Our Complete Guide to Chess Titles

A good game rewards itself. But in the competitive world of chess, players chase something more enduring than brilliance: the title. Chess titles don’t just mark milestones — they prove that a player has delivered top-tier performances, again and again, often under pressure and on international stages.

These titles don’t arrive casually or restrict themselves to a single league. Players earn them over the board by winning world youth championships or claiming them through intense matches — and once earned, they are held for life.

These titles become part of their name, their legacy, and their story.

But who introduced these titles? How do they work today? And how do players around the world, across platforms and disciplines, experience and define them?

This guide dives into the evolution, structure, prestige, and future of chess titles.

The Origins and Early History of Chess Titles

Before FIDE built rating systems and spreadsheets, players gave each other something far older: respect — and the word “master.” They didn’t make it official. They didn’t issue certificates.

But by the early 19th century, chess clubs, letters, and newspapers had already started calling strong players “masters.”

Bell’s Life offered the earliest known printed use of “grandmaster,” when a writer described British player William Lewis as “our past grandmaster.”

Back then, people used the title as an honorific — a verbal nod to a player’s dominance over local competition.

Writers and commentators later reached back in time and called legends like Philidor a grandmaster — not because a system had conferred the title, but because their brilliance demanded it.

These early references lacked regulation, but they planted the seed for what would grow into one of the most structured, globally recognized ranking systems in competitive history.

Pre-FIDE Title Milestones

Tournament organizers, not FIDE, took the first steps toward formalizing titles. A “Championship Tournament” invited only elite competitors who had previously won major events in Ostend 1907.

Organizers referred to them as grandmasters.

The lore surrounding the 1914 St. Petersburg tournament added another layer.

According to popular retellings, Tsar Nicholas II, impressed by the five finalists (Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall), proclaimed them “Grandmasters of Chess.”

Historians debate whether the Tsar actually made that declaration. But the myth captured the imagination of the chess world.

The term grandmaster had taken root.

Meanwhile, Soviet authorities gave chess titles a different kind of weight.

The USSR formally created the title Master of Sport in Chess and awarded it to Peter Romanovsky as its first recipient. Soviet officials didn’t give out this designation lightly. Players had to excel in national championships or other top-tier events to earn it.

The title became both a badge of skill and a symbol of state-sanctioned excellence. Fewer than 100 players ever received the honor during the Soviet era.

Even more telling, Soviet officials used an informal “USSR Grandmaster” designation for their top-tier players.

So when FIDE finally stepped in, it didn’t invent the concept of chess titles.

It codified a tradition that already existed — one that tournaments, legends, and entire governments had spent decades shaping.

Official Titles (FIDE) and Development

It wasn’t until 1950 that chess titles became official and global.

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) introduced three titles that would define modern chess: Grandmaster (GM), International Master (IM), and Woman International Master (WIM) — originally just called “Woman Master.”

These were not earned through norms or ratings at the time. Instead, the initial batch of titleholders. They were selected based on past achievements, tournament prestige, and general reputation.

This inaugural list reads like a hall of fame.

World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik was among them, as were Ossip Bernstein, Jacques Mieses, and Savielly Tartakower.

Some of the world’s most iconic players, however, never made the list — not because they were unworthy, but because FIDE didn’t award titles posthumously.

Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, and others who helped shape modern chess died before they could be officially recognized as Grandmasters.

That changed in some rare exceptions: Mir Sultan Khan, a three-time British Champion and legendary figure from the 1930s, was posthumously awarded the Grandmaster title in 2024 — an overdue recognition that FIDE now uses sparingly, often as a corrective to historical omissions.

The 1950s laid the foundation, but the 1970s and beyond saw the system expand.

FIDE introduced the concept of norms in 1957 — concrete performance standards players had to meet in rated tournaments to qualify for titles.

A new title, Woman Grandmaster (WGM), was created (in 1976) to recognize elite female players with a path that mirrored (though was slightly less demanding than) the open GM title.

Two years later, FIDE Master (FM) and Woman FIDE Master (WFM) titles joined the ranks.

Candidate Master (CM) and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) became the new entry points on the ladder in 2002.

Then, in 2014, FIDE acknowledged the rise of online competition with the launch of the FIDE Online Arena, introducing titles like Arena GM, Arena IM, Arena FM, and Arena CM, awarded based on online performance.

Today, the FIDE title system is among the most globally respected hierarchies in competitive games, with over a dozen official titles spanning classical, online, correspondence, and even problem-solving disciplines.

Classification of Chess Titles

While most people associate chess titles with the elite over-the-board ranks — Grandmasters and International Masters — the full landscape is far broader and more nuanced.

Titles are awarded across multiple formats, disciplines, and even platforms. Some are international and lifelong; others are national, digital, or specialized.

Together, these classifications form the backbone of modern chess structure.

FIDE Titles: The Global Standard

FIDE titles are universally recognized and awarded for performance in over-the-board (OTB) play.

These include both open titles (available to all) and women’s titles (restricted to female players). Once earned, they are permanent, unless revoked due to cheating.

Open titles (in descending order of prestige):

• Grandmaster (GM)
• International Master (IM)
• FIDE Master (FM)
• Candidate Master (CM)

Women’s titles (structured similarly but with lower rating requirements):

• Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
• Woman International Master (WIM)
• Woman FIDE Master (WFM)
• Woman Candidate Master (WCM)

FIDE Online Arena

FIDE launched the FIDE Online Arena in 2014, awarding digital-only titles based on online play. These titles, earned via consistent performance on the official FIDE server, are:

• Arena Grandmaster (AGM)
• Arena International Master (AIM)
• Arena FIDE Master (AFM)
• Arena Candidate Master (ACM)

While not held in the same regard as OTB titles, these are official FIDE titles and can be upgraded to traditional titles if the player achieves higher over-the-board credentials later.

ICCF Titles

The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) manages titles for players who compete via email, web platforms, or (historically) postal mail. These include:

• Correspondence Grandmaster (GM)
• Senior International Master (SIM)
• International Master (IM)
• Correspondence Chess Master (CCM)
• Correspondence Chess Expert (CCE)

The ICCF also once awarded Lady Grandmaster (LGM) and Lady International Master (LIM) titles, but these were phased out in favor of open classification.

WFCC Titles

Chess is also an artistic and analytical discipline, and the World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) — formerly a FIDE sub-body — recognizes excellence in composing and solving chess problems.

Composition Titles (awarded for creative output in published studies/problems):

• FIDE Master of Chess Composition (FM)
• International Master (IM)
• Grandmaster (GM)

Solving Titles (based on performance in solving competitions):

• FIDE Solving Master (FSM)
• International Solving Master (ISM)
• International Solving Grandmaster (ISGM)

Earning these titles requires accumulating solving norms or publication points in the highly competitive FIDE Albums — curated collections of the world’s best problems.

National Titles: Federation-Specific Honors

Each country may award its own national titles, often around the 2200 rating level, though requirements differ:

United States Chess Federation (USCF):

• National Master (NM)
• Senior Master (2400)
• Life Master (300+ games at 2200+)

English Chess Federation (ECF):

• National Master (2200+ maintained for 12 months)
• Regional Master
• County Master
• Club Master

Russia/Former USSR:

• Master of Sport (Chess)
• Honored Master of Sport (for top performers)

Many countries use Candidate Master, Expert, or Master designations as milestones toward FIDE titles. Some have phased them out entirely in favor of global FIDE standards.

Qualification Criteria and Title Requirements

No two chess titles are created alike — and neither is the path to earning them. FIDE titles, national ranks, and online achievements all come with their own checklists.

But if there’s one universal rule, it’s this: titles aren’t given; they’re earned.

The highest honors in chess — Grandmaster (GM), International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), and Candidate Master (CM) — are open to all.

To qualify, players must meet rating thresholds set by FIDE and often secure something called “performance norms” by consistently excelling in FIDE-rated events.

These norms aren’t random.

They require players to face a specific mix of international opponents, perform above a benchmark score, and sustain it across multiple events.

In other words, your rating alone won’t carry you. You need both numbers and results.

Women’s titles mirror the open structure but require slightly lower performance metrics. Despite the distinction, these chess titles exist in parallel.

Women can and do earn open titles, and many top female players — including Hou Yifan and Judit Polgár — have bypassed gender-specific ranks entirely.

National federations also set their own standards. In the U.S., a player must achieve a rating of 2200 to become a National Master (NM).

Each classification of chess titles — whether international or national — exists to formalize skill, recognize performance, and chart a player’s upward trajectory in the game.

Path to Earning a Title

Every title has its trail — and most players walk it step by step. The climb typically begins with a national rating breakthrough: reaching 2000 might earn a WCM title, or 2200 might bring you to CM or NM territory.

From there, it becomes a game of consistency.

To secure a title like IM or GM, players must compete in norm-qualified tournaments.

These aren’t casual weekend games — they are rigorously structured events featuring opponents from multiple federations, time controls that meet FIDE’s standards, and a minimum performance level across a set number of rounds.

The rating threshold acts as a gate. The norm secures the key. You need both to enter.

Players don’t stumble into chess titles — they spend years studying opening theory, solving chess puzzles, and refining their endgame under the pressure of tournament clocks.

They play game after game in the hopes that one of them, or a few of them, will hit the elusive mark required to claim their next title.

The journey doesn’t stop once you earn your designation.

Titles like Grandmaster or International Master carry lifelong prestige — but they’re also expectations. A GM is always a GM, but every move played afterward either lives up to that legacy or doesn’t.

That’s what makes the pursuit of chess titles so relentless and rewarding.

Conclusion

Chess titles aren’t just labels. They’re landmarks — evidence of a player’s journey, a summary of their fight across hundreds of games, and the lasting imprint of their performance on the global stage.

For some, titles serve as personal milestones. For others, they are the foundation of a professional chess career. And for a rare few, they become legacy-defining.

But the core message never changes: the game recognizes mastery. Chess titles are how the world does, too.