How do ratings work on this site?

What is the typical time control for rapid? I'm no good at all at speed chess. At least I wasn't last time I tried it many, many years ago.

10-0 and 15-10 are the two most common I have seen. 10-0 is probably preferred more casually but 15-10 is better for improving. 

I play 10|0 Rapid. But there are longer times also.

OK, I really am a newbie. "10-0" means what exactly?

10 minutes per side. The first means the amount of time you have and the second is the increment that you get in seconds per move.

So 15|10 is 15 minutes each and 10 seconds added per move.

This thread doesnt address the question about how ratings work (or are calculated), etc.  Folks are speaking of Time Controls here which is nice to know, but the question of how ratings work is a good one which would interest a lot of people.   I will check the whole thread. :-)

His question WAS addressed and then he asked another.

Perhaps I should have started a new thread after my question was answered. Either that or the title should have been something along the lines of asking newbie questions about live play.

Don't worry about it, it's completely fine. 

I think 15-10 is where I want to start. I tried a couple games against the bots with a 10 minute limit and I felt really rushed, and ended up going 3 to 5 minutes over even playing as fast as I felt comfortable. And on top of it I ended up losing both games to a bot that  always beat when I'm not rushed.

Yea, that is a really good time control. I think it's the best. Not too short not too long and you get an increment in case the games get lengthy.

Chess.com uses glicko which is an improved version(imo) since it has rating deviation which changes the rating according to activity as well.

The Glicko RD value doesn't appear to be accessible in the web site anymore, but it can still be seen in the full stats on the Android app. This is interesting to "power users" as it indicates how much uncertainty there is in the rating, which in turn affects how much of a rating change you get after a game. At the moment, my Daily rating is 1478 with RD of 197. So the system thinks my rating is somewhere between 1084 and 1872 with 95% confidence. Unfortunately, I know which end of the range it is most likely to be .

Until I get a lot more games here, I will keep seeing large rating swings. It's important to remember that and not get concerned. It's just the Glicko ratings system homing in on your actual rating.

Yeap

@fiziwig if you prefer longer controls then plenty are available. Though the 10 and 15 minute games are the most popular, there are thousands of players online at any one time, so you wont have too much trouble getting 30 minute, 45|45, or 60 minute games. Daily is also a good option. These longer controls are excellent for improvement, they give you plenty of time to analyse, plan, look at candidate moves and blunder check.

I think if you haven't played for a while (activity) that also increases the GlickoRD. So it's a function of rating variation and when you last played or how frequently you play. At least that's my impression from the chess.com explanation and forum posts.

Ah, so the fact that I took 5 years off probably bumped up my RD. Makes sense. The 5 year break probably also explains my rapid drop from 1600

Depends on what experience level you select. I personally started at 1200 I can't remember if I had an option or not even, and your account started at 1200 as well.