A player's BCF Grade is an indication of his/her strength. With each Grade is a category, which indicates the extent to which games from previous years have been considered in the Grade calculation, as follows:
| A | BCF Grade based on 30 or more games in the current season. |
| B | BCF Grade based on 30 games from the current and previous season, of which at least 20 were played in the current season. |
| C | BCF Grade based on 30 games from the current and previous two seasons, of which at least 10 were played in the current season. |
| D | BCF Grade based on 15 or more games from the current and previous two seasons, of which at least 5 were in the current season. |
| E | BCF Grade based on 10 or more games from the current and previous two seasons, of which at least 1 was played in the current season. |
Points are awarded for each eligible game. For a win the points are the opponent's Grade + 50; for a draw the points are the opponent's Grade and for a loss the points are the opponent's Grade - 50. The opponent's Grade is taken from the appropriate current Grading list. The Grade is the average of all points accumulated (the total number of points gained divided by the number of games played). Separate grading lists are maintained for standard and rapid play.
If there are thirty or more games in the current period, then the Grade is based on all the games played in the current period.
If less than 30 eligible games have been played in the current year, a results from the previous year (or previous two years if necessary/available) are brought forward to make the total up to 30.
If the difference between the grades of two players is more than 40, it is assumed to be exactly 40. For example, White's grade is 110, Black's grade is 170. In any game;
| Game | Result | Points for White | Points for Black |
| 1 | 1-0 | 200 (110+40+50) | 80 (170-40-50) |
| 2 | 0-1 | 100 (110+40-50) | 180 (170-40+50) |
| 3 | ½-½ | 150 (110+40) | 130 (170-40) |
Thus the maximum number of points which can be gained or lost is 90.
BCF Grades can be converted to (approximate) ELO Ratings using the following formulae
| For all BCF grades: ELO = (8 x BCF) + 600 |
For example:
| BCF 95 = (8x95) + 600 = 760 + 600 = 1360 | |
| BCF 225 = (8x225) + 600 = 1800 + 600 = 2400 |