The Rating Revolution

The Rating Revolution: Why Your Rating Is Wrong, and What FIDE Can Do About It

By Vlad Ghita

With Foreword by Grandmaster Levon Aronian

Have you ever felt like your rating is stuck, even though your chess is getting better?

You are not alone. This is not just a feeling, but a measurable mathematical reality known as rating deflation. In the modern chess economy, the "purchasing power" of an Elo point has changed. A rating level today requires more theory, precision, and effort than it did a decade ago.

In The Rating Revolution, FIDE Arbiter Vlad Ghita strips away the biases of the current system to reveal the invisible shocks governing the FIDE rating list. Supported by a massive analysis of 24 million data points and correspondence with the architects of modern rating systems, this book is the definitive “investigation” into the deep fractures in the global chess pool.

What You Will Discover:

The Deflation Tax: Learn how established players are effectively "taxed" by the system, losing rating points even when playing accurately against undervalued opponents.

The Global Fracture: Discover why a 1900 rating in Germany does not mean the same thing as a 1900 in India. We map the Cross-Border Performance Index (CBPI) across 73 federations to show where ratings are "stretched" or "compressed."

Shark Factories: Explore why a new generation of digital-native juniors is entering the system at industrial scale, often carrying master-level skill behind a novice-level Elo.

The Ghost List: Understand why nearly 40% of the rating list are "ghosts"—inactive players whose stale ratings serve as a stagnant baseline for the active pool.

A Path Forward: Beyond the diagnosis, this book proposes a transparent, testable repair to restore one global rating currency.

From the Foreword of The Rating Revolution:

"Vlad looks at the FIDE rating list and doesn't just see a list of names. He sees a complex, breathing system... I believe anyone who loves the game will recognize the passion behind his research." — Levon Aronian, Grandmaster

Inside the Data:

Vietnam (+101 Elo), China (+100 Elo), and Uzbekistan (+96 Elo): These players consistently outperform their ratings in international play.

Germany (-55 Elo) and Switzerland (-64 Elo): These pools represent "overvalued" environments where the rating ruler is stretched the most.

Stop wondering why your number isn't moving. Join the revolution and see the truth behind the Elo!

This analysis is independent and was not commissioned or endorsed by FIDE.