To determine the exact amount of points a player would win or lose after a game, several complex mathematical calculations are needed. Losing to a much lower-rated player lowers your rating significantly. The higher-rated player, though, is penalized accordingly. In turn, when the lower-rated player wins, this achievement is considered much more significant, and that player's reward is more points added to their rating. Their opponent also does not lose a significant amount of points for the defeat.Īn expected win against a much lower-rated player yields few or even no points for the winner. Since a much higher rated player is expected to win, they do not receive a lot of points for a victory against a player rated much lower. However, if both players face each other in a match of multiple games, the player with the higher rating probably wins most of the games.Īnother feature of this system is that the rating gap between the players dictates how many points they can win or lose. Lower-rated players can still beat someone who is rated higher than them, and the Elo system calculates the probability of that happening. Even when we are at our best, we can still slip up and make a game-losing blunder. From time to time, we all have bad days when we play poorly. Notice how the higher-rated player won six games and lost two.Ĭalculating the probable outcome of chess games is one of the fascinating aspects of this rating system: it takes into consideration the fluctuations in a player's performance.

A typical result for players with a 200-point rating gap. A player with a 200-point advantage will presumably win three out of four (75%) games. This system calculates the probable outcome of a person's games against other players.Īs a general rule of thumb, a player who is rated 100 points higher than their opponent is expected to win roughly five out of eight (64%) games. While people usually think of the Elo rating system as a way of measuring a player's absolute strength, you should note that this is not the case. After each rated game, their ratings are adjusted according to the outcome of the encounter. How Does The Elo Rating System Work?Įach player's Elo rating is represented by a number that reflects that person's results in previous rated games. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is the highest-rated player in the world for classical chess. As of June 2020, Carlsen is the highest-rated player for classical and rapid time controls and second in blitz (behind GM Hikaru Nakamura).

He reached an impressive classical rating of 2882 in 2014. World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen holds the record for the highest Elo rating ever achieved by a human player.

Many chess organizations and websites also use this system to rate players. On, we use a modified version of the Elo system called the Glicko system, which takes more variables into consideration to determine a player's rating. Chess Federation in 1960 and by FIDE in 1970. The Elo rating system was officially adopted by the U.S.

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