Chess Ratings & Improvement on Chess.com

HELLO Fellow Chess.com Community Members:

Just wanted to share a little insight into the wonderful world of Chess ratings and skill levels.

If you have a thought or wish to discuss your current Rating or how to improve at chess, please feel free to leave a comment below and we can get better together! 

• MEDIAN:   800   The Median rating for Chess players on Chess.com is roughly 800 with over 500,761 players currently rated at that Median level.  So, if you're playing at a 800 level, then you probably have reason to smile because you're better than roughly 50% of all players online and you likely have the ability to go much higher with hard work and dedication.

• ABOVE AVERAGE POTENTIAL  900+ to 1,400+  Players who maintain a rating above 900+ to the 1400+ range have demonstrated potential.  These players have the ground knowledge and interest level to reach further into the higher ratings of chess.  

• EXPERIENCED 1500 to 1800+ At the level between 1600 to 1800, this is often referred to as the intermediate chess range where players could potentially see the greatest rise in their overall skill level from a year to year or even a month to month comparison.  Often times, the determining factor will be the amount of time and dedication that is directed towards becoming stronger at chess.  When players reach this level, they often benefit the most from advanced studying or reading of books written by advanced chess competitors or even chess mentors online or otherwise.  

• WELL DEVELOPED 1900+  This is the level of a well-honed chess player who is capable of possibly becoming a titled competitor.   

• SKILLED:       2000+  This is the level of the very experienced and skillful chess competitor who is likely capable of competing at all or nearly all time settings, including blitz and bullet while maintaining a competitive edge against lesser opponents.  Most national and internationally titled players realize that they are capable of reaching a higher potential level of chess skill after reaching the 2000 level.  It is quite an accomplishment.  

• ADVANCED: 2100+  There are only 17,692 competitors on Chess.com who are rated between 2100 to 2200.  These are the potential future Grand Masters or Grand Master Candidates in the making.  This level of chess skill signifies sufficient knowledge and ability to compete against even much higher rated opponents.

• Top 99.7%  -- When you reach 2200 or above, you enter the top 99.7% or Top .3% of chess competitors on Chess.com.  
  • 2200 = 10,904
  • 2300 = 6,697
  • 2400 = 3,978

• Top 6,000 Level  -- When you reach the level of 2500 on Chess.com, that means that you are within the Top 6,000 best chess competitors online and in truly rarified air.  These are primarily Grandmaster level players, but including IM and other titled players from around the world.  These are the competitors for Championships and international recognition.  
  • 2500 = 2,363
  • 2600 = 1,309
  • 2700 = 782
  • 2800 = 395
  • 2900 = 171
  • 3000 = 63 Players  

• 3100 = Only 15 Players on Chess.com are rated at 3100  

• Top 5 Grand Masters   3200 to 3600 including Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
  • 3200 = Only 2 Players on Chess.com is rated at 3200
  • 3300 = Only 1 Player on Chess.com is rated at 3300
  • 3400 = Only 1 Player on Chess.com is rated at 3400
  • 3600 = Only 1 Player on Chess.com is rated 3600+

I think you left out an important category: Patzers Who Should Know Better.  Everyone who is stuck somewhere between 12 and 1600, and will probably never get any better...

I was a 1200 level player when I started playing chess on Chess.com less than 5 years ago...   Now I'm 2168

I believe that I could have competed for more Championships, but I'm looking to complete my Masters Degree Programs when I should be just graduating from high school...  I guess that's the sacrifice that was rooted in being raised in such a relatively small territory where education takes precedence over individual hobbies or recreational pursuits.  

And you wrote Masters Degree Programs, as in plural?   Is it okay if I hate you?   I mean in a totally admiring, but jealous kind of way? 

Thank you for the great insight The_Krieg, but to which category you are referring, because the highest bullet and blitz ratings are 3,200 at the moment. Thank you.

That's a big jump in categories from Median to Developed!  I wouldn't disagree with the level shown though (although I don't know which rating type you are talking about - Blitz, Rapid or Daily?).

My ratings in Blitz and Daily generally vary between 1650 and 1800, with the latter very much being a ceiling.  And I do next to no dedicated learning at all and only analyse a handful of my games after playing them.  I do puzzle rush, but that's largely just for fun.  I'm sure it improves my tactical nous a little, but it isn't dedicated learning.  That puts me around 95-96% percentile, but in reality orders of magnitude behind that 4-5% above me in terms of ability and skill.

So certainly for me, 1800 is around about the ceiling of a lazy player who has a pretty good natural understanding for the game, but doesn't put effort into to actively learning.  And I'm pretty certain that to improve beyond there would require a disproportionate increase in the amount of time spent on actively trying to learn, as oppose to being able to reach that level without really doing that (e.g. I've never studied openings.  I know a few moves of a handful of openings, but mostly I just start thinking from move 1).

Beyond 1900 is well beyond my ken anyway so I'll take your word for it on the breakdown above that

That's a huge gap, 1100 points. 

At 1,800, I believe that you have the potential to be a much higher rated chess player than you give yourself credit for...  with enough practice and dedication, you could very well raise your rating far above 1900.  

The post wasn't meant to overlook any particular segment of the chess community on Chess.com.

I have updated the post to include the ratings descriptions for players rated between 800+ to 1800+

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/the-time-of-smyslov-and-his-underated-chess-career 

There is the novice, the intermediate, the advanced intermediate, the expert, the master, the FM, the IM, the GM, and the Super GM.  

And then above super GM there's Borislav Ivanov. Never forget the great Borislav.

Everyone ignores the talented amateur.

Consider Albin Planinc. In 1969 he was untitled (not even an IM), but managed to qualify to play in the Vidmar Memorial. He was the only player in the event who was unable to take a day off work to prepare for the tournament... Planinc was a lathe operator in the local bicycle factory.

He took clear first place, beating Grandmasters Matanovic, Barcza, Unzicker and Gheorghiu along with several IMs.

A few years later, he won the prestigious Amsterdam tournament, tied with Petrosian and ahead of Spassky, Kavalek and Szabo.

Wow!  Thank you for this very insightful description of Albin Planinc.  It was very interesting to read.  

Would you happen to know why Bulgarian Chess Federation Grandmasters accused Borislav Ivanov of cheating?  He was playing in live tournaments at the time so how was he "cheating" in OTB?

I think that the players incorporated in the ratings system at 3,300, 3,400, & 3,600 are Artificial Intelligence rated at those levels which creates the bell shaped curve from 0 to 3600 for Blitz rated players online.   

I'm Above Average Potential... Can't believe almost half of all accounts are under 800...

I believe the average rating on Chess.com is slightly more than 1000 for rapid and around 950 - 1000 for blitz. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I read that somewhere.

You can see the current average by looking at the 'Global' ratings page for Blitz or Rapid.

Blitz