Sandbaggers are RUINING the lower rated tournaments.

I don't get why the min number of rated games is so low for the <XXXX tournaments. Increasing it is an obvious way to de-incentive sandbagging. It won't fix the problem, but will certainly hinder it. I'd say a min of 100 games is perfectly reasonable.

#10
Lichess can act against players who deliberately resign games in won or equal positions, but lichess cannot do anything against players who shed rating by berserking in the arena for all, as berserk is legal on lichess.

#9
You can report, lichess can investigate and flag, but for one player flagged several others will fill the void. So reporting does not really help.

> But berserk is a legal way of sandbagging. Lichess cannot flag a player for berserking in the arena for all.

Berserking might be a legal way of sandbagging. That does not mean we cannot flag players who abuse it. If you berserk in the arena for all, just to go on to win an U1300 tournament, I will absolutely send a warning. If it is repeated behaviour, I will absolutely flag you.

@tpr I don't understand what you mean about shedding rating by berserking.

The OP's talking about people who lose a chunk of rating points normally so they can then enter a lower tournament to win.

Are you saying that people will enter a higher rated tournament and berserk/lose every game so they can then enter a second lower rated tournament after they get crushed non-stop? I mean that's one way to do it I guess, but it's such a niche thing.

Have I misunderstood?

And yes reporting will always help, whatever the circumstance. For every flagged computer cheater, several others fill the void. Cheating will always happen but it doesn't mean you shouldn't report cheaters. If somebody's being dishonest then let the mods know.

@psmmr #10 : The hurdle is already higher, for instance in "<1300 rapid" you need 20 rated games, while in "hourly rapid" you can join with 10 games. But demanding ten times more rated games for tournaments designed for beginners is stretching it.

@tpr #12: Berserking is not allowed in "< xxxx" tournaments. So this "trick" can be only applied in regular tournaments. Maybe it would be a good idea to set an additional threshold there for "<xxxx".

@anonmod #13: How about a threshold of for instance "<25% of lost berzerked games" in the last 100 arena games?

#15
Even if lichess requires 100 games, the problem will persist. You can have 500 games and just play jojo shed rating to get below 1300, win U1300, repeat. To shed rating berserk all games in arena for all is a legal way. Another legal way is to drink a glass of alcohol and the play in the U1500 to get below 1300.
The sandbagging problem is directly linked to these Uxxxx tournaments. Without Uxxxx tournaments there is no reason to sandbag.

Guys I have THE idea, why not a different rating for berserking?

Like you see 2100/1800 bullet with the 1800 as a berserk rating it would imply some heavy changes in the code but really authorizing players to mess so much with their ratings is very deloyal in my opinion.

There are people who create accounts where they only berserk but they're a minority, often I'm faced with low rated monsters who just berzerk all their games, what is the point of a rating by rythm if the "rythm" can be changed so easily?

another thing is that for some reason, in the lower rated arenas, there is no berserk
Why is this?

@oberschlumpf 20 rated games is nothing! How long would it take you to sandbag 20 games?

Non <XXXX tournaments don't need this kind of limits so badly, and newcomers can allways take part in them.

Which newcomers arrive in the app and start taking part in tournaments right away anyway? I was far beyond 200 games when i decided to give a tourney a try..

#19
Indeed. I guess it takes more than 20 games to get from the initial 1500(?) to a stable non provisional rating below 1300 without (?).