So I'm ranked out of currently about 47,000 players, but the homepage says there are well over 200,000 members. What's the cause of this? I'm reluctant to believe that so many members have not yet achieved an "official" rating, but is this the reality?

Over 200,000 people have registered. Only 47,000 of them have played a few correspondence games.

Shouldnt live chess games be included in this? and if not why not?...

because that stat is given on the echess turn-based pages ;)

Ahh ok then fair enough...

yeah littleman eric just burned you son! he buuuuuuuuuuuuuurned you!

yeah littleman eric just burned you son! he buuuuuuuuuuuuuurned you!

 Speaking of "live" chess, what is the difference?  That is, when I see my opponent showing the "live" blinking antenna, is that anything different than the normal blinking antenna?

Curious minds wonder...

Ah thanks erik, just thought it seemed a little odd. I'd much rather be ranked #363 out of 250,000 though :D

Yes, if his antenna is RED, he is in the Live Chess portion of the site and only in Live Chess. If it is green and says LIVE, he is active in both portions of the site. Green with no LIVE means that he is active only in the main portion of the site (e-chess, forums, etc.)