Alright, so here's what I know about ratings at IGS. These are exempt from rating:

• Games on boards other than 19×19
• Games of less than two moves
• Games with professionals (whose ranks have “p” attached)
• Games with players in Beginners Class
• Games with opponents more than three ranks different in strength (games in which the handicap is correct for a difference of three ranks or less will be rated).
• Games in the “free play room”, the room for practice games with robots
• Pair Go games

Now here's my win/loss-ratio and amount of rated games:

• won / lost 9 / 1
• rated games 4

Of these all wins have been either by points (3 games by me), resignation (6 by my opponents) or time (1 by me). 5 of these are 17k? vs 17k, 17? or 17k+ players. 2 of them are me as BC versus 17k players. And 3 are BC vs BC games. How do I make sense of this? If you want to read a version of this that's less comprehensible, you can go to my study journal.

Then how do beginners get a rating?

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

You play five games, and you get placed at 17k?.

I think you need to not play but actually win 5 games to become a provisional 17k. And those games need not qualify as rating games, obviously

So, what's the question? Or problem?
(Not that I know the answer, just curious.)

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- Bantari
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WARNING: This post might contain Opinions!!

Only the games you played against someone with a solid ranking count as "rating games." You still get 50 points added to your rating for the games with provisional players, though.