FIDE titles
From the late 19th century and onwards, 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.
The usual way to obtain the title is to achieve three Grandmaster-level performances (called norms), along with a FIDE rating of 2500 or more.
[6] 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: Beginning with Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978, a number of women have earned the GM title.
At 12 years, 4 months and 25 days, Abhimanyu Mishra became the youngest person ever to qualify for the Grandmaster title in July 2021.
[8] The title International Master is awarded to strong chess players who are below the level of grandmaster.
[6] 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.
Larry Christiansen of the United States (1977), Wang Hao of China, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, Olga Girya of Russia (2021) and former world champions Mikhail Tal of the Soviet Union and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia all became Grandmasters without ever having been IMs.
At 10 years, 8 months, and 16 days, Faustino Oro of Argentina became the youngest-ever person to qualify for the IM title in 2024.
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.
[12] Introduced in 2002 along with WCM,[13] the usual way for a player to qualify for the Candidate Master title is by achieving an Elo rating of 2200 or more.
For example, Grandmaster Judit Polgár, in keeping with her policy of playing only open competitions, never took a women's title.
[17] FIDE strips trans men of any women's titles they might have earned while competing as a woman.
FIDE first awarded the WIM title (formerly called International Woman Master, or IWM) in 1950.
The U14 and U12 World Youth Champions as well as U16 and U18 medalists of the women's section are directly awarded the title.
[6] Introduced with CM in 2002,[23] Woman Candidate Master is the lowest-ranking title awarded by FIDE.
[14] Arena titles can be earned online using FIDE's server, and are intended for players in the lower rating band.
