Originally Posted by
Stuart Brammall
They don't get taken away, they get re-dristributed. If an old master say 2250 has a bad event and loses to a bunch of kids, the next event, when he manages to dogde the kids, or when the kids have got their ratings up, he should still perform at 2250 and go back up, unless he was overrated to begin with.
It is important to note that rating never indicates a persons chess strength, only their strength relative to the pool. If the pool is getting stronger and you are not you go down, even if your strength is not.