CHESS.com

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Are two different ideas.

1) Yes, and it makes sense because with everyone starting at 1200 you'd want to have their rating reflect their actual strength as quickly as possible.  This way an 800 rated player doesn't have to wait months for an accurate rating, and the same for 1600 strength players etc.

2) No, this makes no sense.

No, but I get the feeling you may be trolling   Will you delete this OP too after a few comments are made?

"Does anybody out there beieve that the first 5 games you play at chess.com plays a huge part on what your rating will be?"

Short-term? yes.

Long-term? no.

"Also,does anyone get the feeling that a lot of times you are really playing the computer despite what the username may say or what avatar they may have? Just wondering."

Easy tiger! very few are cheating sub 2000 (let alone sub 1400... no one makes software that weak).

Enjoy the site, James.

I've only had "the feeling" of playing an engine once online. It wasn't here though. I was playing an online tourney at fics, 20 min., each side. I had won my first 3 games, and was playing the final to win. After we made our first 5 or 6 moves in a few seconds, my opponent let their clock run down to something like 1min. 45secs., whereas I had more than 19 min. left. Some of the most bizarre moves followed by my opponent, incredibly fast. I mean they were making 10 moves every 5 seconds, and won! It was like four years ago, and I still remember it.

As far as the importance of the first five games here? Nah. After a hundred games, the rating seems right.