ratings

Originally posted by Niroshi
one of my games was timed out & i claimed win. then my rating was decreased.why is that?

You have a provisional (P)rating until you complete 20 rated games.
Ratings will be erratic until this time regardless of who(m) you play and the result. It's the way the ratings are calculated and a defense mechanism to protect players from all those GM newbies that sometimes frequent RHP to rape and pillage our Kings and we are left to hear the lamentations of our fallen ratings. 😵
skeeter

and a defense mechanism to protect players from all those GM newbies that sometimes frequent RHP to rape and pillage our Kings and we are left to hear the lamentations of our fallen ratings. 😵
skeeter[/b]

Boo - hoo, :'( my heart is bleading lumpy custard with your wailing about newbies. What's wrong, you scared they will beat you! 😛😛😛

Originally posted by Niroshi
newbies means?

Sorry Niroshi, 'newbies' is site slang describing new members or newly enlisted players. It is not meant to be derogatory but has slipped that way in a perjoratory sense. It probably should be discontinued and my reference to it was of 'habit'. and not one of discourteonous. Did the rest of my text answer your question?

BR's skeeter

Originally posted by Niroshi
one of my games was timed out & i claimed win. then my rating was decreased.why is that?

Until you have completed 20 games, you have a provisional rating.
This approximates to the average of the ratings of all the players you have played so far, plus the average bonus or penalty gained or lost according to the result of each game.

The bonus for winning/losing a game against a 'normal rating' player is +/- 400 points, against a 'provisional rating' player it is +/- 200 points. There is no bonus or penalty for a draw.

So, if in your first 5 games, you play people with ratings 1200p, 900, 1100, 1600, 1260p and win against everyone except the 1600 player,
the average rating of your opponents is 1212 and your average bonus is (200+400+400-400+200)/5 = 160, so your rating would be 1372p.

If you do well against a high rated player in your first game and then beat a low rated player in your second, it is likely that your rating could go down, but this strange effect becomes less and less likely as you complete more games. Meanwhile, your rating quickly becomes more accurate.

Until you have finished five games and have a rating other than 1200p, you may find it difficult to get games with established players. This is because they don't know yet whether you might be a dangerous chess expert who has just joined the site. (A "GM newbie" in skeeter's words)