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Grandmaster (chess)
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is
the highest title a chess player can attain.

Once achieved, the title is generally held for life, though exceptionally it may be revoked for cheating. The abbreviation IGM for International
Grandmaster is also sometimes used, particularly in older literature.

The title of Grandmaster, along with the lesser FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and FIDE Master (FM), is open to both men and
women. The vast majority of grandmasters are men, but a number of women have also earned the GM title, with the first three having been
Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978, Maia Chiburdanidze in 1984[1] and Susan Polgar in 1991. Since about 2000, most of the top 10 women have held
the GM title. There is also a Woman Grandmaster title with lower requirements awarded only to women.

FIDE awards separate Grandmaster titles to composers and solvers of chess problems, International Grandmaster for chess compositions to
the former and International Solving Grandmaster to the latter (see List of grandmasters for chess composition). The International
Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) awards the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (ICCGM).

Contents
History
Early tournament use
Informal and Soviet usage before 1950
Official status (1950 onwards)
1953 regulations
1957 regulations
1965 regulations
1970 regulations
Current regulations
Title inflation
Honorary grandmasters
See also
References
External links

History
The first known use of the term grandmaster in connection with chess was in the 18 February 1838 issue of Bell's Life, in which a
correspondent referred to William Lewis as "our past grandmaster".[2] Subsequently, George Walker and others referred to Philidor as a
grandmaster, and the term was also applied to a few other players.[2]

Early tournament use

In the Ostend tournament of 1907 the term grandmaster (Großmeister in German) was used. The
tournament was divided into two sections: the Championship Tournament and the Masters' Tournament.
The Championship section was for players who had previously won an international tournament.[3] Siegbert
Tarrasch won the Championship section, over Carl Schlechter, Dawid Janowski, Frank Marshall, Amos Burn,
and Mikhail Chigorin. These players were described as grandmasters for the purposes of the tournament.

The San Sebastián 1912 tournament won by Akiba Rubinstein was a designated grandmaster event.[2]
Rubinstein won with 12½ points out of 19. Tied for second with 12 points were Aron Nimzowitsch and
Rudolf Spielmann.[4]

By some accounts, in the St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament, the title Grandmaster was formally conferred
by Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who had partially funded the tournament.[3] The Tsar reportedly awarded the
title to the five finalists: Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Siegbert Tarrasch (1862–1934)
Frank Marshall. Chess historian Edward Winter has questioned this, stating that the earliest known sources
that support this story are an article by Robert Lewis Taylor in the June 15, 1940, issue of The New Yorker
and Marshall's autobiography My 50 Years of Chess (1942).[5][6][7]

Informal and Soviet usage before 1950

Before 1950, the term grandmaster was sometimes informally applied to world class players. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE,
or International Chess Federation) was formed in Paris in 1924, but at that time did not award formal titles.

In 1927, the Soviet Union's Chess Federation established the title of Grandmaster of the Soviet Union, for their own players, since at that time
Soviets were not competing outside their own country. This title was abolished in 1931, after having been awarded to Boris Verlinsky, who won
the 1929 Soviet Championship.[8] The title was brought back in 1935, and awarded to Mikhail Botvinnik, who thus became the first "official"
Grandmaster of the USSR. Verlinsky did not get his title back.[8]

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Official status (1950 onwards)

When FIDE reorganized after World War II it adopted regulations concerning international titles. Titles were
awarded by a resolution of the FIDE General Assembly and the Qualification Committee, with no formal
written criteria. FIDE first awarded the Grandmaster title in 1950 to 27 players. These players were:

The top players of the day: world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, and those who had qualified for (or been
seeded into) the inaugural Candidates Tournament in 1950: Isaac Boleslavsky, Igor Bondarevsky, David
Bronstein, Max Euwe, Reuben Fine, Salo Flohr, Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov, Andor Lilienthal, Miguel
Najdorf, Samuel Reshevsky, Vasily Smyslov, Gideon Ståhlberg, and László Szabó.
Players still living who, though past their best in 1950, were recognised as having been world class when
at their peak: Ossip Bernstein, Oldřich Duras, Ernst Grünfeld, Boris Kostić, Grigory Levenfish, Géza
Maróczy, Jacques Mieses, Viacheslav Ragozin, Akiba Rubinstein, Friedrich Sämisch, Savielly
Tartakower, and Milan Vidmar.
Since FIDE did not award the Grandmaster title posthumously, world-class players who died prior to 1950,
including World Champions Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine, never received the title.[9]
Akiba Rubinstein (1880–1961)

1953 regulations
Title awards under the original regulations were subject to political concerns. Efim Bogoljubov, who had
emigrated from the Soviet Union to Germany, was not entered in the first class of Grandmasters, even
though he had played two matches for the World Championship with Alekhine. He received the title in 1951,
by a vote of thirteen to eight with five abstentions. Yugoslavia supported his application, but all other
Communist countries opposed it. In 1953, FIDE abolished the old regulations, although a provision was
maintained that allowed older masters who had been overlooked to be awarded titles. The new regulations
awarded the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE to players meeting any of the following
criteria:[10]

1. The world champion.

2. Masters who have the absolute right to play in the World Championship Candidates Tournament, or any
player who replaces an absent contestant and earns at least a 50 percent score.
3. The winner of an international tournament meeting specified standards, and any player placing second in Jacques Mieses (1865–1954),
two such tournaments within a span of four years. The tournament must be at least eleven rounds with one of the first FIDE
seven or more players, 80 percent or more being International Grandmasters or International Masters. Grandmasters
Additionally, 30 percent of the players must be Grandmasters who have the absolute right to play in the
next World Championship Candidates Tournament, or who have played in such a tournament in the
previous ten years.
4. A player who demonstrates ability manifestly equal to that of (3) above in an international tournament or match. Such titles must be
approved by the Qualification Committee with the support of at least five members.

1957 regulations
After FIDE issued the 1953 title regulations, it was recognized that they were somewhat haphazard, and work began to revise the regulations.
The FIDE Congress in Vienna in 1957 adopted new regulations, called the FAV system, in recognition of the work done by International Judge
Giovanni Ferrantes (Italy), Alexander (probably Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander), and Giancarlo Dal Verme (Italy). Under the 1957
regulations, the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE was automatically awarded to:

1. The world champion.

2. Any player qualifying from the Interzonal tournament to play in the Candidates Tournament, even if he did not play in the Candidates for
any reason.
3. Any player who would qualify from the Interzonal to play in the Candidates but who was excluded because of a limitation on the number of
participants from his Federation.
4. Any player who actually plays in a Candidates Tournament and scores at least 33⅓ percent.
The regulations also allowed titles to be awarded by a FIDE Congress on recommendation by the Qualification Committee. Recommendations
were based on performance in qualifying tournaments, with the required score depending on the percentage of Grandmasters and
International Masters in the tournament.[11]

1965 regulations
Concerns were raised that the 1957 regulations were too lax. At the FIDE Congress in 1961, GM Milan Vidmar said that the regulations "made
it possible to award international titles to players without sufficient merit". At the 1964 Congress in Tel Aviv, a subcommittee was formed to
propose changes to the regulations. The subcommittee recommended that the automatic award of titles be abolished, criticized the methods
used for awarding titles based on qualifying performances, and called for a change in the makeup of the Qualification Committee. Several
delegates supported the subcommittee recommendations, including GM Miguel Najdorf who felt that existing regulations were leading to an
inflation of international titles.[11] At the 1965 Congress in Wiesbaden FIDE raised the standards required for international titles. The
International Grandmaster title regulations were:

1. Any World Champion is automatically awarded the GM title

2a. Anyone who scores at least 40 percent in a quarter-final match in the Candidates Tournament
2b. Scores at least the number of points in a tournament corresponding to the total of a 55 percent score against Grandmasters plus 75
percent against International Masters (IM) plus 85 percent against other players (a GM "norm").
To fulfill requirement 2b, the candidate must score one GM norm in a category 1a tournament or two norms within a three-year period in two
Category 1b tournaments, or one Category 2a tournament and one Category 1b tournament.

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The categories of tournaments are:

1a—at least sixteen players, at least 50 percent are GMs, and 70 percent at least IMs
1b—at least twelve players, at least 33⅓ percent GMs and 70 percent IMs
2a—at least fifteen players, at least 50 percent IMs
2b—ten to fourteen players, at least 50 percent IMs.
Since FIDE titles are for life, a GM or IM does not count for the purposes of this requirement if he had not had a GM or IM result in the five
years prior to the tournament.

In addition, no more than 50 percent plus one of the players can be from the same country for tournaments of 10 to 12 players, or no more
than 50 percent plus two for larger tournaments.

Seventy-four GM titles were awarded in 1951 through 1968. During that period, ten GM titles were awarded in 1965, but only one in 1966 and
in 1968.[12]

1970 regulations
The modern system for awarding FIDE titles evolved from the "Dorazil" proposals, presented to the 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad FIDE
Congress. The proposals were put together by Dr Wilfried Dorazil (then FIDE Vice-President) and fellow Committee members Grandmaster
Svetozar Gligorić and Professor Arpad Elo. The recommendations of the Committee report were adopted in full.[13]

In essence, the proposals built on the work done by Professor Elo in devising his Elo rating system. The establishment of an updated list of
players and their Elo rating enabled significantly strong international chess tournaments to be allocated a "Category", based on the average
rating of the contestants. For instance, it was decided that 'Category 1' status would apply to tournaments with an average Elo rating of
participants falling within the range 2251–2275; similarly Category 2 would apply to the range 2276–2300 etc. The higher the tournament
Category, the stronger the tournament.

Another vital component involved the setting of meritorious "scores" for each Category of tournament. A player must meet or surpass the
relevant score to demonstrate that they had performed at Grandmaster (GM) or International Master (IM) level. Scores were expressed as
percentages of a perfect maximum score and decreased as the tournament Category increased, thereby reflecting the strength of a player's
opposition and the relative difficulty of the task.

Tournament organisers could then apply the percentages to their own tournament format and declare in advance the actual score that
participants must achieve to attain a GM or IM result (nowadays referred to as a norm).

Score Score Score Score Score Score

Cat. Avg. Elo Cat. Avg. Elo Cat. Avg. Elo
(GM) (IM) (GM) (IM) (GM) (IM)
2251– 2376– 2501–
1 85% 76% 6 73% 60% 11 57% 43%
2275 2400 2525
2276– 2401– 2526–
2 83% 73% 7 70% 57% 12 53% 40%
2300 2425 2550
2301– 2426– 2551–
3 81% 70% 8 67% 53% 13 50% 36%
2325 2450 2575
2326– 2451– 2576–
4 78% 67% 9 64% 50% 14 47% 33%
2350 2475 2600
2351– 2476– 2601–
5 76% 64% 10 60% 47% 15 43% 30%
2375 2500 2625

To qualify for the Grandmaster title, a player needed to achieve three such GM results within a rolling period of three years. Exceptionally, if a
player's contributory games totalled thirty or more, then the title could be awarded on the basis of two such results. There were also
circumstances where the system could be adapted to fit team events and other competitions.

The full proposals included many other rules and regulations, covering such topics as:

Eligible tournament formats

Eligible participants
Unrated participants
Registration of tournaments with FIDE
Calculations, including the handling of fractions

Current regulations
The current requirements for becoming a Grandmaster are:

An Elo rating of at least 2500 at any point in their career (although they need not maintain this level to obtain or keep the title).
The rating requirement can be fulfilled even if the player starts a tournament rated <2500 and then reaches or exceeds 2500 during
the tournament but concludes the tournament with a rating <2500.
Two favorable results (called norms) from a total of at least 27 games in tournaments. Which some exceptions, to receive a norm in a
tournament:
The player's rating performance at the end of the tournament must be at least 2600.
At least 33% of the player's opponents must be Grandmasters.

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At least 50% of the player's opponents must hold a FIDE title.
The player's opponents must have an average rating of at least 2380.
The player's opponents must come from at least 3 different chess federations, which can include the player's own federation.
A maximum of 60% of a player's opponents can come from the player's own federation.
A maximum of 66% of a player's opponents can come from a single federation.
The Grandmaster title is also automatically conferred, without needing to fulfill the above criteria, when winning the Women's World
Championship, the World Junior Championship, or the World Senior Championship. Current regulations can be found in the FIDE
Handbook.[14]

FIDE titles including the grandmaster title are valid for life, but FIDE regulations allow a title to be revoked for "use of a FIDE title or rating to
subvert the ethical principles of the title or rating system" or if a player is found to have violated the anti-cheating regulations in a tournament
on which the title application was based.[15]

Title inflation
Although the qualifications for obtaining the grandmaster title are similar to those adopted in 1970, concern has been expressed that the title
is not as meaningful now as it was in the past.[16][17][18] According to Macieja,[16] it is difficult to gauge meaningfulness: although the number
of grandmasters had increased greatly between 1972 and 2008, the number of registered players had increased even faster.

Honorary grandmasters
From 1977 until 2003, FIDE awarded honorary Grandmaster titles to 31 players based on their past performances or other contributions to
chess. Since 2007, no distinction has been made between an "honorary" grandmaster and a full grandmaster. The following players have been
awarded honorary Grandmaster titles:

1977 - Julio Bolbochán, Esteban Canal, Borislav Milić, Carlos Torre Repetto
1981 - Arnold Denker
1982 - Lodewijk Prins, Raúl Sanguinetti
1983 - Vladimir Alatortsev, Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Erik Lundin
1984 - Eero Böök, Stojan Puc
1985 - Harry Golombek, Mario Monticelli, Jaroslav Šajtar
1986 - Arthur Dake, Theodor Ghițescu
1987 - Vladimir Makogonov, Vladas Mikėnas, Bogdan Śliwa
1988 - George Koltanowski
1990 - Andrija Fuderer, Rudolf Marić
1991 - Dragoljub Minić
1992 - Heinz Lehmann, Rudolf Teschner
1993 - Jonathan Penrose (Leonard Barden claims Penrose was awarded the full grandmaster title).[19][20]
1996 - Károly Honfi, Enrico Paoli
1999 - Péter Dely
2003 - Elmārs Zemgalis

See also
Chess title
List of chess grandmasters
List of youngest grandmasters
Comparison of top chess players throughout history

References
1. Administrator. "Chiburdanidze, Maia FIDE Chess Profile - Players
Arbiters Trainers" (http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=13600
036). ratings.fide.com.
2. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to
Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 156, ISBN 978-0-19-
280049-7
3. Sunnucks 1970, p. 223
4. "nimzowitsch.com" (http://nimzowitsch.com/Tourn_and_Match/san
seb12.htm). Retrieved 29 June 2015.
5. Winter, Edward (1999), Kings, Commoners and Knaves: Further
Chess Explorations (1 ed.), Russell Enterprises, Inc., pp. 315–
316, ISBN 978-1-888690-04-0
6. Winter, Edward (2003), A Chess Omnibus (1 ed.), Russell
Enterprises, Inc., pp. 177–178, ISBN 978-1-888690-17-0
7. "Chess Notes by Edward Winter" (http://www.chesshistory.com/wi
nter/winter38.html). Retrieved 29 June 2015.
8. Cafferty, Bernard; Taimanov, Mark (1998), The Soviet
Championships (1 ed.), Cadogan Books, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-1-
85744-201-4
9. Elo, Arpad (1978), The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present,
Arco, p. 66, ISBN 978-0-668-04721-0
10. Harkness, Kenneth (1956), The Official Blue Book and
Encyclopedia of Chess, David McKay Company, pp. 332–336,
LCCN 56014153 (https://lccn.loc.gov/56014153), OCLC 1578704
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1578704)
11. Harkness, Kenneth (1967), Official Chess Handbook, David
McKay Company, pp. 211–214, LCCN 66013085 (https://lccn.loc.
gov/66013085), OCLC 728637 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/728
637)
12. Sunnucks 1970, pp. 224–226
13. Keene, Raymond; Levy, David (1970), Siegen Chess Olympiad (1
ed.), Chess Ltd, Sutton Coldfield, pp. 238–240
14. FIDE Handbook - FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 July
2017 (http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=198&view=articl
e), fide.com
15. "B.01 FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 July 2017", FIDE
Handbook (https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B01Regulations201
7), FIDE, 13 September 2016

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16. Macieja, Bartlomiej (December 17, 2008), ACP Report by GM
Bartlmiej Macieja (http://www.fide.com/fide/fide-commissions/3616
-acp-report-by-gm-bartlmiej-macieja), Fide.com, retrieved
2019-02-15
17. Remarks on the ACP's FIDE Congress report (http://www.chessb
ase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5111), Nick Faulks, Chessbase, 20. Re: Penrose GM (Grandmaster), not HGM (Honorary
December 24, 2008
Bibliography
Grandmaster (chess) - Wikipedia
18. Silver, Albert (June 26, 2013), " 'A GM is a GM'? – FIDE title
devaluation" (https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-gm-is-a-gm-fide-titl
e-devaluation-270613), chessbase.com, retrieved 2019-02-15
19. "FIDE Chess Profile - Jonathan Penrose" (http://ratings.fide.com/c
ard.phtml?event=400360). FIDE.
Grandmaster) (https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=632&
start=15), post by Leonard Barden, ecforum.org.uk, Jan 23 2009

Sunnucks, Anne (1970), The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martins Press, ISBN 978-0-7091-4697-1

External links
"Requirements for FIDE Titles" (http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=58&view=article) from the FIDE Handbook
"World Top Chess players" (http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml) FIDE
"Chess Grandmasters" by Edward Winter (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/grandmasters.html)

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