If you are a chess player rated below 2000, we have some good news for you – You will wake up tomorrow with an increased rating! The number of overnight points you may get depends on the rating you have today, and if you are impatient to see how much you will benefit, you can use the following formula: (0.40) x (2000 – Your current rating) = Free rating points added to your rating on March 1st, 2024.
But don’t count on free rating points for too long, this is just a one-off change that FIDE approved within the New FIDE Rating Rules. If you are a player rated above 2000, the news are not so good. The free rating points are awarded only to lower-rated players.
In addition, the FIDE Rating Rules effective from tomorrow increase the rating floor from 1000 to 1400, and there are two changes in the initial rating:
a. Unrated players achieving a plus score against rated opponents will have their initial rating calculated based on the performance rating derived from their percentage score, not by simply multiplying the plus score by (K/2). The maximum initial rating attainable via this method will not exceed 2200.
b. Modification of the initial ratings formula for unrated players to include two hypothetical opponents rated 1800, with the result of these two games considered as a draw.
Once again, we will have a 400-points rule in the chess tournaments which means that you’ll again be able to earn some rating points if you defeat a player whose rating is 400+ points lower than yours. The new rule says: A difference in rating of more than 400 points shall be counted for rating purposes as though it were a difference of 400 points, with no restrictions on how many times it can be applied during a single tournament, thus restoring it to the pre-2022 state.
