Hi, I only joined OGS recently, in order to play with an old friend abroad. We have both been playing for a few decades, although he hadn’t played for a while, so I gave him 2 stones in the first game.
I won the first few games, but then he found his legs again, beating me three time. The next game we started we found we could no longer start a ranked game, because the algorithm had decided he was 8kyu, and I was 18kyu!
According to your documentation, the algorithm is based on the last ten games. At that point we had only played 6 or so.
I also play on DGS, where I vary between 7-9 kyu.
We have since played some unranked games, so it is not a big deal, but it is mildly annoying!
Welcome! The rating algorithm is responsive which has some advantage too. If you feel underrated it’s a matter of few games to correct it and if you don’t want to do it with your friend, you can go play others.
Besides it’s ok to play unrated with him after all, the rating is mostly a tool to make people of same level play together.
Of all games you played, only two were ranked, and both of those were losses for you and wins for your friend. Since both of you were previously unranked, the system has no way of knowing how strong either of you actually is: it can’t compare you to other users on this site. You could be 4d and 7d, or 20k and 30k; without comparison to established players, the system can’t decide this.
Moreover, since both of you just started the account, you start with high rank uncertainty (that’s why your rank is displayed as [?]). What this does, is that the system will change your rank with larger jumps than if your rank is established. Usually it takes about 10 ranked games to settle at the right place, but this is under the assumption that those 10 games are played against other established players.
So, the bottom line is: if you wish to be ranked correctly, you’ll have to play more ranked games against people with an established rank.