Reading a US Chess Rating Report

Congratulations for playing in a US Chess rated tournament or for encouraging your child to play in one!

If you asked to get notified when your rating is updated in your US Chess membership profile, then you will receive an email with a link to your tournament’s rating report.

If you played in one of our rated tournaments, then you can also access your event’s rating report from this list: http://www.uschess.org/msa/AffDtlTnmtHst.php?H6041494

I will use this example from the 2021 US Championship to explain how to read your rating report:

Before your name, you will see your pairing number for the event. In this example, Fabiano Caruana has pairing number 1, and Wesley So has pairing number 2.

Under your name you will find your US Chess member ID, the type of rating (R=regular, Q=quick, B=blitz, OR=online regular, OQ=online quick, OB=online blitz), and your rating before the event followed by your rating after the event. In our example, Caruana’s regular rating changed from 2871 to 2861.

The next column will show the total number of points that you earned in the event. You will get 1.0 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In our example, Caruana, So, and Sevian tied for first with 6.5 points.

If you do well in a tournament, you may earn a norm. If you do, then the information below the “Total Pts” score shows the highest norm you earned in this event. For more information on norms, see The USCF Title System.

The columns after the “Total Pts” column will list your result for each round in the tournament (W=win, D=draw, L=loss, X=forfeit win, F=forfeit loss, U=unpaired), the pairing number of your opponent, and whether you played the W=white or B=black pieces. In our example, in round 4 Caruana got a draw with So while playing Black.

For more information about US Chess ratings and rating reports, please see:

• Frequently Asked Questions about the US Chess Member Service Area
• US Chess Rating System
• Wikipedia article on the ELO rating system

Congratulations, again, on playing in a rated tournament!

Now that your child knows their new rating, please help them analyze their games using the ChessKid Analysis Board.

If you have any questions about reading your rating report, please ask by submitting a comment below.