rerating for tournaments

In todays blog you listed 3 types of underrated players who enter tournaments.  The fast improving junior is just something we have to live with.  These juniors train harder than almost anyone else and I'm fine with them entering their eligable events.  You could require then to enter events using their most current rating at the time of their entry.  Unfortunately when juniors enter events depending on their skill level and not their eligable events, they get accused of going after rating points, and are told that they should prove that they are a champion in their eligable events. 

The second group that trains hard for two years or more without competiting in tournaments, then enter a tournament using their old rating is a problem.  We could require these players to play in a local tournament prior to entering the Nationals.  For some rural players this could be a problem since there may not be a tournament within 500 miles.  Although I'm not thrilled with the idea, I can live with this problem.

The third group are the sanbaggers who drop 100's of points in order to win a national title.  I feel this group should be shamed by peer presure into not doing this.  I tell these people that if they have to cheat to win a title, it would be easier to go to the nearest trophy shop and just buy a trophy that says they're a world champion.    These people rarely win titles so I don't really care about them.

I'm actually okay with the system as it is.  If we try to cure the problem, we may do more damage than good.