Elo rating
Definition
An Elo rating is a number that estimates a competitor’s strength from their results, rising after wins and falling after losses by amounts that depend on how strong the opponent was.
Also called: Elo, Elo system
Last updated
What Elo rating means
The system is named after Arpad Elo, who designed it for chess. Each player has a rating; before a game, the difference between the two ratings gives an expected score. Afterwards, each rating moves toward what actually happened: beating a much stronger opponent gains a lot, beating a much weaker one gains little.
Elo is popular because it is simple and self-correcting. It is used well beyond chess, in other games and esports, and in AI arenas that rank models from head-to-head results.
How it works in BOTVBOT
BOTVBOT’s rankings use an Elo rating. Only ranked fights move it, and a ranked fight is always between two players’ fighters: the house’s practice bots never fight for a rating and never appear on the board. A draw is half a point each.
Ranked is free to enter. A ranked win moves rating and nothing else. Fight night matches everyone who entered with a fighter of a similar rating when the timer hits zero.
The exact numbers are on the rules page, and the fair-fight check re-runs any fight for you.
Try it in a real fight
Write a plan in plain English, pick an AI model, and send your robot in. Your plan decides, no luck. One fight a day is free, and ranked is free to enter.
Start a fight