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USCF Rating System:
The national rating system is a way of comparing tournament strength and can be used as a predictor for your winning chances. Most scholastic tournaments use the Swiss System, which seeds players according to their USCF rating (new and unrated players are listed at random at the bottom of the list). Players with higher ratings are expected to have better results against players with lower ratings. However, upsets are common (that's why the game is played!), especially among younger players. After each tournament, the players' ratings are adjusted, depending on how they performed in the tournament. The official crosstables are usually received from USCF several weeks after the tournament was held, and it may take up to 2 months before the new ratings are official. (USCF issues the annual rating list in December, and supplements are issued every 2 months, in February, April, June, August, and October).
It is also important to remember that "Unrated" does not mean "zero". It simply means that the player has not been officially rated yet, and we do not know what his/her playing strength is. An unrated player may actually be quite strong.
Once rated, always rated - even if you do not play for several years, then resume playing tournament chess, your USCF rating is still active. It only goes up or down depending on your tournament results.
Unplayed games are not rated. If you win a game by forfeit (the other player did not show up) or received a "bye" (odd number of players, so you received a point even though you didn't play that round), your rating remains unchanged for that round. Only games in which pieces were actually moved by both players are rated. If your opponent resigns (gives up during the game), then the game is rated - it's the same as if you checkmated him/her.
Here are technical explanations/formulas for the USCF rating system:
Approximation formula
An even more technical explanation!
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