Ratings 2025-12-20.

[champion374]

Can someone explain the criteria of these ratings? https://www.usacheckers.com/ratings/index.php

I am not knocking any players but don't understand some players not played for long and very high in the ratings.

shock Kondlo is at 34 after finishing 6th in the usa open.

[clintolsen]

In 2008 the ACF changed the rating formula and stopped scoring results by round and started scoring results by game for all events. These changes had the end result of compressing the ratings for all players. Whereas before it might have been ~800 to ~2600, now it is more like ~1200 to ~2200.

Players who played prior to 2008 who play in a lot of events have moved to their new true rating very quickly. Other players who play perhaps only once every 5 years may take decades to get to their true rating. However keep in mind that players become inactive after not playing an event in 3 years (since the last ratings update), so some of the players at the top will be removed in the next year unless they play another event soon.

Another change that was made is that the ACF started processing ratings for all tournaments in all countries, not just those of ACF events. Some of these countries (Barbados, South Africa, Kenya & Italy come to mind) are full of many strong, experienced players, but since most of them only ever compete in tournaments against players in their own country, their ratings are lower than they should be.

The rating formula has a rule that says if you are an experienced player (>20 games played) and you play against someone who has less than 20 games played, your rating does not change whether you win or lose. That is designed to protect the ratings of players with established ratings vs very strong players playing their first event. However, it takes more than 20 games to get to your true rating if you are a very strong player. If you are a 2200 player like Kondlo and you play in a bunch of tournaments in South Africa, where many of the players have only played a handful of events, you are likely to see your rating decline rapidly because those players are generally lower than where they should be.

[champion374]

Thanks for clearing it up. I see Acf dont give titles only if you Play in a Acf Tournament i think that should be changed as well.