This page explains how player ratings and the Moldova Draughts-64 Cup standings are calculated, and which numbers on the site are computed versus copied verbatim from the tournament protocol.
How the rating is calculated
Ratings are calculated using the International Draughts Federation methodology (FMJD, Annex 9). A new player starts at 1500.
While a player has fewer than 25 rated games, their rating is "provisional": it is derived from performance — the stage result and opponents' ratings — but performance is capped between 1300 (start minus 200) and 1800 (start plus 300) to avoid large swings after a single tournament.
After 25 games, status becomes "established" and the rating updates using the standard formula: the difference between actual and expected score, multiplied by a K-factor.
The K-factor depends on experience: 25 for a newcomer's first 30 games, 15 for regular players, and 10 once rating reaches 1700 ("master" status).
Only real games count — win, draw, or loss. Byes and forfeits (no game played) are excluded from the calculation.
Ratings are recalculated once per stage, simultaneously for all participants, based on the games played at that stage.
"Provisional" vs. "established" rating
With fewer than 25 games played, a rating is provisional and can shift more noticeably after a single tournament. After 25 games, the rating becomes established and moves more gradually.
Two independent lists: kids and general
The site keeps two separate rating lists using the same methodology but different players and history: "U11 rating" for the Cup's kids categories, and "Open rating" for adult participants.
The open (adult) rating has not yet been calculated or published — the list exists, but has no ratings in it yet. Only the U11 rating is currently public.
Moldova Cup: how points are awarded
The Cup season combines results from every stage of the year. At each stage, points are awarded for the player's place within their own category (not the overall tournament place), using a single points table:
- 1st place — 12 points
- 2nd place — 10 points
- 3rd place — 8 points
- 4th place — 7 points
- 5th place — 6 points
- 6th place — 5 points
- 7th place — 4 points
- 8th place — 3 points
- 9th place — 2 points
- 10th place — 1 point
How many places score depends on the category: three places (podium only) — for all kids', age, and gender categories; ten places — only for the main tournament's overall (adult) classification.
A participant's category is assigned automatically by gender and age (age = season year minus birth year): boys' and girls' U9, U11, U14, U17, U20 juniors, veterans 50–59 and 60+, plus the main tournament's overall classification.
The season Cup standings are the sum of a player's points from every stage they played in that category (no dropped stage). Ties are broken by the strength of individual stage results, then by earlier first participation in the season, then alphabetically.
Tie-break columns in tournament tables
Alongside place and points, a tournament table may show up to three extra numeric columns — carried over from the official tournament protocol as calculated by the chief arbiter; the site does not recompute them. The abbreviations mean:
- "Sk" (sometimes "S-l") — Buchholz coefficient: the sum of the scores of all of the player's opponents.
- "SB" — Sonneborn–Berger coefficient: the sum of the scores of opponents the player beat, plus half the scores of opponents the player drew with.
- "Slh" — Truncated Buchholz coefficient: the same as "Sk", but excluding the opponent with the lowest score.
Exact formulas (per the Draughts Competition Code) and worked examples are in the article "Tie-break coefficients in draughts".
What the site calculates vs. what comes from the protocol
- Calculated by the site: the U11 rating after each stage, and the points/final place in the Cup standings.
- Taken from the protocol unchanged: the place and points in a specific tournament, the number of games, tie-break coefficients (Sk, SB, etc.), and each participant's city and birth year as reported by the organiser.