FIDE titles are awarded by the international

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 dist ...

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 norms (performance benchmarks in competitions including other titled players). Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess,

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 ...

composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE. A chess title, usually in an abbreviated form, may be used as an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

. For example,

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

may be styled as "GM Magnus Carlsen".

History

The term "master" for a strong chess player was initially used informally. From the late 19th century various national chess federations began to draw up formal requirements for the use of such a title. The term "Grandmaster", in the form of the German loan word ''Großmeister'', was a formal title in the Soviet Union, and had also been in informal use for the world's elite players for several decades before its institution by FIDE in 1950. FIDE's first titles were awarded in 1950 and consisted of 27 Grandmasters (GMs), 94

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 ...

(IMs), and 17 Woman International Masters (WIMs). FIDE's first GMs were: *

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 International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born in Zhytomyr, ...

(France) *

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 ...

(USSR) *

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 ...

(USSR) * Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) *

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 ...

(USSR) *

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 ...

(Czechoslovakia) *

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 ...

(Netherlands) *

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 ...

(USA) *

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 ...

(USSR) * Ernst Grünfeld (Austria) *

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 ...

(USSR) *

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 ...

(Yugoslavia) *

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 ...

(USSR) *

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 Soviet champion ...

(USSR) *

Andor Lilienthal Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal Reuben 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 te ...

(USSR) *

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� ...

(Hungary) *

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 ...

(England) *

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 ...

(Argentina) *

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 ...

(USSR) *

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-196 ...

(USA) *

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 International Grandma ...

(Poland) *

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 ...

(West Germany) *

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 t ...

(USSR) *

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 ...

(Sweden) * László Szabó (Hungary) *

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 Grandm ...

(France) *

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 ...

(Yugoslavia) The titles were awarded by a vote of the FIDE Congress before the requirements became more formalized. In 1957, FIDE introduced norms (qualifying standards) for FIDE titles. Two further subordinate titles, FIDE Master and Candidate Master, were created in 1978 and 2002 respectively. Similar titles are awarded by 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 ...

, and 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 ...

for both composing and solving

s. These bodies work in cooperation with FIDE but are now independent of it.

Open titles

The titles of Grandmaster, International Master, FIDE Master and Candidate Master are available to all over-the-board chess players. The requirements for each title have varied over time, but generally require having demonstrated a prescribed level of achievement in tournaments at classical time controls under FIDE-approved conditions.

Grandmaster (GM)

The title Grandmaster is awarded to outstanding chess players by FIDE. 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 generally held for life but on rare occasions it has been revoked in cases of cheating. In chess literature it is usually abbreviated to GM. The abbreviation IGM for "International Grandmaster" is occasionally seen, usually in older literature. The usual way to obtain the title is to achieve three required title norms over 27 or more games and a

FIDE 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 c ...

of 2500 or more. Broadly, a norm is a title-level performance in a FIDE-approved tournament. The precise definition of a norm is complex and has frequently been amended, but in general a grandmaster norm is defined as a performance rating of at least 2600 over 9 or more games. In addition, the field must have an average rating of at least 2380, must include at least three grandmasters, and must include players from a mix of national federations. The title may also be awarded directly without going through the usual norm requirements in a few high level tournaments, provided the player has a FIDE rating of over 2300. These include: * Reaching the final 16 in a

FIDE World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, form ...

* 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 ...

* Winning the World Junior Championship (U20) outright * Winning 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 ...

outright, both in the 50+ and 65+ divisions * Winning a Continental (e.g.

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

, European,

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

or African) championship Beginning with

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a former Soviet and Georgian chess player, and the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title Grandmaster in 1978. She was the fifth women's ...

in 1978, a number of women have earned the GM title. Since about 2000, most of the top 10 women have held the GM title. This should not be confused with the

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 ...

(WGM) title. At 12 years, 4 months and 25 days,

Abhimanyu Mishra Abhimanyu Mishra (born February 5, 2009) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the grandmaster title on June 30, 2021, at the age of 12 years 4 months and 25 days, beating Sergey ...

became the youngest person ever to qualify for the Grandmaster title in July 2021. The record was previously held by

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken ...

at 12 years, 7 months for 19 years and

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...

at 15 years, 6 months and 1 day for 33 years.

International Master (IM)

The title International Master is awarded to strong

players who are below the level of grandmaster. Instituted along with the Grandmaster title in 1950, it is a lifetime title, usually abbreviated as IM in chess literature. Like the grandmaster title, the usual way to obtain the title is to achieve three required title norms over 27 or more games and a

of 2400 or more. In general, an IM norm is defined as a performance rating of at least 2450 over 9 or more games. In addition, the field must have an average rating of at least 2230, must include at least three International Masters or Grandmasters, and must include players from a mix of national federations. There are also several ways the IM title can be awarded directly without going through the usual norm process, provided the player has a rating of at least 2200. From July 2017, these are as follows: * Qualifying for the

* Finishing second in the

* Finishing second or third in the World Junior Championship (U20) * Finishing second or third in the

, in both the over 50 and over 65 divisions * Winning (outright or shared) the World Youth Championship (U18) * Winning the World Youth Championship (U16) outright * Finishing second or third in a Continental championship * Winning (outright or shared) a Continental over 50 championship, over 65 championship, or under 20 championship * Winning a Continental under 18 championship outright * Winning a sub-Continental championship * Winning a Commonwealth, Francophone or Ibero-American championship * Winning a World Championship for People with Disabilities After becoming an IM, most professional players set their next goal to becoming a Grandmaster. It is also possible to become a Grandmaster without ever having been an International Master.

Larry Christiansen Larry Mark Christiansen (born June 27, 1956) is an American chess player of Danish ancestry. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. Christiansen was the U.S. champion in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He competed in the FIDE World Champ ...

of the United States (1977), Wang Hao of China, Anish Giri of The Netherlands,

Olga Girya Olga Alexandrovna Girya (russian: Ольга Александровна Гиря; born 4 June 1991) is a Russian chess player. She holds the title of Grandmaster (GM), which FIDE awarded her in 2021. She was a member of the gold medal-winning R ...

of Russia (2021) and former world champions

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

of The Soviet Union and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia all became Grandmasters without ever having been an IM.

of the United States attained both titles solely by virtue of qualifying for the 1958 Interzonal (IM title) and 1959 Candidates Tournament (GM title), only incidentally becoming IM before GM. The more usual path is first to become an IM, then move on to the GM level. At 10 years, 9 months, and 20 days,

became the youngest-ever person to qualify for the IM title in 2019.

FIDE Master (FM)

Introduced in 1978 along with WFM, FM ranks below the title of International Master but ahead of Candidate Master. Unlike the Grandmaster and International Master titles, there is no requirement for a player to achieve norms. The usual way for a player to qualify for the FIDE Master title is by achieving an Elo rating of 2300 or more. There are also many ways the title can be gained by players with a rating of at least 2100 but less than 2300; they include: *Winning the World Youth Championship (U14 and U12) *Finishing second or third in the World Youth Championship (U18 and U16) *Finishing second or third in a Continental over 50, over 65, under 20, or under 18 championship *Scoring 65% or more over at least 9 games at an

olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

*Winning a Continental under 12, under 14, or under 16 championship *Finishing second or third in a Commonwealth, Francophone, or Ibero-American championship The youngest FM ever in chess history is Alekhine Nouri of the Philippines who was awarded the title after winning the 14th ASEAN Age Group Chess Championships 2013 in Thailand at age seven.

Candidate Master (CM)

Introduced in 2002 along with WCM, the usual way for a player to qualify for the Candidate Master title is by achieving an Elo rating of 2200 or more. For players rated over 2000 but under 2200, there are many other ways to gain the title; They include: * Finishing first, second, or third in the World Youth Championship (U8 and U10) * Finishing second or third in a Continental under 12, under 14, or under 16 championship * Finishing second or third in the World Youth Championship (U14 and U12) * Scoring 50% or more over at least 7 games at an

Candidate Master ranks below other open FIDE titles.

Women's titles

Though the open FIDE titles are not gender-segregated, the following four titles given by FIDE are exclusive to women and may be held simultaneously with an open title. The requirements for these titles are about 200 Elo rating points lower than the requirements for the similarly named open titles. These titles are sometimes criticized by both male and female players, and some female players elect not to take them. For example, Grandmaster

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...

, in keeping with her policy of playing only open competitions, never took a women's title.

Woman Grandmaster (WGM)

Woman Grandmaster is the highest-ranking chess title restricted to women. FIDE introduced the WGM title in 1976, joining the previously introduced lower-ranking title, Woman International Master. The usual way to obtain the WGM title is similar to the open titles, where a FIDE rating of 2300 and three norms of 2400 performance rating is required against opponents who are higher rated than 2130 on average. The winner of the World Girls Junior Championship and some other tournaments like Women's Continental Championship is automatically awarded the WGM title. From 2017, the direct titles are only awarded as long as she can reach the minimum FIDE rating of 2100. The current regulations can be found in the FIDE handbook.

Woman International Master (WIM)

Woman International Master is next to the highest-ranking title given by FIDE exclusively to women. FIDE first awarded the WIM title (formerly called International Woman Master, or IWM) in 1950. The usual way to obtain the WIM title is similar to the open titles, where a FIDE rating of 2200 and three norms of 2250 performance rating is required against opponents who are higher rated than 2030 on average. The runners-up in the World Girls Junior Championship, the U18 and U16 World Youth Champions as well Continental Championship medalists and U18 Continental and Regional Champions of the women's section are directly awarded the title. From 2017, direct titles are only awarded as long as she can cross the minimum rating of 2000. The current regulations can be found in the FIDE handbook.

Woman FIDE Master (WFM)

Introduced with FM in 1978, the WFM title is just above Woman Candidate Master in the women-only titles given by FIDE. This title may be achieved by gaining a FIDE rating of 2100 or more. The U14 and U12 World Youth Champions as well as U16 and U18 medalists of the women's section are directly awarded the title. Meanwhile the U12, U14, U16 Continental and Regional Champions of the women's section are directly awarded the title. The title can also be acquired by scoring more than 65% points in more than 9 games in the Olympiad. From 2017, direct titles are only awarded as long as she can cross the minimum rating of 1900.

Woman Candidate Master (WCM)

Introduced with CM in 2002, Woman Candidate Master is the lowest-ranking title awarded by FIDE. This title may be achieved by gaining a FIDE rating of 2000 or more. The title can be acquired by getting a medal in U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 World Youth Championships or Continental and Regional Youth Championships of the women's section as well as by scoring more than 50% points in more than 7 games in the Olympiad. From 2017, direct titles are only awarded as long as she can cross the minimum rating of 1800.

Arena titles

Arena titles can be earned online using FIDE's server, and are intended for players in the lower rating band. Should a player with an arena title gain an over the board FIDE title, this title replaces their arena title. Arena Grandmaster (AGM) is the highest online title. It is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 2000. Arena International Master (AIM) is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 1700. Arena FIDE Master (AFM) is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 1400. Arena Candidate Master (ACM) is achieved by a series of 150 bullet games, 100 blitz games or 50 rapid games with a performance rating of over 1100.

Arbiters, trainers, and organizers

FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, trainers, and organizers. The arbiter titles are

International Arbiter {{No footnotes, date=April 2022 In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed ...

(IA) and FIDE Arbiter (FA). The trainer titles (in descending order of expertise) are FIDE Senior Trainer (FST), FIDE Trainer (FT), FIDE Instructor (FI), National Instructor (NI), and Developmental Instructor (DI). The organizer title is FIDE International Organizer (FIO).

References

External links

World Chess Federation FIDE official site

FIDE Handbook

FIDE Online Arena
{{Chess Chess titles 1950 in chess Awards established in 1950 Titles

History

Open titles

Grandmaster (GM)

International Master (IM)

FIDE Master (FM)

Candidate Master (CM)

Women's titles

Woman Grandmaster (WGM)

Woman International Master (WIM)

Woman FIDE Master (WFM)

Woman Candidate Master (WCM)

Arena titles

Arbiters, trainers, and organizers

See also

References

External links