There has been a bit of discussion on the ranking system, so I will put in my two cents.
I think that the perfect rating system would encourage lots of games, be easy and fast to calculate, and accurately show the top players. The current system does the first two perfectly, and does the last one to some extent. Something like ELO would encourage lots of games and accurately show top players, but some sort of ELO calculator would need to be used for every single games. Maybe this could be reasonable in a small elite league with just a dozen or fewer players, but not giant leagues like this. Another option is simply win percentage with a minimum requirement for games played, but this would discourage playing someone better than you. Also, what has been suggested is +1 for a win and -1 for a loss. However, no one would want to play the person who is very active and 10-0 and they would never play any more games, and end up not winning. So here is my attempt at a rating system.
+1 point for a win
-1 point for a loss against someone with fewer points than you
No points lost for a loss against someone with more points than you
Let's go back to the three criteria for a rating system.
1.) Encourage lots of games: The bad players will have nothing to lose when playing a good player, and the good players will need a lot of games in order to finish with a high spot. You might think, "Well even the second best player has someone better than him he would like to play." True, but the second best players will have a pretty good chance to beat someone at the bottom of the rankings, and will average more wins than losses, thus a point increase.
2.) Easy and fast to calculate: This will be slightly more difficult than the regular system because the winner will have to post whether or not he had more points than the loser. However, it is still very easy and fast to calculate.
3.) Accurately show the top players: I think this is done better than the current system and most others suggested. It is impossible for someone to beat the worst players half the time and finish with a high position. Also, the super-good player will not have his challenges decline by worse players.
So...Do you like it?