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Max points gained and lost.

Max points gained and lost.

Only Chess

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If I have it right, the most rating points you can win or lose is 31 or 32, right?

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Pretty much. And to gain, or lose, that many points, you must play someone with a rating much higher than, or much lower than, your rating, respectively.

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this doesnt apply to provisional ratings though right?

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there seems to be bigger gains than 32, I saw one 44 when I took a look at some graphs...

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Originally posted by wormwood
there seems to be bigger gains than 32, I saw one 44 when I took a look at some graphs...
That is only possible during the first 20 games when rating change doesn't follow the formula. In the first 20 games your rating is the average of your performances. A win is opponent's rating + 400, a draw is your opponent's rating and a loss is opponent's rating - 400.

After that point the formula is:

Change = K* (Score - WinExp)

Where Score is 1,0.5 or 0.
WinExp is between 0 and 1 and is calculated based on rating difference.
And K is a constant. If your rating is less that 2100 it is 32. Between 2100 and 2400 it is 24 and above that it is 16.

So therefore maximum change is 32. It's a simple (but long winded) matter to find at what rating difference this will occur.

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Originally posted by XanthosNZ
That is only possible during the first 20 games when rating change doesn't follow the formula. In the first 20 games your rating is the average of your performances. A win is opponent's rating + 400, a draw is your opponent's rating and a loss is opponent's rating - 400.

After that point the formula is:

Change = K* (Score - WinExp)

Where Score is ...[text shortened]... . It's a simple (but long winded) matter to find at what rating difference this will occur.
XanthosNZ, you are my hero...

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Originally posted by YUG0slav
this doesnt apply to provisional ratings though right?
Right but if you are playing a provisional and you aren't provisional then you only win or lose 32 max so there is nothing for you to worry about.

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Originally posted by RahimK
Right but if you are playing a provisional and you aren't provisional then you only win or lose 32 max so there is nothing for you to worry about.
Wrong. When playing a provisional as a non-provisional rating change is half the normal. Therefore max change is +- 16.

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Originally posted by XanthosNZ
Wrong. When playing a provisional as a non-provisional rating change is half the normal. Therefore max change is +- 16.
Wow, how interesting. My mistake. Why would that be though?

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that would explain why my rating went down after winning...i guess...

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Originally posted by RahimK
Wow, how interesting. My mistake. Why would that be though?
Because provisional players are more likely to have an inaccurate rating.