You might have heard someone say, "Oh, he's rated 2100." Or "Kasparov's rated over 2860, which is incredible." Meaning what? If you've been wondering, "What are ratings all about? How can I be rated?" then read on. Several systems are used by the major chess organizations to rate players in competitive play. If you are a novice, you will find many other new players at most of the open tournaments. How do you stack up against the world? Are you ready to find out?

In traditional "over-the-board" competition, a player is given a provisional rating at the end of his first tournament. If he wins the first game, he gets his opponent's rating plus 400 points; if he draws, he just gets his opponent's rating. And if he loses, he gets his opponent's rating minus 400 points. His provisional rating is based on the players' average rating in that first event (divide the total number of points by the number of games played.) For a complete explanation with examples see the United States Chess Federation's ratings page.

After completing 20 games, a player's rating becomes established. 20 games are considered enough to provide statistically meaningful results. Provisional ratings can initially allow for dramatic swings in one's rating. For example, if you are unrated and you beat a 1500-rated player, your provisional rating will suddenly be 1900. But if you lose the next game to the same player, your rating will drop to 1500. The more games you play, the less your rating will change each time. In top events, no player can move up or fall more than 32 points in any game.

Games between players with established ratings are rated on a 32-point scale, with 16 points added or subtracted from each player's rating (depending on the result) if the players are of equal strength. With each 25 points that separate the two players, one additional point is awarded the player with the lower rating and taken from the higher-rated player in the event of an upset. If the higher-rated player wins, he gains one additional point while the lower-rated player loses one additional point. For example, the lower-rated player would get 17 points for a win, and would lose 15 points with a loss, while the higher-rated player would earn 15 points by winning and lose 17 points by losing. The total number of points gained and lost in a game must equal 32.

If you live outside of the United States, how can you find out about ratings in your own country? Most countries have a national Chess Federation -- for example, the Australian Chess Federation, Brazilian Chess Federation, Canadian Chess Federation, Swiss Chess Federation - you get the idea (and you can visit their home pages on the Web). Each national Federation uses a rating system similar to the one used by the U.S. Chess Federation described above.

The international governing body for chess is the World Chess Federation, also known as Federation International des Echecs or F.I.D.E. which consists of the Chess Federations of its member countries. F.I.D.E. rates players based on their performance in major tournaments held around the world. You can find the ratings of all F.I.D.E. members at Chess Planet, the official Web site of F.I.D.E.

When you enter an official chess tournament in the United States, you will be asked to provide your USCF rating as well as your name and address, USCF ID number, expiration date and desired section. If you don't know your current rating, you can find it on the USCF online Web site (and for Chess Life Magazine subscribers, it is the first four numbers of the mailing label). Depending on your rating, you can win a prize as the top scorer of your rating group, or a section prize restricted to your rating group - without having to win the tournament. So ratings are important, and like most players, you will probably become increasingly interested in improving your own.

You say you just want to play at home online, but not enter a tournament just yet? Do you need a rating? Yup! Because your prospective opponent, sitting at a PC six thousand miles away, is going to ask, "What's your rating?" She doesn't want to play someone far below her level - nor do you. If you don't have a rating, it might be more difficult to find a game until you have a provisional rating.

When you play on the MSN Gaming Zone, you will find that the Zone uses the same rating formulas established by the United States Chess Federation (USCF). This system divides players into three basic categories. The higher the point category, the lower the number of points that players can earn in one game. For more about the USCF rating system, please see the U.S. Chess Federation's Web site.

The rating system provides an objective and reasonably accurate way for players to measure their progress. Most players are just as concerned with steadily improving their ratings as they are with reaching the heights of chess prowess. Don't become obsessed with ratings; as the American Grandmaster Maurice Ashley said in his recent (May 1999) Chess Life Magazine interview, "Relish the moments you're learning, as opposed to always thinking: 'I want to get those next ten rating points; if I don't get ten rating points, this tournament was a fiasco. I want to become a master, and if I don't become a master then everything I've done is meaningless.' It puts way too much pressure on yourself, and then you can't enjoy the process." Instead, he says, "You go over this game and think, 'The guy thought of this!!' Some kind of fairy-tale just happened on the board." That's why we play chess - for the profound pleasure and satisfaction.

--Art Fazakas

For those who are interested in reading about the new rating system endorsed by Garry Kasparov, here is an article by Dr. Ken Thompson which appears on Kasparov's own web site, Club Kasparov.