Chess by the Numbers: Standings, Rating Expectations & Updates, Performance Ratings, Swiss Pairings, Tie-Breaks, Opening Statistics & Time Controls

What you'll build

What you will be able to do

Each lab ends with a concrete result that you build yourself and the checker confirms, cell by cell.

• Turn four rounds of the Ashgrove Autumn Open into a standings table: points from both colours, games played, score %, colour balance and the current leader.
• Calculate Bea's expected score in each of her six games, look up her K-factor in the club table, work out her rating change for the event and apply the club's rating floor to four other players.
• Estimate how strongly the newcomer Juno played in her first event – once with the club's score-% table and once with the linear rule – and then set first ratings for four newcomers with a minimum-games rule and a cap.
• Seed eight players by rating, pair the top half against the bottom half on four boards and give White to the right player on every board.
• After three rounds you size the score groups, mark the player who floats down, and check a volunteer's draft for round 4 for rematches and colour problems.
• Split the ties in the Autumn Open with three opponent-based scores, then rank four players tied on points in another event with a composite key.
• Read a fictional database of club games by opening line: draw shares, White's score %, a rough 95 % interval and a verdict that refuses to judge lines with too few games.
• Plan the next Autumn Open: game lengths from base time and increment, a round timetable over several days, prizes by rating band and a chart of Bea's rating progress.