ECF Grading Database

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Updated 17.5.2012

Table of Contents

The Grading Season
Lookups and wild cards
Player Lookup
Grade Categories
Ungraded players
Club Lookup
Player Profile and History
Game Lists
Player identification
Errors, Queries and Comments
How grades are calculated
Game Eligiblity
ECF to Elo conversions

THE GRADING SEASON

Grading lists, up to and including 2005-6, were produced once a year on a playing season running from 1st June to 31st May. Then twice-yearly Rapidplay lists were introduced, with a halfyear split at the end of November.

Starting in 2011-12, Standardplay lists are also produced twice a year. This means an adjustment to the grading season. A split at the end of November is unsuitable for Standardplay grading, because that is nowhere near the halfway point of the league season. The grading season is therefore moved on by one month, with halfyears starting on 1st July and 1st January. This requires a transitional halfyear of seven months running from 1st June 2011 to 31st December 2011.

Grading lists will continue to be published in late July and late January. A revision to the July list will continue to appear at the end of August in readiness for the start of the league season. Many leagues use the August revision throughout the season, even after the January list has appeared.

A list of Events Received for Grading in any year can be found in the ECF website’s Grading page.

The great majority of leagues send interim reports so that their results up to 31st December can go into the January grading list. A few do not, and all their results will go into the July list, using January grades. The January list will not be retrospectively amended to accommodate results reported late.

To see which leagues have sent interim reports, refer to Events Received for Grading (see above).

LOOKUPS and wild cards

You can search for Players by name; for Players by grading reference (Ref); or for Clubs. Type the whole thing, or the first few characters; the display will show all items that match the characters you typed. Searching is not case sensitive.

If you are unsure of a spelling, the wild cards * and ? can be useful. ? will match any single character, and * will match any string of zero or more characters. Thus m*cdonald will find both McDonald and Macdonald; sm?th will find Smith, Smyth and Smythe (as well as Smethurst, Smithers and Smithson).

PLAYER LOOKUP

Type the player’s name (surname first followed by a comma), or the first few letters. You will get a list of many players or few, depending on what you typed. There may be none if the player you seek is not there.

The database includes everyone who has played graded chess, even 1 game, since the early 1990s. Currently (March 2012 revision) the total is 99,104 players, of whom 12,292 have current grades. By default you will see only players with current grades. To see everyone, click on “include ungraded players”.

Sometimes a player will be highlighted in blue. This means his grade has changed since the original August (or January) list. See below under Grade.

Ref
A 6-digit number followed by a letter. This is the Grading Code used to uniquely identify players within the Grading Database. Clicking here takes you to the player’s Profile page with much additional information on the player, including his history back to 1994 (which is as far back as the electronic records go).

For some of the following items, you need to be looking at the player’s Profile.

Category
With each grade is a Category that indicates the extent to which games from earlier periods have been incorporated. Grades are based on the most recent 36 months maximum, and all Categories except X (the most active) are based on the most recent 30 games in that period, where 30 are available. Categories D and E indicate that fewer than 30 games are available.

The Categories were formerly different for adult and junior players, but this distinction has been dropped.

Category definitions:
X – Grade based on all games (at least 30) played in the latest halfyear
A – Grade based on the 30 most recent games, all played in the latest 12 months
B – Grade based on the 30 most recent games, all played in the latest 24 months, including at least 20 in the latest 12 months
C – Grade based on the 30 most recent games in the latest 36 months, of which at least 10 were played in the latest 12 months
D – Grade based on 15 or more games in the latest 36 months, of which at least 5 were played in the latest 12 months
E – Grade based on 9 or more games in the latest 36 months, of which at least 1 was played in the latest 12 months

Players not meeting any of these requirements are ungraded. Players may have a Standard or Rapid Grade only, if they have not met the requirement for both rates of play.

Grade
is self-explanatory, unless it is zero. A grade of zero is not a grade. It means the player’s performance is zero or negative.

The Profile shows the current grade twice. Normally both versions will be the same. The first is the player’s up-to-date Grade, including any revision made since the original August (or January) List. It will be highlighted if it differs from the second. The second version is the August (or January) grade.

Revised Grades are official and will be used in calculations for the next grading list. For eligibility purposes, however, the ECF will use August Grades throughout in its season-long Standardplay competitions. Other organisations may wish to do the same.

Club(s)
Up to six clubs are shown. Where a club (or County) name is followed by an asterisk (*), it denotes a location rather than a club.

Clicking on a Club takes you to a list of the club’s members. They can be listed in alphabetical order (click on ‘Name’), in Standardplay Grading order (click on ‘Grade’), or in Rapidplay order (click on ‘Rapid’).

If a club name appears twice, this means that at some time in the past the club merged with another club. Both club references have been retained temporarily.

It is also possible to access a club (or county) by means of the Club lookup box. See below: Club Lookup

Games
The first figure is the number of games played in the latest 12 months. The second is the total number of games counted. It may be greater than the 12-month figure if games have been used from the previous two seasons. It may be less in the case of an X Grade, because X grades are calculated over 6 months only.

Rank
The player’s rank (Standard or Rapid), excluding FIDE-registered players with nationality other than English. Players graded 0 are not ranked. The total number of ranked players is currently 9451 (Standard), 4070 (Rapid).

FIDE
For FIDE-registered players this shows their FIDE code. Clicking on the Code takes you to the FIDE website, which gives the rating details.

PLAYERS WITHOUT A CURRENT GRADE

By default, a lookup will only show players with a current grade. But everyone is in the database, including last month’s single-game new players as well as people who have not played since the early 1990s. To see everyone, tick the “include ungraded players” checkbox. This will usually increase the number very substantially.

Note that deceased players are treated as ungraded for this purpose, even if they have a current grade.

CLUB LOOKUP

It is possible to access a club or county directly through the Club lookup box. Type the club (or county) name, or the first few letters. In the resulting display:

1) The first column shows all clubs (and counties) whose names match the letters you typed. Click on one to see all its members.
2) The second column is similiar to the first, but the arrowhead allows you to see all members including inactive players.
3) The ‘County Team’ column refers to the county to which the club is affiliated. Click to see everyone who has played for the county.
4) The ‘Clubs in County’ column is the most inclusive. Click on it to see all members of all clubs affiliated to the county.

On the accuracy of club affiliations, see Club affiliations further down.

PLAYER PROFILE AND HISTORY

The player’s Profile is accessed by clicking on his Grading Code (“Ref”). Among other things it shows all his grades going back to 1994. Remember that grades earlier than July 2009 are Old Grades. For the switch to New Grades, see the New Grades page.

GAME LISTS

These were introduced in January 2012. From a player’s Profile you can access his game results for the current period (as reported so far), or for previous periods. Either click “View” for your chosen period in the Grade History section, or click “Standard Games” or “Rapid Games” at the top. You can navigate between one period’s games and another.

Game lists cover 6-month (or 12-month) periods. They may not show all games that went into the grade for that period. The grade will usually have included games brought forward from earlier periods, and to see these you must refer to earlier game lists.

Opponents’ grades (and “starting grades”)

In a game list, the opponent’s grade is given with each game. This is the grade which was, or will be, used in calculating your next grade. Normally it is his grade at the time of the game; but note that if a game has been reported late and gone into the “wrong” grading list, the grade used – and shown – will be the one current at the time of grading.

Note the special treatment of opponents who are ungraded or juniors. There are two different cases:

(1) In a current-period game list, ungraded players are shown without grade; juniors are shown with their actual grade, but in brackets to show that it will not be used in calculating your grade (see How grades are calculated below).

(2) In a previous-period list, ungraded players and juniors are shown with the “starting grade” which was actually used in calculating your grade. It will be marked with an asterisk. A junior opponent’s “starting grade” may be quite different from his previous published grade. Again, see How grades are calculated.

PLAYER IDENTIFICATION

A major problem experienced by graders is the identification of players. Players with similar names are sometimes wrongly conflated. More often, a single player acquires two (or even three) identities because no one is sure whether it is the same person each time. It is helpful if:

(1) Event organisers and match captains ensure that they report: players’ forenames (not just initial and surname); their date of birth if known; and, where possible, their Grading Code from this List. In the case of new players, congress organisers must report the club (or place of residence). For existing players, if they report the club they must ensure that it comes from the player himself. Not from this list. Clubs in this list may be out of date.
(2) Players make sure that event organisers have their correct details. If moving to a different area, or playing in a new event, players should ensure that match captains and congress organisers know where they are from and enter their Grading Code and full name on result sheets and pairing cards (or in their computer files as the case may be).

Date of Birth and Age

Date of birth is very helpful in player identification. Additionally, as the junior grading enhancement is based on age, it is especially important that we have the DoB for juniors. (See below: How ECF Grades are Calculated)

Date of birth is not published. Age is published for Juniors only. For a July or August list it is their age on 31st August in the year of publication. For a January list it is their age on 31st August preceding publication.

ERRORS, QUERIES & COMMENTS

Every effort is made to ensure that this List is as accurate as possible. Among other things:

1) Events are monitored to ensure, as far as possible, that nothing slips the net. There is constant contact between the ECF and the local graders.
2) A list of Events Received for Grading is published on the ECF website so that players can alert us to possible missing events. This list is continuously updated.
3) A statistical check on the integrity of the Grading List is performed.

But errors of detail will occur, and the ECF is always ready to correct them. Corrections will appear in the next update of the online list. (It is updated every month or so.) If corrections are made to a previous grading period, grades will be corrected retrospectively.

1) Player details. Please let us know if your name (or your age, or other detail) is incorrectly recorded. You will be answered promptly, and any errors will be corrected. Write to the Grading Administrator via the Grading Feedback Form. Or you can contact him at grading@englishchess.org.uk.

Also let the Administrator know if you find you have two (or more) different entries in the list. He can easily merge them. Until they are merged, your grading calculations may be incorrect.

2) Game results. Players are advised to check that their current-season results (as published on this site) are correct. If results appear to be missing, remember that leagues will usually report only twice a year, and that congresses vary in promptness. (Check “Events Received for Grading”.) In the case of incorrect results, your first contact should normally be with the organisers of the event. The ECF can only grade what organisers send. But it will always correct errors which can be confirmed by the organiser, by the local grader, or indeed by the opponent. There will be cases where it is best to contact the Grading Administrator direct. (For example, you may find you have been credited with games in an event you did not even play in.)

Do not worry about things like incorrect or meaningless board numbers, or even incorrect colours. Such errors are not rare, but they have no effect on grading.

Note that one class of correction is usually not feasible:

Club affiliations
Club affiliations cannot be always up to date. They are a record of clubs you have belonged to over the last two or three years. Please do not write to say you have left one club and joined another. The system is automated. Your new club will be registered automatically as soon as the ECF receives results going with it. Your old club will disappear automatically after two or three years, and in the meantime is useful for identification purposes.

Sometimes the automatic deletion fails because organisers have gone on quoting your old club (don’t let them do this!). Please write if a lapsed club lingers for more than three years.

HOW ECF GRADES ARE CALCULATED

The basic method of calculation is as described in the next few paragraphs. For juniors, however, there are differences as described further down.

Points are allocated in respect of each game. For a win you score the opponent’s grade plus 50, for a draw the opponent’s grade, and for a loss the opponent’s grade minus 50. “Grade” means his grade current at the time of the game †. There is a proviso that if your opponent’s grade differs from yours by more than 40 points it is assumed to be exactly 40 above (or below) yours. This is to prevent a player increasing his grade by losing to a much stronger player, or decreasing his grade by beating a much weaker player. If an opponent (or the player himself) is ungraded, a grade is estimated, using all available information. See Estimating a starting grade for an ungraded player below.

† In the interval between the end of a grading period and publication of the new grades, the “current” grade for calculation purposes is the new, as yet unpublished, grade.

The grade is calculated by dividing the total number of points scored by the number of games played. If there are 30 or more games in the most recent halfyear, then the grade is based on these games alone. If there are not, it is based on the most recent 30 games played; or on all the games played in the last 36 months if that is less. In no case does calculation go back more than 36 months.

How is “most recent 30” interpreted if a number of games share a date and only some of them are required to make up the 30? Answer: the system takes as many as are required, at the average score for the date.

Juniors

The treatment of juniors, since 2009, is different. Junior Grades become so rapidly out of date that it has been decided to treat juniors, effectively, as new players each year. See ‘Estimating a starting grade for an ungraded player’ below.

For juniors, an enhancement is added to the Grade to take into account their expected improvement over the year.

Standard	Increment	Rapid	Increment
0-10	10	0-10	10
11-17	5	11-17	5

The enhancement is added after all calculations are done, and is included in the published Grade.

Estimating a starting Grade for an ungraded player

A Rapid grade, where available, will be used in default of a Standard Grade; and vice versa. If the player has no grade at all, a starting grade is calculated as follows.

Stage 1 is to calculate a ‘grade’ for each ungraded player on his games against graded opponents. The 40-point rule is not used. If all his opponents are graded, it stops there and the result will be used as his starting grade.

Stage 2 brings in games between the ungraded players. Once again the 40-point rule is not used. The players are ‘graded’ on all their games, using as starting grades the figures obtained from Stage 1.

The resulting ‘grades’ will not be very accurate. So they are fed in again as new starting grades, and Stage 2 is repeated. This continues, with increasing accuracy each time, until the figures (more or less) stop changing. The starting grades can then be considered accurate.

These starting grades are then used in the grading proper.

GAME ELIGIBILITY FOR GRADING

Games can only be graded if they are played under acceptable conditions, with clocks. Lightning and Correspondence games are excluded.

It is required that:
a. The FIDE Laws of Chess are used.
b. One of the following rates of play is complied with:

1. Rapidplay
Either:
i. Each player must have at least 15 minutes but less than 60 minutes for all of his moves. This includes both the initial time control and any subsequent time controls or quickplay finish.
ii. When Fischer (cumulative) mode is used then, using the assumption that the duration of the game is 60 moves, each player must have at least 15 minutes but less than 60 minutes.

2. Standardplay
Each player has more time than the maximum defined above for Rapidplay.

CONVERSION BETWEEN FIDE ELO, NATIONAL ELO and ECF Gradings

ECF x 8 + 650 = FIDE
(FIDE – 650) / 8 = ECF

ECF x 8 + 600 = National Elo
(National Elo – 600) / 8 = ECF

For convenience, here is an illustrative table:

ECF	FIDE	Other National	ECF	FIDE	Other National
60	1130	1080	170	2010	1960
70	1210	1160	180	2090	2040
80	1290	1240	190	2170	2120
90	1370	1320	200	2250	2200
100	1450	1400	210	2330	2280
110	1530	1480	220	2410	2360
120	1610	1560	230	2490	2440
130	1690	1640	240	2570	2520
140	1770	1720	250	2650	2600
150	1850	1800	260	2730	2680
160	1930	1880	270	2810	2760