Roger Cook was a Chess master and primarily known for being the inventor of the Elo rating system that is used in Chess to calculate ratings.. Roger Cook recently passed away on at the age of 80 years old.
Full Name: Roger S. Cook
Born: August 19, 1940
Place of birth: Sydney, Australia
Federation: Australia
Continent Rank Asia: 2119
Ratings
World ranking: 21580
Rapid: Not rated
Blitz: Not rated
Classical: 2194
Profiles
Biography
Roger cook was born in the year 1941 in Sydney, Australia. The chess player passed away in the year 2022, aged 81 years. Cook had a slightly long career in chess. Cook’s chess career was not successful, but he contributed significantly to Australia’s chess heritage. Roger cook played under the Australian chess federation. Cook managed eighteen games in his career, winning seven games, a win percentage of 38. 9 %.
He had the most significant loss percentage of 50 percent in nine of the 18 games. Roger drew two games in his career, 11.1 % of the 18 games. Roger cook’s active career in chess was between the year 1964 to the year 1992, when he retired. His current rating is 2194 as of March 1, 2022. In the year 2006, on January 1, the highest rating Cook achieved was 2224. He played his last game in 1992 against Feldman Vladimir at the Shore Inn Australia Open, which he lost by a score of 1-0. The game was in five rounds with 29 moves made.
Cook is known to have come up with the idea of the international chess rating system called Elo, was brought forward by USA’s Elo A. The system is named after the American who later confessed that Cook was already using the system in Australia. In 1962, Roger, aged 20 years, wrote about the rating system in his research paper, which comprises all players in various tournaments and their ranking. It shows the player’s ranking and compares it to other players on the ranking list. By 1966, they used roger’s system in various chess clubs and tournaments in Australia. Roger also developed the 1st international list that comprehended all the rankings comprising almost every top tournament. The ranking system focused on recent achievements of players instead of traditional ones that focused on the previous success of chess players.
The Beginning
Roger cook kicked off his career in chess on 1964 December 28 in Hobart. The game was against Flatow Alfred at the Australian Championship, which he lost by 1-0. The game was in 1.1 rounds with 25 moves made. In 1965, Cook won his 1st game against John Hanks at the Australian Championship in Hobart. In 1967 in Brisbane, roger came up against Woodhams Michael in the Australian Championship, which he lost by 1-0. In 1969, Cook proceeded to the Australian Championship held in Sydney. He came up against Abraham Szternin in the first match and won. In the 2nd match, Cook faced Michael W. and won by 1-0. He then drew against Alfred Flatow in a result of � – 1/2. He lost the final match of the Australian Championship against Douglas Hamilton by a score of 1-0.
He lost in 1991 in the Australian Championship against Danailov S at the Adsteam-Lidums Australia Open. In 1992, he had a series of matches in the Shore Inn Australia Open held in Sydney, winning three matches against Davies Alex, Nicholas Lloyd, and Rutherford Simon while losing to Gavela Dragan, Johansen Darryl, Lilly Richard, and Feldman Vladimir. His final match was against Vladimir, which he lost by 1-0.
Achievements
Roger Cook had a diverse career that did not give him much limelight. Cook has though achieved FIDE’s world ranking of 21580, National Rank in Australia of 109, and Continental rank in Asia of 2119. The player also achieved a maximum rating of 2224 in the year 2006. Cook won seven matches out of 18 matches in his career. He participated in various tournaments, including the Australian Championship and the Shore Inn Australia. His best running of winning was in 1969 at the Australian Championship in Sydney, where he reached the finals but lost.
Did you enjoy reading about Roger Cook? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Bobby Fischer, Daniil Dubov, and Hans Niemann.
Sources
- Redman, Tim (July 2002). “Remembering Richard, Part II” (PDF). Illinois Chess Bulletin. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-06-30.
- Chess Tempo: https://old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/41331
- Chess ABC: https://www.chessabc.com/en/rating-list/cook-roger-s
- http://www.chesschat.org/showthread.php?18806-RIP-Roger-Cook&p=492829
- Chess 2U, Roger C: https://www.chess2u.com/t18258-sydney-roger-cook-died-this-week-aged-80
- https://www.chess-poster.com/english/history/fide.htm
- World chess Org: https://worldchesshof.org/about/history
- FIDE Profile: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/3204545
- Chess Games: https://www.chessgames.com/
- Elo, Arpad E. (March 5, 1960). “The USCF Rating System” (PDF). Chess Life. USCF.