Formula for Provisionally Rated Players

Hello. This is just a formula I made to help people understand how to calculate their rating if they have a provisional rating.


Formula for Provisionally Rated Players
(You must have played at least 5 games)

New Rating = ((Current Rating * Number of games you have played) + Opponent’s Rating + Score)/ (Number of games you have played +1)

Score =

+ 400 for a win
- 400 for a loss
+ 200 for a win against another provisionally rated player
- 200 for a loss against another provisionally rated player
+ 0 for a draw (provisional or not)

Here’s an example:

Let’s say that you’re a provisional player with a rating of 1400, you’ve played five games, and you win a game against a non-provisional player with a rating of 1200.

New Rating = ((1400 * 5) + 1200 + 400)/ (5+1)
= ((7000) + 1600)/ (6)
= 8600/6
= 1433.33333
= 1433 (rounded to the nearest whole number)

So, your new rating would be 1433.

I'm sure a lot of you either already know how to do this or just don't care about calculating their rating. However, for those of you who don't know how and want to know, I hope this helps.

Would it not be simplier to get the finger out and complete 20 games thereby not having to do all these calculations

Originally posted by Mctayto
Would it not be simplier to get the finger out and complete 20 games thereby not having to do all these calculations

I think KripTiK's formula can help explain why the rating seems to behave erratic for people who complain in the Forum. Often it just isn't enough for some people with the explanation 'wait and see'.