Hello all,

I am new to this site so please forgive me if this topic has been discussed recently...

I am a novice player but I love the game.  I have played many online games in the past (mostly on yahoo) and i have recently gotten back into the chess thing.  I have noticed that my rating is not as strong as it was a few years ago.  This could be partly because I've been away from the game but I get the feeling its more than that.  From the games I've played recently,  it seems that people are just better than they were a few years ago.  I used to be able to compete in the 1450-1550 range and now i do good to win against any 1300's.  I've been back in the swing of things for a while so i don't think this is just being rusty.  I've gotten the feeling that I was being progged  a few times and I wonder if online cheating is more rampant these days. There is also the problem with mouse slips and disconnects when it comes to online chess.  I don't really care what my Yahoo rating is so much as I would like to know what  a REAL estimate of my rating would be. 

All this background is irrelevant really...  I was just wondering this:

Is there a way (without doing actual OTB tourneys) that a person could get a fairly accurate estimate of their rating?  Perhaps some software that would map this kind of thing?

Thanks in advance...... 

Sure! There's a easy way. Depending on your computer, you can download various chess programs, with adjustable ELO ratings. Just search for freeware chess programs on google. If you play rated matches against the computer, you can get an approximate ELO rating. Bear in mind, however, playing a computer is different to playing a human, and that basically all ELO's are relative. Good luck, however.

I think the best method is to find another player who will give you an accurate rating (for example, my USCF is in the mid 1500's), and then play them 5 games or so. Like any scientific study, you would want to get a spreaded sample, so maybe 5 games against a few different players would give you a better feel for where you are at. A lot more of chess has to do with how you feel about your own form though. I've had times where I felt I was playing good chess, but the rating wasn't there, say if I played a solid game but made a blunder or something. Then there would be other times where I didn't really think I was in tune with the games I was playing, but they would find themselves to a win for me. So I would suggest a mixture of playing games against opponents who will give you honest ratings, and your own assessment of your chess feel for the game. I hope that is not too confusing.

Mr Mike