Arpad Emmerich Elo ( August 25, 1903 – November 5, 1992) was a Hungarian-American physics professor who created the

Elo rating system The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

for two-player games such as

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

. Born in

Egyházaskesző Egyházaskesző () is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary.Street map

Notable people

...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, he moved to the United States with his parents in 1913. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in 1925 and 1928, respectively, both from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he also played chess in the Chicago Chess League. Starting from 1926 until his retirement in 1969, he was a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

instructor at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. By the 1930s he was the strongest chess player in Milwaukee, at the time one of the nation's leading chess cities. He won the Wisconsin State Championship eight times, and was the 11th person inducted into the

World Chess Hall of Fame The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a nonprofit collecting institution in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1984, it features chess exhibits, engages in educational outreach, and maintains a ...

. He also served as the president of American Chess Federation (predecessor of

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national Chess ...

) for terms 1935 and 1936. Elo died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at his home in

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city in eastern Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It had a population of 41,464 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Town of Brookfield and is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History Brookfield i ...

, on November 5, 1992.

The Elo rating system

Elo is known for his chess player rating system. The original player rating system was developed in 1950 by

Kenneth Harkness Kenneth Harkness (byname of Stanley Edgar; November 12, 1896 – October 4, 1972) was a chess organizer. He is the creator of the Harkness rating system. Life and career He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He was Business Manager of the United Stat ...

, the Business Manager of the

. By 1960, using the data developed through the Harkness Rating System, Elo developed his own formula which had a sound statistical basis and constituted an improvement on the Harkness System. The new rating system was approved and passed at a meeting of the United States Chess Federation in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in 1960. In 1970,

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

, the World Chess Federation, agreed to adopt the Elo Rating System. From then on until the mid-1980s, Elo himself made the rating calculations. At the time, the computational task was relatively easy because fewer than 2000 players were rated by FIDE. FIDE reassigned the task of managing and computing the ratings to others, excluding Elo. FIDE also added new "Qualification for Rating" rules to its handbook awarding arbitrary ratings (typically in the 2200 range, which is the low end for a chess master) for players who scored at least 50 percent in the games played at selected events, such as named

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

s.D.V.02. Asian Cities Championship
, FIDE Handbook

Book

*''The Rating of Chess Players, Past and Present'' (First Edition 1978, Second Edition 1986), Arco.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elo, Arpad 1903 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American physicists 20th-century Hungarian chess players 20th-century Hungarian physicists American chess players American statisticians Chess theoreticians Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Hungarian chess players Marquette University faculty Sportspeople from Milwaukee 20th-century American chess players