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Rating System?

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Zrobert
Zrobert
Apr 4, 2010
0
#1

Could anybody please explain the way the rating system works for standard chess? I was rated 1430 played a rated 1651 won the game went up 13 points.. then played a rated 1820 player won and went up 15 points. It would take years to get past 1600 at this rate. How are people getting to these high ratings?

leightonnicholls
leightonnicholls
Apr 4, 2010
0
#2
Support Center » Frequently Asked Questions » Online Chess Rules and Questions » How do the ratings work?
 How do the ratings work?
SolutionChess.com uses the Glicko rating system. Basically, each player starts at 1200. As you win or lose games your rating will go up and down. Your rating is also affected by arating deviation that says how accurate your rating is. So when you haven’t played many games, your rating can move up and down more quickly. Similarly, your rating moves lesswhen playing an opponent with a high rating deviation because his true rating is less known. As you play more and more your rating will become more accurate and will therefore move more consistently with your performance. For more information on the ratings you can go: 
Shivsky
Shivsky
Show your flair!
Apr 4, 2010
0
#3

Both the ELO and Glicko (which chess.com uses) systems expect your rating to go up or down based on the quality of opposition you face + how unexpected the result turned out to be.  This rate of increase is dramatic during your initial games (called provisional status) but becomes smaller after the system gets to "know" what your playing strength really is (usually 15-20 games).

You are evidently past your "provisional" status which means your K (how much of a rating bump you can potentially win per game) is not as high as those who shoot up by playing vs. high-rated players during their first 10-20 games on the server.  In other words, had your first 10 games been wins vs. really strong players, your rating would have grown a whole lot faster and you'd be "slow climbing" from a higher point on the mountain.  

Agree that this slow climb to the top may test your patience, but it is definitely not as long as you claim it is. 

To speed things up, you could

-Play really high rated players and try to win some big scalps. 

-Avoid playing players who are rated 300-400 points lower than you. Not a practical use of your time from a ratings perspective.

- Obviously, play a lot more games in one sitting. 

Regardless of what system is in place, your rating will ALWAYS follow your true playing strength if you play a large enough number of names.