Here is a short description of the rules of the new elo-system. Some prior knowlegde of ELO rating is an advantage.

On 2000-01-01 the European rating list and the American one was converted and united. And new rules about what rating you need to get a certain grade was created. As a concequence some players got an automatic promotion on 2000-01-01. Here is the list.
The complete European and American list is here

The sourcode for the ratingprogram.