Everyone here has a rating. It lets us know how well a player plays chess, and where we stand compared to them. You and I are rated near the same, but my rating could be higher or lower, as yours could also.
It's just a generalization to indicate to others how well we may play chess.
Here is how a rating is calculated, and more info in the FAQ about ratings if you want to read up.
FAQ
Hi, thanks for that. I understand how a player's rating is calculated, but underneath it says opponent's rating, which is different from the player's rating. It is the opponent's rating that I don't understand. e.g. is it one opponent's rating, or an average of all the opponent's ratings of the games being played at the moment, or an average of all the games played? Thanks for your patience.
Originally posted by GalabadAre you talking about your profile? E.g.
Hi, thanks for that. I understand how a player's rating is calculated, but underneath it says opponent's rating, which is different from the player's rating. It is the opponent's rating that I don't understand. e.g. is it one opponent's rating, or an average of all the opponent's ratings of the games being played at the moment, or an average of all the games played? Thanks for your patience.
Game id 4241906
Player's rating 1385
Opponent's rating 1407
Game date 14 Dec '07
It shows your opponent's rating at the end of the game in question (i.e. the rating used to calculate both your and xyr new rating). If you hover your mouse over a different game in your graph, you'll see the game id, ratings and date for that game.
I hope this helps.
Originally posted by GalabadAs Nordlys says,
Hi, thanks for that. I understand how a player's rating is calculated, but underneath it says opponent's rating, which is different from the player's rating. It is the opponent's rating that I don't understand. e.g. is it one opponent's rating, or an average of all the opponent's ratings of the games being played at the moment, or an average of all the games played? Thanks for your patience.
If you look at the graph on your own profile page, then the 'players rating' is the rating for the highlighted game and the 'opponents rating' is the rating of who you were playing. Both of these numbers are the rating at the time of the game - not your/their current rating.
By default the game details shown are for the last game played (which may not be highlighted), but if you move the mouse pointer over the graph, then the details of each game appear, with the graph point being highlighted in a lovely bright green.