Elo Rating System
How do you show people you're a strong chess player? You could flex your muscles, but that's not really showing your chess playing strength. However, you can always flex your Elo rating to impress others.
Here's what you need to know about the Elo rating system:
- What Is The Elo Rating System?
- Why Does The Elo Rating System Matter?
- How Does The Elo Rating System Work?
- How To Increase Your Rating Using ChessKid
- Wrapping Up
- Elo Rating System Video
What Is The Elo Rating System?
The Elo rating system is a tool that was created by a physics professor and chess master named Arpad Elo. It's used to measure a player's strength when compared to other players.
The bigger the rating difference between two players, the more likely it is for the higher-rated player to win. That's why it's so hard to beat FunMasterMike or PlayfulSquirrel.
Everyone who plays rated games here on ChessKid gets a rating. You can check a ChessKid's rating by looking at the number that appears next to a player's username.
ChessKid's rating is not the only one in the world. FIDE measures players' official international rating, while the USCF measures the rating for players in the United States. There are also other federations around the world with their own official ratings.
Why Is The Elo Rating System Important
Can you imagine how boring it would be to play against the worst player in your school every time? And wouldn't it be frustrating to play against someone who always beats you easily?
One of the coolest things about ratings is that they make it easy to pair up people on the same level. Plus, it's useful to know who the best players are so we can learn from them.
Thankfully, getting matched up with the perfect opponent is simple here on ChessKid. We automatically do that for you when you play a Fast Chess game.
How Does The Elo Rating System Work?
The Elo rating system works by comparing players. For example, nowadays, the two best players in the world, GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Fabiano Caruana, have a FIDE rating higher than 2800. Their rating difference is not that big, so it's hard to tell who will win whenever they play each other.
Now, imagine that they're facing each other over the board. Whoever wins will get a rating increase, while the loser's rating will drop. Since Carlsen has a higher rating than Caruana, he'd probably lose some points if they drew the game, too.
However, Carlsen would probably win if he played someone whose rating is 2300 (like FunMasterMike). Because of that, if Carlsen and FunMasterMike did play a game and Carlsen won, he wouldn't get many rating points for his victory. On the other hand, he would lose a lot of rating points if FunMasterMike beat him.
How To Increase Your Rating Using ChessKid
You need to work hard if you want to become a better player and increase your rating. Luckily, it's much easier to do it with the help of ChessKid!
There are many tools you can use on our website to learn how to play better. One of them is our Lessons page, where you can find lessons about game-changing concepts.
You can also watch our many chess videos to learn even more about the game of kings!
Our puzzles will also help you a lot by turning you into a tactical ninja! Practicing tactics every day is one of the surest ways to get better.
There are many other resources you can use on ChessKid to become a better player like our Workouts, Vision trainer, Analysis board, and more. Remember: the harder you work, the better you'll get!
Wrapping Up
You now know what the Elo rating system is, how it works, and why it matters. Head over to our Library page to learn essential chess concepts that will help you get stronger and win rating points!