access my profile(which is slow to access to start with)

<Why all the cringing? I'm rather looking forward to that interview. :>

Where do I go to read the interview?

Cole, when the interview is complete, a link is usually posted on this board

You can see the interviews so far at BrainKing.info.

Thanks Harley! Thanks Lamby!

We have been looking for a worthy pawn and think that we have found one that truly needs some help. This lady is the single mom of a small child and a membership would be a luxury that she really can't justify at this time with her fixed income. We are looking for someone who would be willing to help bring a little happiness into this lady's life.

She has played here since November 2002.
Has completed 281 games
Has 16 current games
1 tournament

If you are interested in participating in this program and sponsoring this lady please send me a personal message. Thank-you

What BKR value would we take as an average players amout, Would you say half way between 100 and the max, or is there a number that is just above or below that.
Or has this never been looked into?

Steve R : I would think that most players fall into the 1300's which would account for the provisional BKR. There are, for instance, approximately 950 rated chess players with player #475 rated at about 1400.

I was thinking the 1300 would have been for a reason. And it is around half way up the scale too. But 1500 looked more like a good average player number to me

Of the chess players with an established BKR, #125, out of approximately 250 total, is rated at 1675. This seems a little too high to be an accurate average and a greater sample number will probably prove this out. Your 1500 estimate may be close to an accurate average although I believe FIDE is about 1300. Maybe Brainking is a little more forgiving.

I agree above 1600 to me seems to be above average.
I dont know about the FIDE system

I think the rating system has been skewed by "ratings boosting". However I think that this has been spread across the board so the average has lifted.
I know that at least one player on my current list has an artificially enhanced rating. Gained against players who never stayed on long enough to gain a rating their 1300 has been added to the pool without their being added to the divisor (rated players list).

I find most of my ratings on this site are significantly higher than elsewhere, but that doesn't verify the inaccuracy of the system.

And you'd think there'd be more people towards the bottom of the average (especially provisional ratings) than above, so the median is not necessarily even close to the average.

I know there are different averages mode median and medium .I just wondered what we classed as an average player:o)

Not steve at backgammon :):):) Just ask the angels lol

I just put the chess ratings on Excel, and came up with this:

Total rating points: 407834
Average Rating (252 players): 1618.388889
Total rated games played: 7227
Average games per player: 28.67857143

You must remember too, that the MIDDLE bkr, isn't necesarilly the AVERAGE bkr.., but probably pretty close..

Oh, I see Kevin figured out the average for chess.... and in this case, I guess it's pretty close..

I would also add, that the average is most likely different for most games. Depending on the number of skilled players as opposed to novices that are here on this site.