rating question

Why is it that when you have finished playing someone else that there rating drops considerably down. Much more than - 8 for instance. In one case 62!?   what's the explanation?  Does this involve cheating?

The site uses the Glicko rating system that includes a measure of rating uncertainty called the rating deviation (RD) value. Players with few games in a rating pool will have a higher RD and see larger rating changes after games.

As more games are played, the RD value decreases as does the magnitude of rating changes. Longer gaps in play cause an increase in RD and increases of rating changes.

As Martin points out, it's entirely possible for one player to gain or lose many more rating points than his opponent does, for the same game.

That's because the ratings of players who have few games played are much more "sensitive" than the better-established ratings of players with lots of games.

The Glicko algorithm tries to quickly "home in" on a rating for new players, so their first several games will involve large rating swings up or down.

The same is true if you take a long break from playing. After about a two-year break from playing rated games, my first game back on the website gave me more than 100 points.

That makes sense to me now. I do believe that when I played that individual his start date was recent. Thanks for the explanations.

1. Your opponents name
2. The image looks so cursed, getting 100 rating at that high of a level
I left for about 2 years too and my first rapid game gave me 50 points I believe