Calculating your new rating is straightforward once you know the Elo Rating formula and what each input means. This guide explains the method in plain language, walks through a manual calculation, and gives worked examples you can follow — then you can do it instantly with the Elo Rating Calculator.
What is Elo Rating?
The Elo Rating calculation tells you your new rating from a few simple inputs. The figure you are solving for here is the new rating.
The Elo Rating formula
The core formula is:
New rating = Your current rating + K-factor × (Result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) - 1 ÷ (1 + pow(10, (Opponent Your current rating - Your current rating) ÷ 400)))Here is what each input means:
- Your current rating — a number. Example: 1,500.
- Opponent rating — a number. Example: 1,600.
- Result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) — a number. Example: 1.
- K-factor — a number. Example: 32.
How to calculate it step by step
- Write down the your current rating (for example, 1,500).
- Write down the opponent rating (for example, 1,600).
- Write down the result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) (for example, 1).
- Write down the k-factor (for example, 32).
- Apply the formula above to get your new rating.
- Double-check the result with the Elo Rating Calculator.
Worked examples
Example 1
| Input / Output | Value |
|---|---|
| Your current rating | 1,500 |
| Opponent rating | 1,600 |
| Result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) | 1 |
| K-factor | 32 |
| New rating | 1,520.5 |
| Expected score | 0.360 |
With your current rating of 1,500, opponent rating of 1,600, result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) of 1 and k-factor of 32, the new rating works out to 1,520.5.
Example 2
With your current rating of 3,000, opponent rating of 1,600, result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) of 1 and k-factor of 32, the new rating works out to 3,000.0.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| New rating | 3,000.0 |
| Expected score | 1.000 |
Example 3
With your current rating of 750, opponent rating of 1,600, result (1 win, 0.5 draw, 0 loss) of 1 and k-factor of 32, the new rating works out to 781.8.
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| New rating | 781.8 |
| Expected score | 0.007 |
Tips for an accurate result
- Keep your units consistent — mixing, say, months with years or grams with kilograms is the most common source of error.
- Round only at the very end. Rounding inputs early can shift the final answer noticeably.
- Re-run the numbers whenever an input changes, rather than estimating from an old result.
Prefer not to do the maths by hand? — the Elo Rating Calculator does it instantly, for free, with the formula and a worked example built in.
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