The Ranking Hiearchy of the Chess Titles

This has been quite a popular request, since there's often confusion around the chess titles. This is quite understandable, since FIDE loves to make everything as difficult as possible  

I'll be dissecting the ranking system of the FIDE titles. 

1. Woman’s Candidate Master (WCM) 

The butter bar of the chess titles. Honestly, not a real title in the eyes of most players. 

WCM is the lowest title available in chess. Therefore, it is the easiest to achieve. Note: it is only available for female players, as seen in the W. 

This is quite literally known as “the fake title” of the chess world, due ot the absurdly high amount of WCMs ranked below 2000 FIDE. 2000 FIDE is the official required rating to achieve the title, yet many get the title at absurdly low ratings, such as 1600. This is mostly due to zonal/youth tournaments. Some don't even achieve it from these tournaments, causing some to even doubt the whole legitimacy behind the title. Others have argued that the title is simply to get more female players interested in the game. 

2. Candidate Master (CM) 

Similar to the WCM, CM is the easiest title for male players to achieve. It has a slightly harder requirement, as 2200 FIDE is the required rating to achieve the title. But, once again, many get the title at around 1800-2000 FIDE. 

3. FIDE Master (FM) 

Congratulations, you have become a mid-ranked titled player, demonstrating a strong proficiency in the game. The problem is that there is an exceedingly high amount of FMs in the world.

I do not know why there are over 8700 FM’s in the world, and 2370 CM's... when CM is the easier title to get… 

4. International Master (IM) 

GREAT JOB on achieving an INTERNATIONAL MASTER! What a long name for a chess title! 

The vast majority of FM's don't reach IM, since IM is when the road really starts to get tough. 3 2450 performance norms are needed, in addition to a 2400 FIDE rating. 

You’re a great player, but no one remembers you 🙁

The average Joe off the street will only recognize the Grandmaster title. Chances are, other lower-ranking titled players won’t nearly respect you as they would for a GM. They’ll still get mad when they inevitably lose.

5. Woman’s Grandmaster 

Although this title is easier to achieve than IM, it still has an aura of having a higher ranking than the IM title, thanks to the word “grandmaster” in the title. 

Many WGMs, such as Nemsko, use this wording loophole as a misnomer to call themselves a “grandmaster”, but this could not be further from the truth. The proper term is Women’s Grandmaster. 

6. Grandmaster 

Ah, the pinnacle of the mountain. Congratulations, you have become a 4-star General of the chess world. Whenever you walk into the room, amateurs seek your autograph, while your opponent is so scared that he has quite literally lost before the clocks have even started. 

This title has earned the right to charge absurdly high prices for hourly lessons, as it is the PHD that has proved your chess excellence.

There's your entire ranking system! You may be wondering, do we titled players REALLY care about the title that our opponent has?

The answer is absolutely yes! If a GM is facing another GM, chances are, they'll just draw in 15 moves! The story's different when they're facing a lower-ranking titled player... 

I have excluded WFM/WIM, as they're just easier versions of the FM/IM title, respectively. 

Thank you for reading this far! Leave a comment below and share any thoughts/questions!