Frequently Asked Questions

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1. What are Live Ratings?

Live ratings are daily updates of the chess ratings of top players. Usually such ratings are updated within 1 minute of a game finishing, if it is played in a top tournament. Live Ratings are based on official ratings (FIDE ratings) which are updated once a month.

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2. Why is the website called "2700chess"?

"2700" is considered the benchmark for the world’s elite chess players.

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3. Records.

You can see the highest FIDE ratings of every 2700+ player at http://test.2700chess.com/records Also you can see the Top-20 players were in any month starting from June 1967 as well as the greatest historical players and their virtual ratings as calculated by Professor Arpad Elo.

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4. Charts.

We are pleased to inform you that we combined all the official ratings for top players from 1971 to the present day. We’ve also included earlier unofficial ratings that commenced in 1967. You can also see data for any player when s/he was in top-100 at any time since 1967. Every chart point has info that can be seen by placing your cursor on it. You can compare players' charts using different filters.

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5. How can I find my favorite players' games?

You can find not only your favorite players' games, but probably your own games too! Just go to our database at 2700chess.com/games and start typing any players' name and Select the name you’re looking for from the auto-complete hints and press Search (or Enter).

Also you can select a famous player from drop-down menu at the right side of the White or Black Player Name. Another possible option is to do a quick search for the games from the main page.

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6. What features are available when I’m reviewing a game?

Quite a few!

You can see the player’s actual Age when the game was played.
The player’s national flag shows the federation he last represented (if s/he inactive or dead) or is currently representing, which may not be the flag s/he played under during the game.

You can also:
O analyze the game with a chess engine

O move pieces around from any position

O add comments

O play a training game vs Computer from any position in the game

O save your analysis and your played game(s) into your library

O check head-to-head results between these players

O compare their charts and

O download or print the game.

Last but not least, the url for the game is unique. For instance 2700chess.com/game/capablanca-alekhine-r1-buenos-aires-1927-09-16 can tell you quickly who played where and when.

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7. Daily Email Notifications about your favorite players (Live Rating, World Rank, Games).

To keep up with current events, you can receive daily e-mails that advise you of changes in live ratings, world rankings and games links (if available) for your favorite players. These e-mails will provide the information you need about games played in all three main formats: classic, rapid and blitz.

To make this happen, go to Settings/Email Notifications and add your favored player/s from the drop down menu. You will receive regular e-mails updating information about these players, which will be like reading your favorite daily newspaper!

This feature is available for Premium Members.

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8. Playing vs Computer

You can play a game against our computer at 2700chess.com/play-computer using different levels whose strengths range from 1400 elo to 2800 elo. Also you can play a training game from any position of your favorite game in our chess database. But please note, we recommend using a desktop computer when playing vs Computer since it usually takes less time to process a position, especially at the higher levels.

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9. What I can store in My Library?

After you’ve registered, you will have your own library on 2700chess where you can store your favorite games, favorite players, played games vs Computer, your analysis and uploaded games. However, to have unlimited access to your library you need to be a premium member.

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10. I can sort columns by Rapid or Blitz ratings or click the Rapid or Blitz tabs. Does doing so lead to the same result?

No. If you click on a column (on the row below the tabs), it sorts players’ names that are already within the tab which is activated (Classic, Rapid or Blitz). For example, the default position when you open the site is with the Classic tab open. If the rapid column is clicked with the Classic tab open, it will show the rapid rating of the top classic players already displayed.

But if you click on the Rapid or Blitz tab, then it will show you the best Rapid or Blitz players, regardless of their classical rating. If you then click the Top100 Tab, it will show the top100 in Rapid or Blitz.

You can also sort players (in every format Classic, Rapid or Blitz) by Name, Country, ranking s/he has moved up or down, net rating points lost or gained, or by Age.

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11. How can I find out exactly which players have been most recently updated?

You may see the progress in the following ways:
1) follow the players who have a live 2700+ rating in our daily pairings table
2) open the field linked to the magnifying glass icon on each players' line entry
3) check the Round Number in the list of Current Events
4) look at the games displayed in Chess Theatre.

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12. I believe that a particular player has 2700+ in rapid, but I can't see his name on the list of best Rapid players generated by clicking on the Rapid tab. Why is that?

It may happen because the player's rapid rating is inactive, which means he did not play any rapid games during the last year.

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13. I can't find my favorite player. Why?

Firstly, type his or her name in the Search field. It will search amongst the list of Top100 players (or amongst the Top50 Women’s players section). If this does not help, you can try to find him/her in the "All Fide Players" menu. Probably, the player is playing/played a chess tournament and his or her rating dropped out of Top100. If you are still sure your favorite player must be amongst the Top100/Women’s Top 50 then please email us.

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14. Can you tell me about Chess Leagues?

Chess Leagues are team events inside a country. Sometimes they are played over many months with one round per month, and take place on a weekend, but sometimes it is played every day like a usual chess tournament. A player is not obligated to participate in the entire tournament, unlike typical non-team tournaments.

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15. What do the "i" and "unrat." symbols mean?

"i" symbol means an inactive rating. Please note players with inactive ratings (who did not play a single for the last year) are not sorted in ranking lists.

"unrat." means player does not have a rapid (blitz)rating yet, inactive or active.

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16. What formula does FIDE use for calculating rapid and blitz ratings?

It's the same formula used for calculating standard ratings, but with K=20.

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17. What is formula for calculating Live Ratings?

The formula which is used for every game in live ratings and official ratings are the same as FIDE’s official rating calculation formula. You can find more info at https://handbook.fide.com/

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18. The game started but player 2 did not make a move. Is the game rated?

Whether unplayed games occur because of forfeiture or any other reason, they are not counted. Any game where both players have made at least one move will be rated. The result of the game is recorded as +:- or -:+.

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19. I saw the result recorded as 0:0. How is this possible?

The game was played but both players violated tournament policy. One example is where both players agreed to a draw prior to an official minimum move count for draw agreement. Instead of the game being recorded as 1/2:1/2, the result of the game is invalid, and thus 0:0 is recorded for tournament and for rating purposes.

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20. I saw the result recorded as 1/2:0. How is this possible?

It means that player A has a lone King (insufficient material to checkmate) and player B has enough material to checkmate player A. However, player B's cell phone made a sound and s/he therefore forfeits the game. The game is recorded as 1/2:0 for rating purposes.

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21. I also have a FIDE rating, but can't see myself in the list of “All FIDE Players”. Why?

Probably you have not played recently and your rating became inactive. Please choose “Both” in the “Activity” field and press Enter.

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22. I have an idea how to make 2700chess better.

If you have an idea how to improve 2700chess or if you found a mistake then please email us at info(at)2700chess.com

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23. Why is/are the name(s) of one or more players in bold in the Finished Events list?

Bolding a player's name means they won or shared first place in the event or were a member of a winning team.

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24. Sometimes I see that the last move in a game is a weird move with the King moving to the center, like Kd4, Ke5, Ke5 or Kd5. Why is that?

It happens when the arbiter puts the King/s into the center after a game finishes. Sometimes this happens before a result is actually recorded and that's why we can see an odd King move as the last game move.

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25. Do you plan to release an App for iOS and Android?

Not at the moment, but please note that since 2700chess.com has a responsive design, you can add the shortcut from any mobile browser directly onto your Home Screen. After doing that, you will get a pretty icon "2700" for quick access to our website.

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26. What is the criterion for a player to be listed as a Junior?

We monitor live ratings for the Top-20 Juniors (U21) players in the world. FIDE counts as Juniors all players who won't turn 21 in the current year. For instance, for the entire 2022 year Juniors must have been born not earlier than 2002, for the entire year of 2023 Juniors must have been born not earlier than 2023, etc.

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27. Why are some games unrated in rated matches?

Once a player wins a match, then any further games played are unrated.

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28. Why do some players have different K values (the development coefficient) for their rated games? How do I know which "K" I should use?

According to regulation 8.3.3 of the https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B022022

K = 40 for a player new to the rating list until they have completed events with at least 30 games.
K = 20 as long as a player's rating remains under 2400.
K = 10 once a player's published rating has reached 2400 and remains at that level subsequently, even if the rating drops below 2400.
K = 40 for all players until the end of the year of their 18th birthday, as long as their rating remains under 2300.

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29. Why some games are rated differentially against the low rated players?

FIDE Rating Regulation 8.3.1 https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B022022 says:

"For each game played against a rated player, determine the difference in rating between the player and their opponent. A difference in rating of more than 400 points shall be counted for rating purposes as though it were a difference of 400 points. In any tournament, a player may benefit from only one upgrade under this rule, for the game in which the rating difference is greatest."

Let us provide an example to help understand this FIDE rule:

A 2700-rated player (Player A) plays a nine-round classical time control tournament where he meets four players rated 2300 and below (a difference of 400 or more rating points). Assume that Player A loses in round 2 vs 2265 rated Player B, wins in round 5 vs 2300 rated Player C, draws in round 8 vs 2150 rated Player D and then wins in round 9 vs 2080 rated Player E.

For these four games we employ Regulation 8.3.1.

First, we take the game where the rating difference is greatest, that is: Player A’s round 9 win vs the 2080 rated Player E. We calculate the rating change under the "old 400+ point rule" whereby a 2700-rated player – in this case Player A - would get 0.8 rating points for a win against 2080 rated Player E.

For the remaining three games we use table 8.1.2 at https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B022022 and calculate the rating results according to this table. Please note, if a rating difference is 736 points or more, then the higher rated player cannot gain any rating points, but can lose 10 rating points for a loss, and lose 5 rating points for a draw.

Let's go back to our example. According to table 8.1.2, the round two loss against Player B (rated 2265 ) loses 9.4 rating points for Player A, the round five win against Player C (rated 2300) produces a 0.8 rating points gain for Player A, and the round eight draw against Player C (rated 2150) results in a rating loss of 4.7 points for Player A.

Summing these outcomes we get:

+0.8 -9.4 +0.8 -4.7 = -12.5

That is we get a combined rating loss of 12.5 points in these four games against players B, C, D and E, each of whom is rated 400 rating points or more lower than Player A, the 2700 rated player.

An important quirk to note in this revised system is that the rating calculations in these four games are not finalized until round nine is completed. This is illustrated in our example above where the greatest rating difference between Player A and these four opponents, Players B, C, D and E, occurs in round 9 against Player E thereby changing some of the preliminary calculations for the earlier games against Players B, C and D.

The ratings gains and losses in the games played in the other five rounds of this tournament are calculated using the pre-existing standard rating formula.

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30. Is it possible to check the highest rankings and ratings a player has ever achieved?

Yes, you can check by hovering your mouse (or click tablet/mobile) onto the Rating columns (classic, rapid, blitz) to check the pop-up information. For checking the best rankings it's the same but on the Rank (#) column, although here you need to log in first.