Q: Why do I always lose to Player B, even though she is rated 20 points below me?

A: Ratings are most useful for giving an indication of a player's likely performance in a tournament where several opponents are played. In the situation mentioned by Player A there could be several reasons, such as Player A's main weakness is Player B's particular strength, or simply Player A convincing himself that he is going to lose. And there have been several examples where Player A is married to Player B and the results between them are quite different from the outcome suggested by their ratings!

Q: In a recent tournament, I had a win for a bye. Will this win be rated?

A: No.You have to actually play a game for it to be rated. Byes are always ignored for ratings purposes

Q: I played in the Vectis and the Isle of Wight tournaments. Are these rated together?

A: No. Associated events such as the ones you mentioned, or the Ladies and BMSC are distinct tournaments and are rated separately. All players who competed at Vectis would have their ratings recalculated after that event, and the new figures used for the Isle of Wight event.