Starting ELO 1500

Hello guys,
I've been playing on this site since months; when I first registered my starting elo was 1200. After about 500 games, my elo changed in a range between 1200 and 1300 (but I had never reached 1300).
I stopped playing and deleted my account to focus on university, I was losing too much time on online games (chess, checkers, backgammon, etc.). When I registered here again, some days ago, the starting elo changed to 1500. Surprisingly I played and won against 1400+ rated players and my new elo is around 1400. This is happening because the new starting elo is 1500 or did I become suddenly better? Is the new starting elo raising this website players' average elo rating?

And another question for players who play real games (I don't): how much different is the real-life elo from online sites' elo?

Ciao

The rating system was replaced just before Christmas. If you look at the forum posts around that time, the difference is explained in detail.

The difference between real-life elo and online elo is usually is around 100 - 150 points. So if you're an 1400 player you'd be around 1530 in real.

This is because on the board you have slower time controls which makes you play different then you play online.

The above is, of course, incorrect. There are various OTB rating systems (depending on your country, etc...) but both FIDE and USCF ratings are likely going to be quite a bit lower (200-300 points) than lichess ratings.

Wow, only #2 is correct.

IT'S NOT ELO ANYMORE.

The new system is Glicko 2. It is used by just about every chess federation in the world besides FIDE. Elo is an outdated and inferior system. That's why Lichess switched away from it.

The starting rating is now 1500 as opposed to 1200. Every game in the database had ratings recalculated so you've probably seen a bump in your rating.

There is not much of a difference, you just have to adjust for inflation. The important thing is that your Glicko rating is a more accurate representation of your ability than your Elo rating.

About ratings and playing strengths, how Clarkey be certain players like Nixda and Li yuxe uses chess assistance?. I mean maybe they are just masters IM or GM who plays on lichess...

Aiming the gun a little fast there, Bordok. There's a team of moderators, I'm just particularly public and active on the forums.

There happens to be a correlation between cheating and having a high rating, so it comes as no surprise that someone like liyuxe could be cheating, he just didn't get caught until later on.

Hey everyone
People,please don't cheat...
Do experiment,drink some and play...
Your elo will decrease-don't worry,
Start new game and play alone,
Show that You are good and You can make up for the losses,
Pay "fair play",Deviation+/- 129,no problem if You are really good in this game,really

How much points is the difference between new and old rating? 300?