# Rating Histogram Comparisons

This article provides a table and two graphs comparing three Go rating systems (AGA, EGD and KGS). A chess rating system (USCF) is included for those interested in comparisons, or more familiar with it.

### Table Comparing the Cumulative Histograms of Several Rating Systems

This table shows the rating you need to be at a given percentile of the players in each rating system.

Cumulative histogram comparison table
Percentile

AGA[1]

EGD[2]

EGD rank

KGS[1][3]

USCF[4]
(chess)
1% -34.61 100 > 20k -24.26 444
2% -32.58 100 > 20k -22.30 531
5% -27.69 153 20–19k -19.20 663
10% -23.47 456 17–16k -15.36 793
20% -18.54 953 12–11k -11.26 964
30% -13.91 1200 9k -8.94 1122
40% -9.90 1387 8–7k -7.18 1269
50% -7.10 1557 6–5k -5.65 1411
60% -4.59 1709 ~4k -4.19 1538
70% -1.85 1884 3–2k -2.73 1667
80% 2.10 2039 1k–1d -1.28 1807
90% 4.71 2217 2–3d 2.52 1990
95% 6.12 2339 3–4d 3.88 2124
98% 7.41 2460 4–5d 5.29 2265
99% 8.15 2536 5–6d 6.09 2357
99.5% 8.70 2604 ~6d 7.20 2470
99.9% 9.64 2747 7–8d / 2–3p pro 2643
top 10.12 2809 8d / 4–5p 9p 2789

### Notes

[1] KGS and AGA ratings are in AGA form: n kyu ≈ -n½, n dan ≈ +n½, with a jump from -½ to +½.
[2] The EGD cuts off at rating 100 = 20 kyu. This distorts the EGF graphs for the 1% and 2% percentiles.
[3] The 99.9% and top rating for KGS have been estimated as 2850 (8.5 dan amateur) and 3000 (10 dan amateur).
[4] USCF (United States Chess Federation) ratings, e.g. a master has a 2200 rating.

### Cumulative distribution function

The following diagram plots the four rating systems as a cumulative distribution function: the vertical axis shows the percentage of players up to the level indicated along the horizontal axis. The top scale shows USCF ratings, while the bottom scale shows AGA ratings[1].

Usage Example: You have rating 2000 USCF, and are curious what that is equivalent to in go. Find the point where the USCF graph crosses 2000, which is at about 90%. Then move straight up to see where the other graphs cross that percentile, which is (roughly) 2200 EGF (2 dan), 3 dan KGS and 5 dan AGA.

### Cumulative histogram

The following diagram plots the same data as a cumulative histogram.

The correspondence of the Elo (left) and Dan/Kyu (right) scales is based on EGF assignments.

### Data sources

The raw data for KGS and USCF ratings are in the form of histogram buckets. I used linear interpolation to estimate more accurate numbers. The raw data for the AGA and EGF was the entire list, so I simply used the rating of the players at the appropriate percentiles.