Answers.Body: <blockquote>
    <ol>
    <li>What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600
    ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO
    1600 ?</li>
    </ol>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The main difference is in the way each chooses their moves. </p>
  
  <p>The human player will predominantly use pattern recognition combined with some form of plan recall. So, I recognize that this position is winning for white and this is the winning plan. This might involve specific moves for a tactical plan and more general aims for a strategic one.</p>
  
  <p>The computer will predominantly use brute force calculation with an element of pattern recognition for position evaluation</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <ol start="2">
    <li>Is it possible to determine the ratings of players with the pgns of their games?</li>
    </ol>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>In theory, yes. Both FIDE and certain online chess providers have looked at tools for detecting cheating which essentially do this although without producing a rating. They look at moves which are not opening book / standard theory moves and calculate the percentage of moves which are engine 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices etc. In principle this work could be extended to develop a way of rating pgns but it would be a lot of hard work.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>I'd play with the computer and wanted to know what is my ELO. Is it
    possible through Fritz or any software?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>No. Too much work to develop such a system for too little reward.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <ol start="3">
    <li>Is there any site that explains what is ELO in lucid terms?</li>
    </ol>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Since you appear to know what ELO is (an internationally recognized rating system) presumably what you are really asking is whether there exist  explanations for the mathematics and statistics behind ELO. </p>
  
  <p>The killer part of your question is "in <em>lucid</em> terms". Of course such explanations exist which are lucid for mathematical and statistical experts but just as clearly if you lack the expertise they will not be lucid for you.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-01-02T18:55:39.527Z
Answers.Text: Yes, it's possible to **estimage** ELO by feeding pgn files to a statistical model. See 'finding elo competition' at Kaggle.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Fernando
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-03-08T12:29:41.727Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-03-08T12:29:41.727Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.Body: <p>I think you should ask three questions at chess.stackexchange.com instead of asking three times in a single question</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600
    ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO
    1600 (in Fritz you have such an option under Training > Rated Game)?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I don't know about this setting. I think the only way to weaken Stockfish is limiting its search depth, so I guess that's what Fritz does, but I don't know.</p>
  
  <p>Maybe <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/7690/how-does-a-chess-engine-mimic-an-elo-rating?rq=1">this question</a> and Student T reply can help you.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Is it possible to determine the ratings of players with the PGNs of
    their games? Rather, I'd play with the computer and wanted to know
    what is my ELO. Is it possible through Fritz or any software?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>There have been several attempts to calculate player's ELO from the difference between the played moves and the best moves (as calculated by a chess engine). There's an obvious correlation between both values. You can find some information at <a href="http://en.chessbase.com/post/computers-choose-who-was-the-strongest-player-" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Computers choose: who was the strongest player?</a>, <a href="http://en.chessbase.com/post/computer-analysis-of-world-champions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Computer analysis of world champions</a> or <a href="http://web.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/diogo.ferreira/papers/ferreira12strength.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Determining the Strength of Chess Players Based on Actual Play</a></p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Is there any site that explains what is ELO in lucid terms?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The Wikipedia article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Elo Rating System</a> is rather good. There's an interesting statistical studio by Sonas <a href="http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-sonas-rating-formula-better-than-elo-" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Sonas Rating Formula – Better than Elo?</a> </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-03-09T10:04:16.050Z
Answers.Text: It would be great if the user voting down this response clarifies the reason he/she thinks it is not useful, so I can fix/complete the response.
Answers.UserDisplayName: sharcashmo
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-03-08T12:37:06.437Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-03-22T18:27:13.767Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-03-22T18:27:13.767Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: sharcashmo
Body: <p>I don't know if this question has already been asked. Pardon me if it was.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600 ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO 1600 (in Fritz you have such an option under Training > Rated Game)?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>[Don't know if my second question is particularly connected to the first, but here it is:]</p>
  
  <ol start="2">
  <li>Is it possible to determine the ratings of players by the PGNs of their games? I'd rather play with a computer and wanted to know what my Elo is. Is it possible through Fritz or any software?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>[This is more of a side question]</p>
  
  <ol start="3">
  <li>Is there any site that explains what is Elo in lucid terms?</li>
  </ol>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-03-08T11:46:10.683Z
Comments.Text: 1) I am not aware that Stockfish has such a setting. 2) No. One's rating depends upon one's current rating and the ratings of one's opponents at the time. 3) Yes, it is an easy google search.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tony Ennis
Tags: <engines><elo>
Title: Chess Engines and Elo Ratings
ThreadText: # Chess Engines and Elo Ratings
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-08)
  
  I don't know if this question has already been asked. Pardon me if it was.
  
  1. What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600 ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO 1600 (in Fritz you have such an option under Training > Rated Game)?
  
  [Don't know if my second question is particularly connected to the first, but here it is:]
  
  2. Is it possible to determine the ratings of players by the PGNs of their games? I'd rather play with a computer and wanted to know what my Elo is. Is it possible through Fritz or any software?
  
  [This is more of a side question]
  
  3. Is there any site that explains what is Elo in lucid terms?
  
  **Tags:** engines, elo
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: 1) I am not aware that Stockfish has such a setting. 2) No. One's rating depends upon one's current rating and the ratings of one's opponents at the time. 3) Yes, it is an easy google search.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2016-03-08. Score: 2
  
  > 1. What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600
  >    ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO
  >    1600 ?
  
  The main difference is in the way each chooses their moves.
  
  The human player will predominantly use pattern recognition combined with some form of plan recall. So, I recognize that this position is winning for white and this is the winning plan. This might involve specific moves for a tactical plan and more general aims for a strategic one.
  
  The computer will predominantly use brute force calculation with an element of pattern recognition for position evaluation
  
  > 2. Is it possible to determine the ratings of players with the pgns of their games?
  
  In theory, yes. Both FIDE and certain online chess providers have looked at tools for detecting cheating which essentially do this although without producing a rating. They look at moves which are not opening book / standard theory moves and calculate the percentage of moves which are engine 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices etc. In principle this work could be extended to develop a way of rating pgns but it would be a lot of hard work.
  
  > I'd play with the computer and wanted to know what is my ELO. Is it
  > possible through Fritz or any software?
  
  No. Too much work to develop such a system for too little reward.
  
  > 3. Is there any site that explains what is ELO in lucid terms?
  
  Since you appear to know what ELO is (an internationally recognized rating system) presumably what you are really asking is whether there exist explanations for the mathematics and statistics behind ELO.
  
  The killer part of your question is "in *lucid* terms". Of course such explanations exist which are lucid for mathematical and statistical experts but just as clearly if you lack the expertise they will not be lucid for you.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: Yes, it's possible to **estimage** ELO by feeding pgn files to a statistical model. See 'finding elo competition' at Kaggle.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2016-03-08. Score: 0
  
  I think you should ask three questions at chess.stackexchange.com instead of asking three times in a single question
  
  > What is the difference between a human player of approximately 1600
  > ELO rating and a competent chess engine like Stockfish 7 set to ELO
  > 1600 (in Fritz you have such an option under Training > Rated Game)?
  
  I don't know about this setting. I think the only way to weaken Stockfish is limiting its search depth, so I guess that's what Fritz does, but I don't know.
  
  Maybe [this question](https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/7690/how-does-a-chess-engine-mimic-an-elo-rating?rq=1) and Student T reply can help you.
  
  > Is it possible to determine the ratings of players with the PGNs of
  > their games? Rather, I'd play with the computer and wanted to know
  > what is my ELO. Is it possible through Fritz or any software?
  
  There have been several attempts to calculate player's ELO from the difference between the played moves and the best moves (as calculated by a chess engine). There's an obvious correlation between both values. You can find some information at [Computers choose: who was the strongest player?](http://en.chessbase.com/post/computers-choose-who-was-the-strongest-player-), [Computer analysis of world champions](http://en.chessbase.com/post/computer-analysis-of-world-champions) or [Determining the Strength of Chess Players Based on Actual Play](http://web.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/diogo.ferreira/papers/ferreira12strength.pdf)
  
  > Is there any site that explains what is ELO in lucid terms?
  
  The Wikipedia article on [Elo Rating System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system) is rather good. There's an interesting statistical studio by Sonas [The Sonas Rating Formula – Better than Elo?](http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-sonas-rating-formula-better-than-elo-)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_4**: It would be great if the user voting down this response clarifies the reason he/she thinks it is not useful, so I can fix/complete the response.  
  
  ---
  
  