Welcome to Rankenstein! As the name may suggest, Rankenstein is all about rankings, AND is essentially a cobbling together of what we felt were the best aspects of many different ranking systems from a wide variety of communities!
Rankenstein began in Ottawa, Ontario, in 2010, as an effort to develop the best possible: real-time, on-line, low-cost, accurate, and accessible ranking system for all active squash players in the "Ottawa & District Squash" Region. Since that time, of course many additions and improvements have been rolled into this "monster" and we think it provides an excellent solution for ranking vibrant communities of participants of any competitive, head-to-head endeavour. The main goal, or mission, of Rankenstein is to provide a system that can be used widely by large regions of active competitors who are interested in an accurate ranking system for every level of their sport: whether that be at a club level, regional level or beyond...
The two fundamental principles of Rankenstein, are (1) Rankings are only accurate if everyone (active) is ranked, and (2) the more results included, the more accurate the rankings will be. These principles drive our primary philosophy that everyone (in your club, city, province or country) must be ranked or the relevent ranking will be meaningless, and that all matches, no matter how friendly, are worth recording in order to build a proper view of the natural order. In addition, not only must everyone in a given club or region be able to participate, independent of membership in a governing organization, but the service must be open to all, simple to use, and FREE for the end user, or it will not be used effectively and the rankings will be compromised!
The heart of Rankenstein is obviously its rankings system, and a fair bit of research went into the development of its core algorithm. Many existing systems were evaluated, from pure ladder or double-jump systems, to pure ratings based systems, to tournament-only systems such as those used by the PSA or ATP, as well as the ELO system used by chess clubs and professionals the world over. In the end, weighing the clear advantages and disadvantages of each system, and the relatively small number of tournament matches played at the club level (even where there is a dynamic and enthusiastic community of competitive players), the optimal system appeared to be a hybrid - combining the stability of ratings based systems with the responsiveness of the double-jump. The result was Rankenstein. For all the gory details, read on.
Whether a player appears on a rankings list is a function of activity level and
location. And while the requirement for activity level is intended to be lenient
in order to maximize the number of ranked players, the requirement for location is absolute
- to appear on a club or regional ranking list, a player must reside in that club or region.
Specifically, to appear in the rankings for a given region, a player must meet all
of the following criteria:
Whenver a player is new to the system, or has has fallen inactive by being absent for more than 365 days, they will initially be flagged as 'provisional' upon exit from inactive status. While in provisional status, ratings changes for wins and losses are much more rapid than usual - in this mode, players are penalized 1.5X as many points as usual for a loss, and their wins are treated as if they were in double-jump mode as described below under "Jump Mode". Meanwhile active players will not lose any points for losing to provisional players and will only gain points for beating provisional players who are within +/- 100 points of themselves. Finally if any active or provisional player beats a non-provisional opponent >= 1600 points above them, they will be assumed to be massively under-ranked and will be automatically placed ahead of their opponent and converted to provisional status and their opponent will lose no points. To exit provisional status and become fully active, a player must play six games, (not including matches worth zero points).
If a previously ranked player is absent from the rankings for more than 547 days, they will be assumed to have faltered somewhat in ability. Penalty points will be applied using the following formula after their first match:
Presently ALL matches (played by the proper
rules of squash) are eligible for inclusion in the rankings. If players do not
want a match to count for ranking purposes, it should be mutually agreed upon before
the match begins. Note that presently, only ODSA City League matches
are collected automatically. Players are responsible for entering their own friendly matches as
well as tournament matches. Regional or Club coordinators may handle entry of league results
on a case by case basis.
Ineligible Results
For players in a relatively steady state, Rankenstein appears like a typical ratings based system. All head to head matches are processed chronologically, and each player's rating is adjusted by an amount more or less proportional to their relative ratings, with a maximum upside and downside to minimize the effect of fluke results. Each time a player's rating is adjusted their 'trend' is also re-calculated (the total number of points gained or lost over the last 6 matchups). When a player develops a large positive or negative trend, their maximum upside or downside for a given match result is also increased, leading to accelerated ratings adjustments.
If Winner's Rating (WR) is lower than Loser's Rating (LR)
If Winner's Rating (WR) is higher than Loser's Rating (LR)
For examples of points calculations, use the Points Calculator to see the effects of different match results.
In addition to the basic ratings system, however, Rankenstein incorporates a double-jump mode to enhance player movement for newcomers, rapidly improving players, and players who just happen to be grossly under-ranked for some reason. When a player scores a major upset (defined as a win against someone more than 400 ratings points higher than themselves), they enter double jump status which will last for 6 matches (not counting wins against lower rated players). While in this mode, the player becomes unhindered by the typical rankings system and has 6 matches to repeat their success, launching themselves up the rankings by immediately jumping ahead of their second best win.
Rankenstein constantly monitors each player's 'personal best' win, regardless of whether or not they are presently in double-jump status, and each player's personal best may be viewed on their profile page. Personal bests do not remain valid indefinitely, however, and will expire after either 270 days or after 6 matches, (whichever comes last).
Trend is the cumulative points gained or lost by somebody in their last 6 matches which affect their trend. Any match where at least 1 points is gained or lost will affect a players trend. A very high or very low trend can increase the number of points gained or lost with a match result.
Rankenstein began as a ranking system for the Ottawa & District Squash Association, but over time, the system has expanded to encompass other regions, with each region having a unique rankings list and certain regional contexts throughout the site. Players from different regions are encouraged to play one another, to improve the accuracy of the system as a whole, and points are awarded for inter-regional play the same as any other match. New regions are provided with unique URLs, such as odsa.rankenstein.ca to access their regional rankings, but otherwise the system remains identical for all regions.
Rankings lists are heirarchical. In much the same way as a player can appear on their local club ranking and their regional rankings simultaneously, players belonging to one region will automatically appear on the rankings of all "parent" regions, such as province, country, world! That is not to say that such a huge ecosystem exists at this time, but as the system grows, so will the ranking heirarchy.
Player ratings have a universal meaning. A rating in one region SHOULD mean a playing ability equal to that in any other region. Only through inter-regional play can this become more accurate, but that is the expected behaviour. When a player moves from one city or region to another, their rating remains the same and only their "club" and "region" affiliation will change. Players are expected to update their own profiles to indicate their new locale and ensure they appear on the correct regional rankings. All of their match history, including all historical rankings from their previous region(s) will be retained.
Rankenstein is an open system where anyone already in the system can enter match results, even against players NOT already in the system. So for a new player to become part of the system, simply play an existing player and have them enter the result. Once a player appears in the system, they may claim their account, update their profile and enter their own matches, potentially against OTHER new players.
To claim your account so you may edit your profile and enter results, use the Feedback page to send an email to the system administrator. A password reset link will be sent to you sometime in the next 24-48 hours.
Note: Cookies must be enabled to log in!
Once you have your ID, you can log in using the link in the navigation bar.
When you log in you can edit your profile through your menu in the navigation bar and set a username to use instead of your ID to log in.
Being logged into Rankenstein provides a number of advantages:
Last Updated: February 25, 2017
This privacy policy is subject to change at any time so please refer to the last update date and review when necessary.
We will retain email addresses when feedback is submitted via the feedback form in order to provide a response. Email addresses are retained if requesting an account claim or password reset and linked to the specific account the request is for. Email addresses and other personal information (provided voluntarily) are not shared with anyone unless permission is explicitly given by the user. In the case permission is provided, only other Rankenstein account holders who are logged in may view this contact information. A birthday may vountarily be provided in an account profile, but will not be displayed to anyone. This is used for ranking categorization only.
Some logs are retained for development and debugging purposes which may include IP Address and User Agent. These are standard HTTP access logs.
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Last Updated: September 21, 2024
Companion applications are available on both AndroidTM and iOS.
- Courtesy of Stephen Oakey & Stephane Lussier
- Courtesy of Stephane Lussier
v2.4.18 © 2010-2024 Stephen Oakey, Brian Eldridge.