Becoming Masters
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I think you have to win a certain number of norms by getting a certain score in certain tournaments. After you have enough of these, you will gain the title once your rating reaches a threshold value. As far as the ratings go, I believe you need 2300 for FM, 2400 for IM, and 2500 for GM.
Jul 14, 2008
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#3
Then of course there is National Master, which depends on the country. In the US, it is 2200+ USCF.
Jul 14, 2008
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#5
You can call it just a ratings thing, but I have known A players putting everything thay had into it without being able to become experts. All the experts I knew from when I was playing a decade ago save one seem to have retired from active play as experts. I think the other guy did become a NM. Becoming a master is wicked hard.
I wasnt sure about NM. I dont think they exist in FIDE do they? Thought maybe they were mostly an american USCF thing, with maybe some other countries following suit.
Which is a better master IM or NM? It probably depends on your scope of competition. Would you be competing in national or international competitions? In either case its probably best to visit each respective website and I'm certain they would have the qualifications for each one.
IM, significantly. GM>IM>FM>NM
No idea about "candidate master". Is that something relatively new, and just a little pointless? Why have a title of "possible master". It should be obvious that a non-master rated 2250 is not a master but could be one in the future. It's just a stupid FIDE name for 'expert'. I really dont see the need for an "almost there" title. A candidate master is not a master, but has a TITLE! wtf!
I get your point, it's 2200, I just hate the name. If they want to have a lower title they should have thought of a decent name. I guess it acts as motivation, at least... not to get the CM title, but to get rid of the damn thing once you've got it.
Any idea when CM was introduced? I was sure it was quite recent compared to GM/IM/FM, but cant find wherever i had read about it before.
For awhile the USCF gave up "expert" and was using "candidate master" instead (1980 or so), then reverted to "expert."
No biggie as it is a local title anyway or an almost-title if you prefer.
At least they got the big decision right: Conveting to Algebraic.
Yes, algebraic is definitely much better. With descriptive, it can sometimes be hard to tell where one move ends and another begins! The same is true for long algebraic however, like 1.e2-e4 e7-e5. If you have a block of stuff like that, it's a nightmare to read, let alone follow.
I AM NOT REALLY SURE HOW 2 BECOME A MASTER! BUT I LIKE 2 KNOW MORE 'BOUT IT!!!!!!!
I think you have to make a deal with the devil or something. 
lol. It is a tough road to expert and national master. I hope they don't 'dumb down' the titles before (or worse, right after!) I make it there.
If you wish to open up a whole new can of worms on this topic, ask a few FM's that gained their title by fulfilling FIDE's requirements of a rating >2400 how they feel about those that gained their FM title at a Zonal Tournament!
Many players with a rating around 2000 have gained a FM title with one good performance at a Zonal tournament.
Jul 14, 2008
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#16
yeah my captain off my chess team is rated 2298 and has to get to 2300 to become a fide master
help! i wanna be a masta!
Jul 15, 2008
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#18
Candidate master is not a US thing. My Russian friend describes his level as "candidate master", and he grew up in Russia. I have also read about it in the literature.
Jul 15, 2008
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#19
It says on Wikipedia that Candidate Master is ELO 2200. My USCF is slightly above my FIDE rating - I don't know what the general trends are then. (USCF NM is 2200-2400 USCF).
In other words, Candidate Master is very similar to USCF National Master.
I was just wondering, how does a chess player becomes a master \ International Master \ FIDE Master \ Grand Master?
Is it like a rating thing, you reach 2100 and you're a Master, you reach 2000 and whatever and your an International Master and so on?