Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragondog
Setting SL 6 as FIDE 800 gives GM skill 22+, and Kasparov a skill of 26. Which is too high.
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I think that you could reasonably argue that top skills in chess will be higher than top skills in other fields, for a few reasons. First, chess is a very narrowly focused field, with no ancillary skills or techniques to support it -- the measure of skill at chess is just Games(chess). Second, chess is easier to train at than a lot of other skills, since there are no great requirements for equipment or facilities, and competitive tournaments are easy to find from very early in a chess player's career. Third, chess is highly prestigious and is played seriously throughout a great portion of the world, and so it's going to attract a much larger field of competitors than, say, croquet.
Put these three factors together and I think you could justify a skill of 26 or maybe even more for the best of all time.