S4.4 - How Different Go Rating Systems Work & A New World Championship Tournament | Go / Baduk / Weiqi

This episode is from All Things Go, a podcast about the board game Go, also known as Baduk in Korea and Weiqi in China.

Travis reflects on a personal rating plateau before speaking with mathematician and Go player Nikola Tsarigradski about how different rating systems work. They compare Elo, Glicko, whole-history ratings, Fox-style promotion systems, and the dan-kyu system, with particular attention to uncertainty, predictiveness, handicap, and rating inflation or deflation. The episode then shifts to Gazza White, who introduces a new world championship tournament and considers what it could add to the professional Go calendar.

Full transcript, related episodes, and additional resources:

https://allthingsgogame.com/2026/07/27/go-rating-systems-elo-glicko-dan-kyu-world-tournament/

Join the All Things Go Discord community:

https://discord.gg/uf3jgEAA4J

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastAC

Nikola Interview

• The Elo rating system
• The Glicko and Glicko-2 rating systems
• https://www.goratings.org/en/
• The Fox Go Server rating system
• FIDE
• Dan Kyu rank system
• Top European amateur Lukas Podpera
• European pro Artem Kachanovskyi
• European amateur Viktor Lin

Gazza White Interview

• 1st Sopalkosanol World’s Top Player Championship - link
• Shin Jinseo breaks “the curse”

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