Guess the USCF rating of the person who played ...

This game happened in an OTB tournament with relatively fast time controls (each player has 1 hour to make all of his moves, so the longest time a game can take is 2 hours).

1.e2-e4 c7-c5
2.Ng1–f3 Nb8-c6
3.Bf1–b5 d7-d6
4.0–0 Bc8-d7
5.Bb5-e2 e7-e5
6.d2-d3 Bd7-e6
7.Nb1–c3 Ng8-e7
8.Nf3-g5 Be6-d7
9.Nc3-d5 Ne7xd5
10.e4xd5 Nc6-d4
11.Be2-f3Qd8-f6
12.Bf3-g4 Bd7xg4
13.Qd1xg4 Bf8-e7
14.Ng5-e4 Qf6-g6
15.Qg4xg6 h7xg6
16.c2-c3 Nd4-e2+
17.Kg1–h1 b7-b5
18.Bc1–e3 Ke8-d7
19.g2-g3 a7-a6
20.Rf1–e1 f7-f5
21.Ne4-d2 f5-f4
22.Re1xe2 f4xe3
23.f2xe3 Ra8-f8
24.Ra1–f1 Rf8xf1+
25.Nd2xf1 Be7-f6
26.b2-b4 e5-e4
27.b4xc5 d6xc5
28.d3-d4 Kd7-d6
29.Nf1–d2 Kd6xd5
30.d4xc5 Bf6xc3
31.Re2-f2 Bc3xd2
32.Rf2xd2+ Kd5xc5
33.Rd2-d7 b5-b4
34.Rd7xg7 Rh8-h6
35.Rg7-c7+ Kc5-d5
36.Rc7-d7+ Kd5-e5
37.Rd7-b7 a6-a5
38.Rb7-b5+ Ke5-e6
39.Rb5xa5 Rh6-h7
40.Ra5-b5 Rh7-a7
41.Rb5xb4 Ra7xa2
42.Rb4xe4+ Ke6-f5
43.Re4-f4+ Kf5-e5
44.Kh1–g1 Ra2-e2
45.Rf4-f8 Ke5-e4
46.Rf8-e8+ Ke4-f3
47.Re8-f8+ Kf3-e4
48.h2-h4 Re2-e1+
49.Rf8-f1 Re1xe3
50.Rf1–f6 Re3xg3+
51.Kg1–h2 Ke4-e5
52.Kh2xg3 Ke5xf6
53.Kg3-f4 g6-g5+
54.h4xg5+ Kf6-e6
55.Kf4-e4 Ke6-e7
56.Ke4-f5 Ke7-f7
57.g5-g6+ Kf7-g7
58.Kf5-g5 Kg7-g8
59.Kg5-h6 Kg8-h8
60.g6-g7+ Kh8-g8 ½–½

White's rating was slightly higher than black's. I'll reveal white's USCF rating in a few days, and whoever guesses the closest gets bragging rights.

Any rating points above 1300 can only be explained by alcohol or drugs

My guess: 1781

This has to be a trick question, right? Rating 800.

rating 900 for black and 901 for white

Originally posted by masscat
This has to be a trick question, right? Rating 800.

It is kind of a trick question, since the rating of both players is higher than what most people think (Black's rating is above 1200). Don't guess too wildly though, since White's rating is under 1700.

Black was a provisional player (his second game), but White wasn't.

White's rating was 1418, while Black's was 1396 (provisional). White was one of my friends, and he lost interest in chess for several months, before finally deciding to play a game. It turns out that taking time off from chess for an extended period lowers your rating much more than what most people would expect.

I don't know how this would affect higher rated players (above 2000), but as the old saying goes, use it or lose it.

Originally posted by MooTheCow
It turns out that taking time off from chess for an extended period lowers your rating much more than what most people would expect.

I don't know how this would affect higher rated players (above 2000), but as the old saying goes, use it or lose it.

well...I would not generalize.