---
title: "Lichess rapid rating distribution"
url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/rapid.md"
canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/rapid"
last_updated: "2026-11-07"
type: "reference"
summary: "The Lichess rapid rating distribution: the median is about 1445. Percentiles and rating bands for 201,221 players 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/bullet.md", "https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/classical.md", "https://georgelichess.com/tools/time-control-calculator.md"]
---

# Lichess rapid rating distribution

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The Lichess rapid rating distribution: the median is about 1445. Percentiles and rating bands for 201,221 players on 1 September 2026.

On 1 September 2026, 201,221 accounts played a rated rapid game on Lichess. Half were rated below about 1445, a quarter below about 1170 and a quarter above about 1705. About 1910 reaches the top 10 percent and about 2240 the top 1 percent.

## What does a rapid rating rank among Lichess players?

The table reads each rating as a position. A player rated 1800 in rapid, for example, is higher than 82.8% of the active players in that time control, and 17.2% are rated 1800 or higher.

**Lichess rapid ratings and the share of active players below and at or above them, 1 September 2026.**

| Rating | Higher than | Rated this or higher | Players this or higher |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 600 | 0.9% | 99.1% | 199,386 |
| 700 | 2.2% | 97.8% | 196,803 |
| 800 | 4.5% | 95.5% | 192,229 |
| 900 | 8.0% | 92.0% | 185,053 |
| 1000 | 13.1% | 86.9% | 174,802 |
| 1100 | 19.8% | 80.2% | 161,385 |
| 1200 | 27.4% | 72.6% | 146,035 |
| 1300 | 36.3% | 63.7% | 128,093 |
| 1400 | 45.7% | 54.3% | 109,263 |
| 1500 | 55.3% | 44.7% | 90,012 |
| 1600 | 65.2% | 34.8% | 70,123 |
| 1700 | 74.5% | 25.5% | 51,387 |
| 1800 | 82.8% | 17.2% | 34,680 |
| 1900 | 89.4% | 10.6% | 21,271 |
| 2000 | 94.1% | 5.9% | 11,819 |
| 2100 | 97.0% | 3.0% | 5,948 |
| 2200 | 98.6% | 1.4% | 2,764 |
| 2300 | 99.4% | 0.6% | 1,185 |
| 2400 | 99.8% | 0.2% | 425 |

## What rating is the top 1, 5 and 10 percent in rapid?

Reaching the top 10 percent of active rapid players takes a rating of about 1910, the top 5 percent about 2025 and the top 1 percent about 2240. The thresholds are read from the counts of players in each 25-point step and rounded to the nearest 5.

**Rating at which a given share of active players sit below, by time control, 1 September 2026. Ratings are rounded to the nearest 5.**

| Position | Blitz | Rapid | Bullet | Classical |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median (top 50%) | 1530 | 1445 | 1640 | 1560 |
| Top 25% | 1795 | 1705 | 1945 | 1755 |
| Top 10% | 2010 | 1910 | 2200 | 1925 |
| Top 5% | 2135 | 2025 | 2345 | 2025 |
| Top 1% | 2375 | 2240 | 2625 | 2215 |

## Which rating band holds the most rapid players?

The busiest 100-point band in rapid is 1500 to 1599, with 9.9% of the players. Lichess starts every new account at 1500, so newcomers whose rating is still settling add to the crowd near that number.

**Share of active rapid players in each 100-point band, 1 September 2026.**

| Rating band | Share of players |
| --- | --- |
| under 600 | 0.9% |
| 600 to 699 | 1.3% |
| 700 to 799 | 2.3% |
| 800 to 899 | 3.6% |
| 900 to 999 | 5.1% |
| 1000 to 1099 | 6.7% |
| 1100 to 1199 | 7.6% |
| 1200 to 1299 | 8.9% |
| 1300 to 1399 | 9.4% |
| 1400 to 1499 | 9.6% |
| 1500 to 1599 | 9.9% |
| 1600 to 1699 | 9.3% |
| 1700 to 1799 | 8.3% |
| 1800 to 1899 | 6.7% |
| 1900 to 1999 | 4.7% |
| 2000 to 2099 | 2.9% |
| 2100 to 2199 | 1.6% |
| 2200 to 2299 | 0.8% |
| 2300 to 2399 | 0.4% |
| 2400 and above | 0.2% |

## How does rapid compare with blitz, bullet and classical?

Each time control has its own pool of players and its own rating, so the same number means a different rank. The median is about 1445 in rapid, compared with 1530 in blitz, 1640 in bullet, 1560 in classical.

Pick a rating on the percentile pages to see how it ranks in all four. For what a time control counts as on Lichess and under FIDE rules, use the time control calculator.

## 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 is a good Lichess rapid rating?**

That depends on the comparison you want. A rating of about 1445 is the middle of active rapid players, about 1705 is the top quarter and about 1910 is the top 10 percent, measured on 1 September 2026.

**What is the average Lichess rapid rating?**

The median, the rating with half the active players below it, was about 1445 on 1 September 2026. The mean differs a little because the distribution is not symmetric, so this page uses the median.

**Are these ratings the same as FIDE or chess.com ratings?**

No. Lichess ratings are their own scale, and Lichess says they cannot be compared with ratings from other sites or organizations. 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

- [Lichess blitz rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/blitz.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 1200 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1200.md)
- [Is a 1500 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1500.md)
- [Is a 1800 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/1800.md)
- [Is a 2000 chess rating good?](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/2000.md)
- [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md)
- [Chess time control calculator](https://georgelichess.com/tools/time-control-calculator.md)
- [Chess ratings explained](https://georgelichess.com/chess-ratings-explained.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 bullet rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/bullet.md)
- [Lichess classical rating distribution](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles/classical.md)
- [Chess time control calculator](https://georgelichess.com/tools/time-control-calculator.md)