John O'Hagan - USA
John O'Hagan and Mary Hickey top USBGF Rating
22/06/2010
The US Backgammon Federation (USBGF) has published the first players' rating and statistics, consequences of its rating policy stated early this month. The top rated player is 2010 US Backgammon Open Champion Mary Hickey, with 1758 club rating points (the federation rating calculation based on FIBS version of the ELO rating system), while backgammon giant John O'Hagan tops the Master Points list (USBGF adaptation of the ABT method) with 26.67 points and a record of 19 events.
John O'Hagan is not the only backgammon giant at the top of the USBGF rating list. He is followed by Ray Fogerlund, Ed O'Laughlin and Malcolm Davis with the highest number of rating points, as the top 5 list is closed by Harvey Gillis, the chairman of the USBGF Board of Directors and the winner of the 2010 Los Angeles Open Doubles tournament and the New York Metropolitan $50 Jackpot event. Stick Rice represents the backgammon giants among the highest club rated players with 1688 points and 55% wins in eight events.
The USBGF, which announces on its commitment to "the highest level of integrity and transparency regarding its ratings and statistics", reveals all the factors considered in backgammon players' rating calculation: each player's wins and losses, all their first and second finishes and the number of participated events. Currently, only ABT events from the last year and a half are calculated, due to technical reasons, but in the future, the federation plans to include other backgammon tournaments that meet their predefined standards (i.e. backgammon matches from main events and major side events).
