Candidate Master
Candidate Master is the entry-level FIDE title for open play, awarded for reaching a standard rating of 2200, and it does not count towards the title-holder share in norm calculations.
Also called: CM
The Candidate Master title, written CM, sits one step below FIDE Master. Under the Title Regulations a player earns it by reaching a standard rating of at least 2200 at some time, with the same 30-game condition for ratings earned after 1 July 2017. Direct CM titles can also be awarded for a result in listed events, such as the Open and Women's Olympiads, where the minimum rating requirement is waived.
One detail catches people out in norm arithmetic: the rule that at least half of a norm's opponents must be title holders excludes Candidate Masters and Woman Candidate Masters, so a field full of CMs does not help a title seeker meet that share.
The title is mainly a recognized milestone and a useful label on a tournament list. It is confirmed for life like other FIDE titles. Compare it with FIDE Master and with the women's counterpart, Woman FIDE Master, and read title requirement for how each is earned.
Rating and title terms like "Candidate Master" matter once you know your next step, and the improvement plans by rating band set out a weekly routine for each rating range.
Related terms
FIDE Master is the third open FIDE title, below International Master, and it is usually earned by reaching a standard rating of 2300 over at least 30 rated games rather than through norms.
Woman FIDE Master is the third title in the women's FIDE series, awarded to a player who has reached a standard rating of at least 2100, without needing norms.
A title requirement is a condition that FIDE sets for awarding a title, such as a rating level, a number of rated games, a performance result or an approved event.
A norm is a tournament result that meets the FIDE title standard for performance rating and opponent mix; several norms across enough games can earn a title, but one norm alone does not.
A FIDE rating is the Elo-based number that the World Chess Federation publishes each month for players with rated games, with a published minimum of 1400, and it is the rating that FIDE titles are measured against.
Guides that go further
How to become a Candidate Master
The requirements, each with its FIDE Handbook clause, and a checker for your own numbers.
How the Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster titles are earned, with every Handbook clause.
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
Sources
- FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024, Clause 1.3.2, read Oct 21, 2026.
- FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024, Clause 0.6.2, read Oct 21, 2026.
- FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024, Clause 1.4.5, read Oct 21, 2026.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.