A Note on the Scoring System

The strength of the Beat the Masters scoring system is its simplicity. Only the first move counts; you score from zero to ten points depending on how well you’d done.

It breaks down like this:-

10 points: if your move is the most popular choice of the panel; 

5 - 9 points: if your move matches that of some of the panel (the more you match, the more points you get); 

1-4 points: if you don’t match anybody you might still get a few points (presumably they got awarded based on the number of votes from readers who posted in their answers);  

0 points: if you’re totally off the mark.

The number of moves that score depends on the nature of the position. If play is very forcing there might be only a couple of options that get any points. When things are less concrete there could be half a dozen or more.

The final choice of which moves scored what number of points was ultimately down to the CHESS editor at the time. In later years they got Masters like Julian Hodgson to write the follow-up articles but at the start it was all Paul Lamford.

Like I say, the simplicity is a very good thing. There’s no denying, though, that the way that Beat the Masters is scored can generate some anomalies. It’s worth knowing about them if you’ve never used the system before.

First, and most obvious, you get points based only on your choice of first move. It makes no difference at all if you’ve accurately calculated several lines a dozen moves deep or if you’ve understood nothing whatsoever and your analysis is complete horlicks.  As long as you choose the right move you get all the points.

No, this doesn’t make any real sense, but I would say that the benefits of KISS hugely outweigh the costs that comprehensive accuracy would entail.

Second, there’s the issue of what the engine says. That’s not something that we had to worry about in the 1980s. Now we do. What if the computer says that the panel got it all wrong?

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that to varying degrees happens fairly often. I guess if you’re marking your own scorecard you can choose to amend the points awarded if you think your engine backs your preference over what the article says. I don’t bother doing that, though.

Finally, don’t forget that this is Beat the Masters and not a tournament game. I’ve no idea how long the panel members spent on each puzzle or how much effort they put into it. I would imagine that professional pride would ensure that nobody would want to stand out as the guy producing weaker moves than all the others. Against that I doubt they got paid very much for taking part so they probably weren’t going to be working on each set of positions around the clock for weeks.

So, while they the panel International Masters and Grand Masters (with the occasional British Master thrown in) and their opinions are definitely worth listening to, keep in mind that they might have come up with different solutions had they reached the positions when playing under strict tournament conditions.