--- title: "Is a 1200 chess rating good?" url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1200.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1200" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "A 1200 Lichess blitz rating is higher than 20.5% of active players. See the percentile in blitz, rapid and bullet on 1 September 2026." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/blitz.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/rapid.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/bullet.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/classical.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1000.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1100.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1300.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1400.md"] --- # Is a 1200 chess rating good? > **For AI agents:** the complete index of GeorgeLiChess pages is [llms.txt](https://georgelichess.com/llms.txt). Every page is also served as markdown at its URL plus .md. A 1200 Lichess blitz rating is higher than 20.5% of active players. See the percentile in blitz, rapid and bullet on 1 September 2026. A 1200 rating is higher than 20.5% of active Lichess blitz players, 27.4% of rapid players and 16.5% of bullet players, measured on 1 September 2026. The median blitz rating is about 1530. Lichess ratings are a separate scale from FIDE and chess.com ratings. ## Is a 1200 rating good in blitz, rapid and bullet? In blitz a 1200 rating sits in the lower quarter: it is higher than 20.5% of the 345,715 active blitz players, and 79.5% are rated 1200 or higher. The same number ranks differently in each time control because each one has its own pool of players. A 1200 rating ranks highest in rapid (27.4%) and lowest in bullet (16.5%). **Where a 1200 rating ranks among active Lichess players on 1 September 2026.** | Time control | Higher than | Rated 1200 or higher | Median rating | Active players | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Blitz | 20.5% | 79.5% | 1530 | 345,715 | | Rapid | 27.4% | 72.6% | 1445 | 201,221 | | Bullet | 16.5% | 83.5% | 1640 | 169,583 | | Classical | 13.6% | 86.4% | 1560 | 12,241 | ## How far is 1200 from the top 25, 10 and 1 percent? The top 25 percent of blitz players start at about 1795, the top 10 percent at about 2010 and the top 1 percent at about 2375. From 1200 that is 595 points up, 810 points up and 1175 points up. **Points from a 1200 rating to each position, by time control, 1 September 2026.** | Position | Blitz | Rapid | Bullet | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Top 25% | 1795 (595 points up) | 1705 (505 points up) | 1945 (745 points up) | | Top 10% | 2010 (810 points up) | 1910 (710 points up) | 2200 (1000 points up) | | Top 5% | 2135 (935 points up) | 2025 (825 points up) | 2345 (1145 points up) | | Top 1% | 2375 (1175 points up) | 2240 (1040 points up) | 2625 (1425 points up) | ## How many Lichess players are rated 1200 or higher? On 1 September 2026, 274,889 blitz accounts, 146,035 rapid accounts and 141,562 bullet accounts were rated 1200 or higher. In the 1200 to 1299 band alone there were 27,545 blitz accounts, 8.0% of the blitz total. ## What do the ratings around 1200 look like? Between 1100 and 1300 the share of blitz players a rating is higher than runs from 13.8% to 28.5%. The ladder below shows 900 to 1500 in the three largest time controls. **Share of active players a rating is higher than, 1 September 2026.** | Rating | Higher than, blitz | Higher than, rapid | Higher than, bullet | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 900 | 4.4% | 8.0% | 3.2% | | 1000 | 8.4% | 13.1% | 6.4% | | 1100 | 13.8% | 19.8% | 11.1% | | 1200 | 20.5% | 27.4% | 16.5% | | 1300 | 28.5% | 36.3% | 23.1% | | 1400 | 37.3% | 45.7% | 30.3% | | 1500 | 46.8% | 55.3% | 38.1% | ## How can a player rated 1200 improve? In this range the games that decide a rating are often won by the player who makes fewer mistakes under time pressure, so tactics, a small reliable opening repertoire and basic endgames carry the most. Review your losses to players near your own rating and ask which pattern keeps returning. A first lesson with George Li starts from your own games and ends with a written study plan. ## How were these percentiles measured? Accounts that played a rated game on 1 September 2026, counted once per time control at the rating after their last game, bots left out. The hub page explains the method in full. ## Frequently asked questions **What percent of chess players are rated 1200 or higher?** On 1 September 2026, 79.5% of active Lichess blitz players, 72.6% of rapid players and 83.5% of bullet players were rated 1200 or higher. These are Lichess players only, not all chess players. **Is 1200 a good rating for a beginner?** Lichess starts every new account at 1500 in each category (Lichess FAQ, read 2026-10-20), so 1200 is below the starting rating. In blitz it is higher than 20.5% of active players, which is a better guide than the number alone. **Is a 1200 Lichess rating the same as 1200 on chess.com or in FIDE ratings?** No. Lichess says its ratings cannot be compared with those of other sites or organizations, so this site publishes no conversion. ## Sources - [Lichess open database, standard rated games (CC0), file for September 2026](https://database.lichess.org/), read 2026-10-22 - [Lichess FAQ](https://lichess.org/faq), read 2026-10-20 - [Lichess: Chess rating systems](https://lichess.org/page/rating-systems), read 2026-10-20 ## Related - [Is a 900 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/900.md) - [Is a 1000 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1000.md) - [Is a 1100 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1100.md) - [Is a 1300 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1300.md) - [Is a 1400 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1400.md) - [Is a 1500 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1500.md) - [Lichess blitz rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/blitz.md) - [Lichess rapid rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/rapid.md) - [Lichess bullet rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/bullet.md) - [Lichess classical rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/classical.md) - [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md) - [Chess ratings explained](https://georgelichess.com/chess-ratings-explained.md) - [How to get a FIDE rating](https://georgelichess.com/how-to-get-a-fide-rating.md) - [Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book/first-lesson.md) Last updated 2026-10-22. ## Related - [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md) - [Lichess blitz rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/blitz.md) - [Lichess rapid rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/rapid.md) - [Lichess bullet rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/bullet.md) - [Lichess classical rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/classical.md) - [Is a 1000 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1000.md) - [Is a 1100 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1100.md) - [Is a 1300 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1300.md) - [Is a 1400 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1400.md)