Why does winning lower my rank?

[LionsRrr]

My overall rating (that is, the rating in the upper left) just went down from 1994 to 1978, after winning a ladder game (with 40.5 points) from an 8k opponent while I am ranked 4k. My opponent had challenged me in the context of the Site 19x19 Ladder. Should I conclude that anytime somebody challenges me in the ladder who is ranked 4k lower (or more) this simple fact will make my overall rating go down, win or lose??

[HowToPlay]

@_KoBa

Your “current” rating is the rating that everyone sees and is used when match making and computing handicaps. When you finish a game, we add the game to the list of games, and compute your new “current” rating by applying the results of those games to your “base” rating. When recomputing, we also use your opponents’ “current” ratings as opposed to simply the ratings they were when the game originally concluded

So when your win, your rank is counted by your last 15 ranked games (or last 30 days if ain’t that active,) based on what are your previous opponents rank now.

Have ya endured a losing streak lately or simply lost against someone whos lost few sones after your game? Those can have big impact when counting your tally

Perhaps this is why. You noticed a little decrease.

[springyboard]

In my case, the uncertainty value suddenly increases after a few games (I thought it would decrease over time)!

[Eugene]

It makes sense to me that uncertainty increases when you beat someone stronger than you - now we don’t know how much stronger than that higher rank you might have become.