I don't understand the ELO system. Need help!

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I just played a game and it was an amazing game in my eyes (particularly the end).(M.B.Raho vs. Otonomos),
However, I lost, and I’m fine with that.

My issue is that my opponent and I were very close in ELO, I started with +4.5 Komi giving M.B.Raho a handicap. On top of that I lost, due to timer which AI agrees that I was hugely in lead and was even about to win (“Variation: White wins” in the chat.), and then I lost 11 ELO, which took ~3-4 wins to earn.

I just want to confirm this is all as it should be, as it feels a little harsh.

I played a previous game against a weaker opponent and they were given a handicap, then I gained 1 ELO. I really don’t understand the system.

I have a little goal in my head of hitting 700 before I really get into 13x13, but the system is making it very hard for me to do this. I’m sure ill get to 700 at some point, but dang the system is making it harder for me.

Does anyone better understand the ELO system and can help me to understand it?

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To nitpick, OGS uses Glicko-2. Very similar to Elo, but not the same.

To uber-nitpick, it’s Elo, not ELO :face_savoring_food:

Glicko/Elo/OGS rating system does not care about your predicted winrate during the game. It only cares who won or lost.

Were the 3-4 previous matches also evenly matched? If, for example, you were playing weaker players, it is expected that you’d need more wins to make the rank rise.

My recommendation is not to try to predict your ratings points with such precision. Here is a very high level way to look at it:

  • if there is a “surprising” outcome: your rank changes a lot
  • if there is an “unsurprising” outcome: your rank changes a little

What is a surprising outcome? It could be a 12k beating a 3d. Or a 5k beating a 5k with a 5 stone handicap.

If you are 15k and you beat a 25k on an even game, your rank will not change much because this was a predictable result. The system cannot really tell you are better than 15k. Playing evenly ranked games gives a much higher signal to the system.

Finally, you might be able to understand the system better by playing with @shinuito’s rating calculator:

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It does appear that the 3 preceding games were against “weaker” opponents. Light green/purple = weaker, adjusted for handicap.

If you want to rise with fewer games, you’ll want to play stronger opponents, but you also have to win them :wink:

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This was really helpful! thank you!
My last question, is my opponent had 30 ELO lower then me, why did they get a handicap, even a small one?

I’ve been ~300 and vs ~700 and they had no handy cap? Can I turn handy cap for others up or down or OGS decide this?

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It depends of your choices ( with handicap or not, automatic or not). The system to rate will adjust itself.

One limitation is with komi. If you change it, your game will not be rated.

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How do you usually create a game? There are a number of ways to control handicap.

  • If you do automatch, OGS will set the handicap for you.
  • If you do custom games, you can set the handicap yourself, or select auto-handicap and OGS will set the handicap.

More info here:

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