How to play Guess the Elo
Watch one anonymous player’s moves, estimate their Lichess rating, and find out how well you read the game. This guide explains the rules, the score, and the clues worth trusting.
The rules
A run contains five real rated games. In each round, White or Black is marked as the player you are judging. Play through as much of the game as you need, then move the rating slider and lock in your answer. Ratings stay hidden until you guess, and player names are not shown.
The number you are estimating is that one player’s Lichess rating, not the average rating of both players. Lichess and Chess.com ratings do not share one scale, so use the game in front of you rather than translating your own rating directly.
How scoring works
Each round is worth 1,000 points. One point is subtracted for every rating point between your guess and the answer, down to a minimum of zero. An exact guess is worth 1,000; a guess 120 points away is worth 880; a miss of 1,000 or more scores zero. A complete five-game run is therefore worth 5,000 points.
- Spot on: within 50 rating points.
- Close: within 150 rating points.
- Not far off: within 400 rating points.
- Way out: more than 400 rating points away.
After the reveal, the graph marks your guess and the answer. When enough other people have judged the same game, it also shows where their guesses fell. Your best five-round score is saved in this browser.
What to look for
Do not grade a player from one blunder. Strong players hang pieces, and beginners sometimes find excellent moves. Rating shows up more reliably as a pattern across the whole game.
- Purpose. Ask whether ordinary moves improve a piece, prevent a threat, or prepare something concrete. Consistent useful moves are a stronger clue than one flashy tactic.
- Tactical awareness. Notice what the player sees for both sides: loose pieces, forcing moves, zwischenzugs, and the opponent’s threats.
- Error recovery. A player’s response after the position changes can be more revealing than the original mistake. Stronger players tend to recognise the new problem and limit the damage.
- Time use. When move times are available, compare the difficulty of a move with the time spent on it. A long think in a critical position means something different from a long think on a forced recapture.
- Endgame technique. Converting an advantage, activating the king, and creating a passed pawn often separate rating bands more clearly than a familiar opening does.
Choose what kind of game to read
The speed picker lets you stay with bullet, blitz, rapid, or classical games, or mix them together. The phase picker can show the full game or concentrate on the opening, middlegame, or endgame. A player’s moves naturally look less precise with seconds on the clock, so always read the displayed time control before guessing.
Full games at mixed speeds are the broadest test. If you are learning, keep one speed selected for a few runs; the comparison between players becomes easier when the clock is not changing underneath you.
What the game does not tell you
This is a reading game, not a rating calculator. A single performance cannot establish somebody’s strength, and opening familiarity, time trouble, style, and a bad day all distort the evidence. The answer is the rating attached to that real game, not an engine’s opinion of what the player deserved to be rated.