--- title: "Grandmaster in chess" url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "Grandmaster is the highest title FIDE awards for over-the-board standard chess. Getting to Grandmaster is a two-part test, and both parts must be met." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster-norm.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/international-master.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/norm.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-application.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"] --- # Grandmaster in chess > **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. Grandmaster is the highest title FIDE awards for over-the-board standard chess. Getting to Grandmaster is a two-part test, and both parts must be met. Grandmaster is the highest title FIDE awards for over-the-board standard chess, earned through a rating of at least 2500 reached at some time together with qualifying norms, or through certain event results. Getting to Grandmaster is a two-part test, and both parts must be met. The first is a rating: at some point the player must have reached 2500 on the FIDE standard list, and the Title Regulations allow that peak to come mid-period, before it is ever published (clause 1.5.3). The second is a record of norms that together cover at least 27 games (clause 1.5.1). A single norm is a tournament result that meets several conditions at once: at least nine games, a performance of 2600 or more, opponents averaging 2380 or higher, a score of at least 35 percent, and a field in which at least half the opponents hold titles and at least a third, and not fewer than three, are Grandmasters. Limits on how many opponents share your federation apply as well (clauses 1.4.1 to 1.4.8). A few listed events award the title straight from a result, and if the player's rating is still below 2500 the award is conditional until it gets there (clause 0.6.2). Once confirmed, the title is valid for life, although the Regulations allow removal after a fair-play breach (clauses 0.4 and 0.4.4). It describes standard play and says nothing on its own about a person's current rating. See the entries on [grandmaster norm](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster-norm.md), norm and [title requirement](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md), and the next titles down, [International Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/international-master.md) and [FIDE Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide-master.md). Also called: GM. It sits close to [FIDE](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide.md). FIDE, the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation, is the international body that publishes the Laws of Chess, keeps the rating lists and awards titles, working through its member national federations. Compare it with [Woman Grandmaster](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-grandmaster.md). Woman Grandmaster is the highest FIDE title in the women's series, earned through WGM norms and a rating of at least 2300, or through direct results in listed women's events. Rating and title terms like "Grandmaster" matter once you know your next step, and the [improvement plans by rating band](https://georgelichess.com/improve.md) set out a weekly routine for each rating range. ## Related terms - [Grandmaster norm](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster-norm.md) - [International Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/international-master.md) - [Norm](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/norm.md) - [Title requirement](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md) - [Title application](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-application.md) ## Guides that go further - [How to become a Grandmaster](https://georgelichess.com/titles/grandmaster.md): The requirements, each with its FIDE Handbook clause, and a checker for your own numbers. - [FIDE chess titles](https://georgelichess.com/titles.md): How the Candidate Master, FIDE Master, International Master and Grandmaster titles are earned, with every Handbook clause. - [Chess ratings explained](https://georgelichess.com/chess-ratings-explained.md): 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 (Clauses 0.3, 0.4 and 0.4.4), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 - FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024 (Clauses 1.5.1 and 1.5.3), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 - FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024 (Clauses 0.5, 1.4.1, 1.4.5 and 1.4.8), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 - FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024 (Clause 0.6.2), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 [Book your first lesson](https://georgelichess.com/book.md) and George Li reviews your games and builds a study plan around them. Questions about lessons: write to hello@georgelichess.com. ## Related - [Grandmaster norm in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/grandmaster-norm.md) - [International Master in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/international-master.md) - [Norm in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/norm.md) - [Title requirement in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md) - [Title application in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-application.md) - [Chess terms: Tournaments, ratings and titles](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md) - [Chess terms glossary: plain definitions](https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md)