how do I rate myself?

Hello,

I just joined Chess.com and would like to establish a starting rating for myself, but I don't even know how to ballpark it. As I understand it, an algorithm calculates once you start playing rated games, but don't I need to have a rating before I can play rated games? I would describe myself as an advanced beginner.

Thanks,

Stephan

This might help:

http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/16/13/how-do-ratings-work

So no, everyone starts at 1200, and you go from there.

No need to guess. Just play games. After a few months, you'll have a rating based on your performance.

Thank you. And now I know about Chess.com's Knowledgebase too!

So, lemme see if I got this right... Ratings start at 1200. Period. Bottome line. End of story. The admins are not willing, able or likely to change that? 

I'm not at that level yet (I guess that makes me a low-grade moron on this site), and watching my progress steadily decline is not encouraging. Negative progress is not really progress, is it?

I think it would be nice (and I know the value of my opinion), even if only in the tactics trainer, to have an option or two. I joined to learn how to play chess and not get humiliated in the process... 

It's looking like I need to go elsewhere...

Thanks.

There is no good reason to let new accounts choose their rating, they should start the same as everyone else and earn their rating

What's life without a little humiliation? It's part of a "learning experience".

DrSpudnik: I hope and pray that you are not part of the educational system, but I also fear that you are…Doctor. I had professors like you, feeding their egos by humiliating their students about things they did not know as they attempted to learn. The only thing I learned from people like you is that there is nothing you can teach… me or anybody else. 

What a crybaby!

Stephan here, the guy who posted the original question. Shutterfella, I think the point they are telling us is that when we don't know where we stand relative to others, we have to start somewhere so that we can then find out (and learn in the process). 1200 is probably somewhat arbitrary, but I imagine also based on some kind of statistical averaging. Baddogno's link is to an article that talks about this more (with other links for further reading). I expect I'll see my rating go up and down over time as the algorithm hones in on my "true" rating. But even that is tricky because all the time, my true rating will be changing. Like tracking a moving target. We're all in the same boat.

@Shutterfella, you haven't played any games yet, so how do you know what your rating is? Second, if you think you know what it is, just set your game seeks to look for players within your estimate range.

Bottom line, you're on the wrong track if you think you have to become a good player before you start playing to eliminate the chances you might lose. Everyone loses a ton of games. That's part of the learning process.

I can see that a rating which persistently drops for a while might be disappointing but the system in use accelerates the process of reaching an apropriate level so that disappointment is already addressed to a degree. Humiliation seems a very strong word.

A complete beginner should expect to level out at four hundred or six hundred and there are plenty of people who play happily here at that rating. It is sensible to set a bracket for the rating of opponents you wish the system to find for you and a bracket which runs from maybe 100 rating points below your level to 100 points above will get you good games. So, for a beginner try setting 400-600 as your bracket.

Another thing to do is to play a welcome game and, once it is finished or close to finishing, ask your greeter what rating they think you are likely to level out at.

I would say start playing few games first don't worry abt rating if ur good player rating would automatically increase gradually

Probably shouldn't play chess if your ego is that sensitive. You're going to lose a lot of games in your lifetime if you choose to keep playing chess, 1-5 in a row at the start isn't going to mean much.

Btw the RD is high at the begining so your rating with drop drastically lower with only a few losses.

What an immense amount of blather.  Just start PLAYING.  It's free.  End of story.

If you don't play chess, you aren't a chess player.

I am better than you at chess

Dr Spack

LOL!

i am the greatest of chess player and i joined the chess fed...

watch out you players