Grandmaster (GM) is a
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
awarded to
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
players by the world chess organization
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
. Apart from
World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, Grandmaster is the highest title a
chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it has been revoked for
cheating
Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate cr ...
.
The title of Grandmaster, along with the lesser FIDE titles of
International Master (IM) and
FIDE Master (FM), is open to all players regardless of gender. The great majority of grandmasters are men, but 40 women have been awarded the GM title as of 2022, out of a total of about 2000 grandmasters. Since about the year 2000, most of the top 10 women have held the GM title. There is also a
Woman Grandmaster
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
title with lower requirements awarded only to women.
There are also Grandmaster titles for composers and solvers of
chess problem
A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...
s, awarded by the
World Federation for Chess Composition The World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) is the highest body governing the official activities in the chess composition. It was known as the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (PCCC) from its inception in 1956 until Oct ...
(see
List of grandmasters for chess composition
This article lists:
* International Grandmasters for chess composition, for both chess problems and studies
* International Honorary Masters for chess composition
* International Solving Grandmasters
Such awards were formerly managed by FIDE throu ...
). The
International Correspondence Chess Federation
International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IF ...
(ICCF) awards the title of
International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...
(ICCGM). Both of these bodies are now independent of
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
, but work in co-operation with it.
Super grandmaster (super GM) is an informal term to refer to the world's elite players, usually players who are serious contenders for the World Championship. In the past this would refer to players with an
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
of over 2600, but as the average Elo rating of the top players has increased it has typically come to refer to players with an Elo rating of over 2700. Super GMs, the number of whom has grown considerably over the years, have some name recognition in the world of sport and are typically the highest earners in chess.
History
Usage of ''grandmaster'' for an expert in some field is recorded from 1590. The first known use of the term ''grandmaster'' in connection with chess was in the 18 February 1838 issue of ''
Bell's Life
''Bell's Life...'' was a group of newspapers produced in Australia in the mid-nineteenth century based upon the English publication ''Bell's Life in London''.
Most publications lasted a short duration. The subtitles were usually ''sporting ch ...
'', in which a correspondent referred to
William Lewis as "our past grandmaster".
Subsequently,
George Walker George Walker may refer to:
Arts and letters
* George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer
*George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer
* George Walker (illustrator) (1781–1856), author of ''The Co ...
and others referred to
Philidor
Philidor (''Filidor'') or Danican Philidor was a family of musicians that served as court musicians to the French kings. The original name of the family was Danican (D'Anican) and was of Scottish origin (Duncan). Philidor was a later addition to t ...
as a grandmaster, and the term was also applied to a few other players.
Early tournament use
![Tarrasch 72](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Tarrasch_72.jpg)
The first official use of the term seems to be in the
Ostend tournament of 1907. The tournament was divided into two sections: the Championship Tournament and the Masters' Tournament. The Championship section was for players who had previously won an international tournament.
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Life
Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...
won the Championship section, over
Carl Schlechter
Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.
Early life
Sch ...
,
Dawid Janowski
Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (25 May 1868 – 15 January 1927; often spelled ''David'') was a Polish-born French chess player. The Janowski variations of the Old Indian Defense and of the Queen's Gambit Declined are named after him.
Biography
B ...
,
Frank Marshall,
Amos Burn
Amos Burn (1848–1925) was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer.
Burn was born on New Year's Eve, 1848, in Hull.Richard Forster, ''Amos Burn: A Chess Biography'', McFar ...
, and
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great ...
. These players were described as grandmasters for the purposes of the tournament.
The
San Sebastián 1912 tournament won by
Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title Grandmaster (chess), ...
was a designated grandmaster event.
Rubinstein won with 12½ points out of 19. Tied for second with 12 points were
Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch ( lv, Ārons Nimcovičs, russian: Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич, ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimz ...
and
Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.
Career
Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an ol ...
.
By some accounts, in the
St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament, the title Grandmaster was formally conferred by
Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who had partially funded the tournament.
The Tsar reportedly awarded the title to the five finalists:
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...
,
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablanc ...
,
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.
By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...
,
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Life
Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...
, and
Frank Marshall.
Chess historian Edward Winter has questioned this, stating that the earliest known sources that support this story are an article by Robert Lewis Taylor in the June 15, 1940, issue of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' and Marshall's autobiography ''My 50 Years of Chess'' (1942).
Informal and Soviet usage before 1950
Before 1950, the term grandmaster was sometimes informally applied to world class players. The
Fédération Internationale des Échecs
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
(FIDE, or International Chess Federation) was formed in Paris in 1924, but at that time did not award formal titles.
In 1927, the Soviet Union's Chess Federation established the title of Grandmaster of the Soviet Union, for their own players, since at that time Soviets were not competing outside their own country. This title was abolished in 1931, after having been awarded to
Boris Verlinsky
Boris Markovich Verlinsky (8 January 1888 – 30 October 1950) was a Soviet chess player, who was awarded the title International Master by FIDE, the world chess federation, in 1950. He was one of the top Soviet players in the 1920s, and was Sovi ...
, who won the 1929
Soviet Championship.
The title was brought back in 1935, and awarded to
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
, who thus became the first "official" Grandmaster of the USSR. Verlinsky did not get his title back.
Official status (1950 onwards)
![Akiba-RubinsteinC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Akiba-RubinsteinC.jpg)
In 1950
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
created the titles of Grandmaster (GM), International Master (IM) and Woman Master (WM, later known as Woman International Master or WIM). The grandmaster title is sometimes called "International Grandmaster" (IGM), possibly to distinguish it from similar national titles, but the shortened form is far more common today.
Titles were awarded by a resolution of the FIDE General Assembly and the Qualification Committee, with no formal written criteria. FIDE first awarded the Grandmaster title in 1950 to 27 players. These players were:
* The top players of the day: world champion
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
, and those who had qualified for (or been seeded into) the inaugural
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The wi ...
in 1950:
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer.
Early caree ...
,
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (russian: Игорь Захарович Бондаревский; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board ...
,
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narro ...
,
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
,
Reuben Fine
Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...
,
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...
,
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
,
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific write ...
,
Andor Lilienthal
Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich LilienthalReuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against ten ...
,
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...
,
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960 ...
,
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...
,
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became N ...
, and
László Szabó.
* Players still living who, though past their best in 1950, were recognised as having been world class when at their peak:
Ossip Bernstein
Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian-French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Biogra ...
,
Oldřich Duras
Oldřich Duras (also Důras; 30 October 1882, Pchery, Bohemia, then Austria-Hungary – 5 January 1957, Prague, then Czechoslovakia) was a leading Czech chess master of the early 20th century. FIDE awarded him the title of International Gran ...
,
Ernst Grünfeld,
Boris Kostić
Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Yugoslav chess grandmaster and a popularizer of the game.
Life and chess
Borislav Kostic was born in Vršac, Kingdom of Hungary, at the time part of Austria-Hungary. His father Di ...
,
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice USSR Chess Champ ...
,
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Early career
G ...
,
Jacques Mieses
Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...
,
Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title ...
,
Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title Grandmaster (chess), ...
,
Friedrich Sämisch
Friedrich Sämisch (20 September 1896 – 16 August 1975) was a German chess player and chess theorist. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Background
Sämisch was a bookbinder ...
,
Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
, and
Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...
.
Since FIDE did not award the Grandmaster title posthumously, world-class players who died prior to 1950, including World Champions
Steinitz Steinitz may refer to:
* Steinitz, Germany, a town in the district of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany
* Steinitz (surname)
{{Disambiguation ...
, Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine, never received the title. A few strong still living players such as British India's
Mir Sultan Khan, Germany's
Paul Lipke
Paul Lipke (30 June 1870 – 8 March 1955) was a German chess master.
Lipke was born in Erfurt. In 1889, he tied for 5–6th in Breslau (6th DSB Congress, ''Hauptturnier A'', Emanuel Lasker won), and took 4th in Dessau. In 1892, he won in Dre ...
and France's
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Зноско-Боро́вский, Yevgeny Alexandrovich Znosko-Borovsky; 16 August 1884 – 31 December 1954) was a Russian chess player, music and drama critic, teache ...
were never awarded titles.
1953 regulations
![Jacques Mieses (monochrome)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Jacques_Mieses_%28monochrome%29.jpg)
Title awards under the original regulations were subject to political concerns.
Efim Bogoljubow
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
, who had emigrated from the Soviet Union to Germany, was not entered in the first class of Grandmasters, even though he had played two matches for the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
with Alekhine. He received the title in 1951, by a vote of thirteen to eight with five abstentions.
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
supported his application, but all other
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
countries opposed it. In 1953, FIDE abolished the old regulations, although a provision was maintained that allowed older masters who had been overlooked to be awarded titles. The new regulations awarded the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE to players meeting any of the following criteria:
# The world champion.
# Masters who have the absolute right to play in the World Championship
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The wi ...
, or any player who replaces an absent contestant and earns at least a 50 percent score.
# The winner of an international tournament meeting specified standards, and any player placing second in two such tournaments within a span of four years. The tournament must be at least eleven rounds with seven or more players, 80 percent or more being International Grandmasters or
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
s. Additionally, 30 percent of the players must be Grandmasters who have the absolute right to play in the next World Championship Candidates Tournament, or who have played in such a tournament in the previous ten years.
# A player who demonstrates ability manifestly equal to that of (3) above in an international tournament or match. Such titles must be approved by the Qualification Committee with the support of at least five members.
1957 regulations
After FIDE issued the 1953 title regulations, it was recognized that they were somewhat haphazard, and work began to revise the regulations. The FIDE Congress in Vienna in 1957 adopted new regulations, called the FAV system, in recognition of the work done by
International Judge Giovanni Ferrantes (Italy), Alexander (probably
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an Ireland, Irish-born United Kingdom, British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the ...
), and Giancarlo Dal Verme (Italy). Under the 1957 regulations, the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE was automatically awarded to:
# The world champion.
# Any player qualifying from the
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the ...
tournament to play in the Candidates Tournament, even if he did not play in the Candidates for any reason.
# Any player who would qualify from the Interzonal to play in the Candidates but who was excluded because of a limitation on the number of participants from his Federation.
# Any player who actually plays in a Candidates Tournament and scores at least 33⅓ percent.
The regulations also allowed titles to be awarded by a FIDE Congress on recommendation by the Qualification Committee. Recommendations were based on performance in qualifying tournaments, with the required score depending on the percentage of Grandmasters and International Masters in the tournament.
1965 regulations
Concerns were raised that the 1957 regulations were too lax. At the FIDE Congress in 1961, GM
Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...
said that the regulations "made it possible to award international titles to players without sufficient merit". At the 1964 Congress in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, a subcommittee was formed to propose changes to the regulations. The subcommittee recommended that the automatic award of titles be abolished, criticized the methods used for awarding titles based on qualifying performances, and called for a change in the makeup of the Qualification Committee. Several delegates supported the subcommittee recommendations, including GM
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...
who felt that existing regulations were leading to an inflation of international titles.
At the 1965 Congress in
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
FIDE raised the standards required for international titles. The International Grandmaster title regulations were:
* 1. Any World Champion is automatically awarded the GM title
* 2a. Anyone who scores at least 40 percent in a quarter-final match in the Candidates Tournament
* 2b. Scores at least the number of points in a tournament corresponding to the total of a 55 percent score against Grandmasters plus 75 percent against
International Masters
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
(IM) plus 85 percent against other players (a GM "
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...
").
To fulfill requirement 2b, the candidate must score one GM norm in a category 1a tournament or two norms within a three-year period in two Category 1b tournaments, or one Category 2a tournament and one Category 1b tournament.
The categories of tournaments are:
* 1a—at least sixteen players, at least 50 percent are GMs and 70 percent at least IMs
* 1b—at least twelve players, at least 33⅓ percent GMs and 70 percent IMs
* 2a—at least fifteen players, at least 50 percent IMs
* 2b—ten to fourteen players, at least 50 percent IMs.
Since FIDE titles are for life, a GM or IM does not count for the purposes of this requirement if he had not had a GM or IM result in the five years prior to the tournament.
In addition, no more than 50 percent plus one of the players can be from the same country for tournaments of 10 to 12 players, or no more than 50 percent plus two for larger tournaments.
Seventy-four GM titles were awarded in 1951 through 1968. During that period, ten GM titles were awarded in 1965, but only one in 1966 and in 1968.
1970 regulations
The modern system for awarding
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
titles evolved from the "Dorazil" proposals, presented to the
1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad FIDE Congress. The proposals were put together by Dr Wilfried Dorazil (then FIDE Vice-President) and fellow Committee members Grandmaster
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
and Professor
Arpad Elo
Arpad Emmerich Elo ( Élő Árpád Imre; August 25, 1903 – November 5, 1992) was a Hungarian-American physics professor who created the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess.
Born in Egyházaskesző, Kingdom of Hungary, ...
. The recommendations of the Committee report were adopted in full.
In essence, the proposals built on the work done by Professor Elo in devising his
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
system. The establishment of an updated list of players and their Elo rating enabled significantly strong international chess tournaments to be allocated a "
Category
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
* Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
*Category (Kant)
*Categories (Peirce)
* ...
", based on the average rating of the contestants. For instance, it was decided that 'Category 1' status would apply to tournaments with an average Elo rating of participants falling within the range 2251–2275; similarly Category 2 would apply to the range 2276–2300 etc. The higher the tournament Category, the stronger the tournament.
Another vital component involved the setting of meritorious
norms for each Category of tournament. Players must meet or surpass the relevant score to demonstrate that they had performed at Grandmaster (GM) or International Master (IM) level. Scores were expressed as percentages of a perfect maximum score and decreased as the tournament Category increased, thereby reflecting the strength of a player's opposition and the relative difficulty of the task.
Tournament organisers could then apply the percentages to their own tournament format and declare in advance the actual score that participants must achieve to attain a GM or IM result (nowadays referred to as a
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...
).
To qualify for the Grandmaster title, a player needed to achieve three such GM results within a rolling period of three years. Exceptionally, if a player's contributory games totalled 30 or more, then the title could be awarded on the basis of two such results. There were also circumstances where the system could be adapted to fit team events and other competitions.
The full proposals included many other rules and regulations, covering such topics as:
* Eligible tournament formats
* Eligible participants
* Unrated participants
* Registration of tournaments with FIDE
* Calculations, including the handling of fractions
Current regulations
To become a grandmaster, a player must achieve both of the following:
* An
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
of at least 2500 at any point in their career (although they need not maintain this level to obtain or keep the title).
** The rating requirement can be fulfilled even if the player starts a tournament rated below 2500 and then reaches or exceeds a 2500 rating during the tournament but eventually concludes the tournament with a rating lower than 2500.
* Two favorable results (called ''
norms'') from a total of at least 27 games in tournaments. With some exceptions, to receive a norm in a tournament:
** The player's
rating performance at the end of the tournament must be at least 2600. (Tournaments are no longer classified in categories.)
** At least 33% of the player's opponents must be Grandmasters.
** At least 50% of the player's opponents must hold a
FIDE title
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
other than
Candidate Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
and
Woman Candidate Master.
** The player's opponents must have an average rating of at least 2380.
** The player's opponents must come from at least 3 different chess federations, which can include the player's own federation.
*** A maximum of 60% of a player's opponents can come from the player's own federation.
*** A maximum of 66% of a player's opponents can come from a single federation.
* At least one ''norm'' scored at a
Swiss tournament with at least 40 participants of average rating of 2000 and above.
The Grandmaster title is also automatically conferred, without needing to fulfill the above criteria, when winning the
Women's World Championship
The Women's World Championship was the first women's professional wrestling world title.
History
Cora Livingston defeated Hazel Parker in 1906. Though the contest was originally for the Featherweight Championship, from that point she was bille ...
, the
World Junior Championship, or the
World Senior Championship
The World Senior Championship was a golf match held between the winners of the American PGA Seniors' Championship (now Senior PGA Championship) and the British PGA Seniors Championship. It was held from 1954 to 1978. It was a 36-hole match-play e ...
, given that the player's peak FIDE rating is at least 2300. Current regulations can be found in the FIDE Handbook.
[
FIDE titles including the grandmaster title are valid for life, but FIDE regulations allow a title to be revoked for "use of a FIDE title or rating to subvert the ethical principles of the title or rating system" or if a player is found to have violated the anti-cheating regulations in a tournament on which the title application was based.]
Title inflation
A report prepared by Bartłomiej Macieja
Bartłomiej (Bartek) Macieja (born 4 October 1977) is a Polish chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM).
He is married to Mexican chess master Alejandra Guerrero Rodríguez.
He currently serves as the head chess coach for ...
for the Association of Chess Professionals
The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) is a non-profit organisation which aims to protect the rights of professional chess players, address their concerns and to promote chess worldwide through the organisation of high level chess tournament ...
mentions discussion at the FIDE congress of 2008 regarding a perceived decrease in value of the grandmaster title. The number of grandmasters had increased greatly between 1972 and 2008, but according to Macieja, the number of registered players rated over 2200 had increased even faster. Since that FIDE congress, discussion of the value of the grandmaster title has occasionally continued.
Honorary grandmasters
From 1977 until 2003, FIDE awarded honorary Grandmaster titles to 31 players based on their past performances or other contributions to chess. Since 2007, no distinction has been made between an "honorary" grandmaster and a full grandmaster. The following players have been awarded honorary Grandmaster titles:
* 1977 – Julio Bolbochán
Julio Bolbochán (Buenos Aires, 20 March 1920 – Caracas, 28 June 1996) was the Argentine chess champion in 1946 and 1948.
He learned the game from his older brother, Jacobo Bolbochán, later an International Master.
He represented Argenti ...
, Esteban Canal, Borislav Milić
Borislav Milić (Cyrillic: Борислав Милић; 20 October 1925 – 28 May 1986) was a Yugoslav Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer, organizer, promoter, and administrator.
Introduction
Born in Belgrade, Borislav Milic was part of ...
, Carlos Torre Repetto
* 1981 – Arnold Denker
Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 21, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player and author. He was U.S. champion in 1944 and 1946. In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States ...
* 1982 – Lodewijk Prins
Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913, Amsterdam – 11 November 1999) was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions.
Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FI ...
, Raúl Sanguinetti
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
* 1983 – Vladimir Alatortsev
Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev (russian: Влади́мир Алексе́евич Ала́торцев, pronounced "a LAH tart sev"; 14 May 1909 – 13 January 1987) was a Soviet chess player, author, and administrator. During his career ...
, Alexander Konstantinopolsky
Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky (russian: Александр Маркович Константинопольский; 19 February 1910 – 21 September 1990) was a Soviet chess player, trainer and writer. He was a five-time champion of Ki ...
, Erik Lundin
Erik Ruben Lundin (2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) was a Swedish chess master.
In 1928, he won in Oslo, took 5th in Helsingborg, tied for 2nd-3rd in Stockholm (''Quadrangular'', Richard Réti won). In 1929, he took 2nd in Göteborg (Nordic Che ...
* 1984 – Eero Böök
Eero Einar Böök (9 February 1910 – 7 January 1990) was a Finnish chess player and engineer.
Chess career
A five-time Finnish champion who represented his country six times in the Chess Olympiad, Böök was awarded the International Master t ...
, Stojan Puc
* 1985 – Harry Golombek
Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948.
He was born in Lambeth t ...
, Mario Monticelli
Mario Monticelli (16 March 1902, Venice – 30 June 1995, Milan) was an Italian chess player. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title honoris causa (GME) in 1985.
In 1922, he won in Rome (ITA-ch Uni ...
, Jaroslav Šajtar
Jaroslav Šajtar (December 3, 1921 – February 4, 2003) was a Czech chess master and an honorary grandmaster, born in Ostrava.
He won at Kraków 1938, thrice placed joined 4th at Choceň 1942, Prague 1943 (Alexander Alekhine won), Zlín 1943 ...
* 1986 – Arthur Dake
Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.
He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's n ...
, Theodor Ghițescu
* 1987 – Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov ( rus, Влади́мир Андре́евич Макого́нов, August 27, 1904 – January 2, 1993) was a chess player from Azerbaijan SSR. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. He ...
, Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikėnas (17 April 1910 – 3 November 1992) was a Lithuanian chess player and journalist. He was awarded the titles of International Master and Honorary Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster by FIDE.
Early career
Vladas Mikėnas played for ...
, Bogdan Śliwa
Bogdan Śliwa (4 February 1922 in Kraków – 16 May 2003) was a Polish chess master.
Śliwa won the championship of Poland six times. In 1946, he won the first Polish Chess Championship after World War II in Sopot (5th POL-ch). In 1948, h ...
* 1988 – George Koltanowski
George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...
* 1990 – Andrija Fuderer, Rudolf Marić
* 1991 – Dragoljub Minić
Dragoljub Minić (March 5, 1937 – c. April 5, 2005) was a Yugoslav Grandmaster of chess. He won the championship of Yugoslavia in 1962 (joint with Aleksandar Matanović).
Chess career
Minić's chess career was primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. ...
* 1992 – Heinz Lehmann
Heinz Edgar Lehmann (July 17, 1911 – April 7, 1999) was a German-born Canadian psychiatrist best known for his use of chlorpromazine for the treatment of schizophrenia in 1950s and "truly the father of modern psychopharmacology."
Early li ...
, Rudolf Teschner
Rudolf Teschner (16 February 1922, Potsdam – 23 July 2006, Berlin-Steglitz) was a German chess master and writer.
Teschner was seven times Champion of Berlin. In 1948, he won an East-Zones Championship in Bad Doberan, and later in 1951 took the ...
* 1993 – Jonathan Penrose
Jonathan Penrose, (7 October 1933 – 30 November 2021) was an English chess player, who held the titles Grandmaster (1993) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1983). He won the British Chess Championship ten times between 1958 ...
* 1996 – Károly Honfi, Enrico Paoli
Enrico Paoli (January 13, 1908 – December 15, 2005) was an Italian International chess master.
He was born in Trieste, Italy, and learned chess when he was nine years old. He was the winner of international tournaments in Vienna (1951) and Im ...
* 1999 – Péter Dely
* 2003 – Elmārs Zemgalis
Elmārs Zemgalis (9 September 1923 – 8 December 2014) was a Latvian-American chess master and mathematics professor at Highline College. He was awarded an Honorary Grandmaster title in 2003.
Biography
Zemgalis started to play chess when he ...
See also
* Chess title
A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pr ...
* List of chess grandmasters
The following people have all been grandmasters (GM) of chess. The title is awarded to players who have met the standards required by the sport's governing body, FIDE. Other than world champion, it is the highest title a chess player can attain a ...
** List of female chess players
This article lists female chess players who have received official World Chess Federation (FIDE) titles or are otherwise renowned as women in chess.
Grandmasters
There are 40 female players who have been awarded the title of Grandmaster, the ...
for a list of female grandmasters
** List of youngest grandmasters
The term chess prodigy refers to a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even title ...
* Comparison of top chess players throughout history
Several methods have been suggested for comparing the greatest chess players in history. There is agreement on a statistical system to rate the strengths of current players, called the Elo system, but disagreement about methods used to compare pla ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
"Requirements for FIDE Titles"
from the FIDE Handbook
"World Top Chess players"
FIDE
{{Authority control
Chess titles