playBunny: Your examples do not take into account the ratings adjustments that would occur after each match -- presumably the point loss would be smaller each time your rating decreased (and the opponent's rating increased). However, I'm not convinced that your conclusion isn't right; we will have to see what comes out of the process. Since Fencer will always have the database of past results, it will always be possible to introduce a different formula if this one proves unworkable.

I always thought the ELO formula was unncessarily complex, though complexity counts for little in a computerized world. What about a formula that awarded a winner a number of points equal to C x (r/R), where C is a constant (such as 4), r is the loser's rating, and R is the winner's rating? The loser would subtract the same number of points. There could be a minimum adjustment (such as 1) and a maximum (such as 10).