I used to agree with you ted. I thought games within a match should be rated individually. But I have changed my thinking. Now, I can challenge someone that I am fairly confident I can beat to, say, a three wins match. If I stumble and make a boneheaded move, I might lose one game, but since only the entire match is rated, the loss does not appear in my ratings. Is this fair? Maybe not. But, since we all play under the same ratings rules, maybe it is. It should certainly encourage the top players who want to protect their ratings to play more, and that is a very good thing. I know of other gaming sites where that is a big problem. I'm sure that doesn't solve your problem, but maybe it softens the sting a little. ;-)