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Ratings & formats

Glicko rating

A refinement of Elo that also tracks how certain your rating is (your 'rating deviation').

Glicko (and Glicko-2) add a reliability measure: a new or inactive player has a high rating deviation, so their number moves more; an active, established player's is more stable and moves less per game.

Most modern online chess servers use a Glicko-style system rather than plain Elo for exactly this reason.

Why it matters

It explains why your rating swings wildly at first and then settles — the system is getting more confident about you.

The mistake everyone makes

Reading early, high-deviation rating swings as real strength changes rather than the system still calibrating.

Related terms

Elo rating
A number measuring playing strength; you gain points for beating higher-rated players and lose them for losing to lower-rated ones.
Bullet, blitz, rapid, classical
The time-control categories, from a minute a side (bullet) to hours (classical).
Strategy
The long-term plan — where pieces belong and which structures to aim for — as opposed to tactics.
Tactic
A short, forcing sequence of moves that wins material or delivers mate.

See Glicko rating in your own games

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