Core Philosophy

In traditional chess, 90% of games between experienced players are decided by who memorized more engine lines in the opening. Eternal Gambit removes the opening phase altogether. Both operators enter directly into sharp, chaotic, imbalanced positions where victory requires pure calculation, psychological composure, and tactical defense under clock pressure.

Role Dynamics: Attacker vs. Defender

Matches start with an evaluation imbalance. The system assigns:

Attacker: Has the initiative or material advantage. Must press the attack and convert cleanly.
Defender: Faces tactical pressure or material deficit. Must survive, construct tactical traps, hold the draw, or deliver a counter-strike.

How the Eternal Rating Works

Every game has an expected score: how well someone of your rating should do, in your role, on this board, against this opponent. Your rating moves by how far you beat or fall short of it. A player who is exactly as strong as their rating gains nothing on average, whatever they are dealt. Nothing is given for showing up, and nothing is taken for being handed a hard board.

The expected score weighs four things, all in one number:

The rating gap. Beating someone stronger is worth more; losing to someone weaker costs more.
Your role and the starting evaluation. The Attacker's engine edge is turned into a head start in rating points. The bigger the edge, the more is expected of the Attacker. A draw is worth exactly what the expectation says: when you were expected to lose (a worse board, a stronger opponent), holding it gains rating, and the other side loses the same.
Complexity. A sharp position is harder to convert, so its edge counts for up to 40% less.
Who you play. Against bots, the weights are measured from real games; between players, from the chess curve.

Role	Result	+1.0 board	+2.5 board
Attacker	Win	+7	+6
Attacker	Draw	−1	−2
Attacker	Loss	−9	−10
Defender	Win	+9	+10
Defender	Draw	+1	+2
Defender	Loss	−7	−6

Rating change against a player of your own rating, established player, average complexity. Upsets move more: holding and winning as Defender against someone 300 points stronger is about +14.

How far a game moves you: your first three games in a role move it 64, 48 and 32 times the surprise, the next seventeen 24, then 16 below 2000, 12 below 2400 and 8 above. Each role has its own rating; your overall rating is their average.
Bots play like their rating. Measured against real results, the number on their badge is how they play.
Against bots, defending is easier. In real games the defending side scores about two in three at equal ratings, so less is expected of the Attacker: as Attacker a win is about +11, a draw +3, a loss −5; as Defender a win +5, a draw −3, a loss −11. The weights are refitted as new games come in.

Your Starting Rating

Eternal Gambit is harder than ordinary chess, so a rating here is earned, not given: every role starts at800. The Gatekeeper's puzzles are rated 2000 to 2400, and each one counts as a rated game against the puzzle. Missing a puzzle far above you says only that you are below it, so it costs almost nothing. Solving one is worth a lot, and more the faster you are.

Two puzzles in a role	Starting rating
Missed both, or skipped the Gatekeeper	800
One solved in 45 seconds, one missed	1209
Both solved on the buzzer	1299
Both solved in 45 seconds	1621
Both solved in 10 seconds	1779

Your three placement games in each role then move fast, so a strong player climbs to their level within a few games. The time on each puzzle is measured by our server, not your browser.