Miscellaneous details

The following is a list of miscellaneous details of the rating system.

• All games played in USCF-rated events are rated, including games decided by time-forfeit, games decided when a player fails to appear for resumption after an adjournment, and games played by contestants who subsequently withdraw or are not allowed to continue. Games in which one player makes no move are not rated.

• The rating calculations apply separately to the QC and regular chess rating systems. Other than the use of imputing initial ratings for unrated players, there is no formal connection between these two systems.

• After a full-$K$ event, each players' value of $N$ is incremented by $m$, the number of games the player competed in the event. If the event is half-$K$, then each player's value of $N$ is incremented by only $m/2$.

• Individual matches are rated with the following restrictions:
  1. Both players involved must be rated, with the difference in ratings not to exceed 400 points (the latest published rating prior to the match will be used for calculating the rating difference).
  2. No player may go up or down more than 200 rating points within a three-year period solely as a result of Match play.

• Ratings are stored as integers. During the rating of an event, intermediate computations are done using floating point arithmetic. When a post-event rating is less than the pre-event rating, the rating is rounded down. Conversely, when a post-event rating is greater than the pre-event rating, the rating is rounded up. The practical effect is that a positive result earns at least one point per event, and a negative result loses at least one point per event.

• The USCF Executive Director may review the rating of any USCF member and make the appropriate adjustments, including but not limited to imposition of a rating ``ceiling'' (a level above which a player's rating may not rise), or to the creation of ``money floors'' (rating floors that are a result of winning large cash prizes).