RATINGS MUDDLE!!

I have just finished a game with somebody. I won the game but my rating dropped!!! BY 35 POINTS!!! Has this happened to anyone else?😠

I take it you are referring to the game with jjdd. The reason your rating has dropped is because you have still got a provisional rating, until you have played 20 games this will be so, while you are provisionally rated your rating is determined as a mean score over the games you have played, there was about 500 rating points difference between you and your opponent (favouring you).
I would not worry too much about your rating score as yet, as while it is still provisional your rating wil go up and down quite eratically, this is stated on your profile screen that provisional ratings will appear eratic.

Hope this answers you question

-Robbo

you aren't really rated yet. You just have a "provisional rating" (see also the "p" in front of your rating.
see also at http://www.redhotpawn.com/help/index.php?help=faq and then the question "How is my rating calculated?"
th

Thank you both, but having looked into how ratings are calculated, unless i loose or draw to jjd, my rating cannot decrease.

When i started playing this game, my rating was p1200. Shouldn't the rating be calculated on our ratings at the beginning of the game, not the end?

Like Said in previous post, provisionally rating is not a real rating, and your p-Rating is calculated as a mean of all the results you've had so far, when your rating is not provisional any more then the calculations on the help pages comes into effect.

Here is a quote form the faq - how ratings are calculated

Note: Until you have completed 20 games your rating may go down even when you win a game!

Until you complete 20 games, you will have a provisional rating. This rating is calculated as the average of all the games you have played. Each game is scored as being your opponent's rating (for a draw), your opponent's rating plus 400 (for a win), or your opponent's rating minus 400 (for a loss). If your opponent is also on a provisional rating, then the 400s above become 200s. If your opponent has played fewer than five games then their rating is treated as 1200 when calculating your rating.

-Robbo

Ok, i see, thanx for ur help my friend 😀

thats annoying cos i have 5 games in progress with lower rated players, looks like i might as well resign and play some on decent : )

You are better off playing them, a resignation is the same as a loss, and this will drag your rating down more than winning against a lesser rated opponent, especially if you are resigning against a lower rated player than yourself. If you ever fancy a game just send me a message, always got room for one more.

-Robbo

Originally posted by eyeqpc
You are better off playing them, a resignation is the same as a loss, and this will drag your rating down more than winning against a lesser rated opponent, especially if you are resigning against a lower rated player than yourself. If you ever fancy a game just send me a message, always got room for one more.

-Robbo

Your on, i'll mail u soon as i've got a free space for a new game. It's really annoying, i really want to subscribe to this site cos i really like it (and lets face it, whats $20) but i don't own a Visa card. Gonna have to find a friend who'll let me use their card, any ways, thanx again : )

I've sent u a challenge but i don't know if ur going to get it as ur S.I.game limit is full..:'(

Sorry there, I will set one up

Originally posted by marinakatomb
...Shouldn't the rating be calculated on our ratings at the beginning of the game, not the end?

There were a lot of discussions going on about that here in the forums already. I want to add a little thing:
What are ratings?
ratings are estimations of the player's strength. And I think the actual rating is a better estimator for his/her (actual) strength than the rating (which estimated the strength two month ago) at the start of the game.
I know it's not perfect to compare theings, but give it a try: An estimator of tomorrow's temperature could be todays temperature (or what we measure today) and not the temperature two month ago.
just another agument for the actual stituations where ratings are calculated at the end of the game.
th

I understand what your saying, and in a way i agree, however, if i had known that this was the case, i would never have started the games i did. I, quite understandably i feel, looked at my rating, looked at my opponents, accessed what i stood to gain, and loose, and started the match. It's very annoying to play somebody over 1 week, beat them soundly, and then have your rating decresed! This is just absurd, as u so rightly put it, a players rating should be representative of their actual stength. Well i know my strength is around 1700-1800, i would like to be playing people of equal strength and i don't mind playing a few weaker players to get to that situation, thats fair enouph, but i don't want to HAVE to play stronger opposition as a matter of course, cos that makes me elitist. I haven't the time or the inclanation to mill around playing weak opposition, every other site on the Net calculates their ratings correctly, why not this one??😕

Originally posted by marinakatomb
I understand what your saying, and in a way i agree, however, if i had known that this was the case, i would never have started the games i did. I, quite understandably i feel, looked at my rating, looked at my opponents, accessed what ...[text shortened]... n the Net calculates their ratings correctly, why not this one??😕

I'm sorry, but you should be happy. Take a look at my graph. I started at RHP a couple months before the provision stuff started.

I beat good players... I won games, and my rating was about 1300 rather than what you have now after 8 games. Don't worry about your rating now... IF it is 1700 or so, you will get that rating. Hang in there.

If you are rated 1700 you should be playing people rated over 1300 at least.

P-

I have realized this now and don't play anyone below 1500. I am sad that i have to do this though, as i said, it is elitist, i enjoy playing everybody, a 1000 rated player can have a good game and beat me, im ok with that.

One of the things i really really like about this site is the sense of community, everyone contibutes to the site and the vibe is great. I find it frustrating that i have to turn around to players and say i can't play them because their not good enouph, u c 🙄