Rapid rating
A rapid rating is a rating earned in rapid games, kept apart from the standard rating, so the same player can hold different numbers for slow, rapid and blitz chess.
Rapid chess sits between standard and blitz, and FIDE rates it on its own list. The Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations call a game rapid when each player's base time, plus sixty increments, lands above ten minutes and below sixty. A typical 15 minute game with a 10 second increment scores 25 minutes on that measure, so it is rapid.
The same set of regulations lists K-factors that follow the same pattern as the standard list, with 40 for the first 30 games, 20 below 2400 and 10 once a player has reached 2400. A player with no rapid rating but a standard rating can use it as a starting point under the rules for first ratings.
Because the format rewards faster decisions and punishes slow calculation, a player's rapid rating can sit above or below the standard one by a fair margin. Read the entries on blitz rating, time control and rapid chess to see how formats compare.
A neighboring idea is Online rating. An online rating is the number a website or app computes from games played on that platform; it belongs to that site's player pool and is separate from FIDE and national over-the-board ratings.
Rating and title terms like "Rapid rating" 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
A blitz rating is a rating earned in blitz games, kept on a separate list from standard and rapid ratings, because fast play measures a different skill.
A time control is the rule that sets how much thinking time each player gets in a game, and whether extra time is added per move, which decides what kind of chess is being played.
Rapid chess is a medium speed format, with each player getting roughly ten to sixty minutes, which keeps games thoughtful while allowing several rounds to be played in one day.
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.
The K-factor is the multiplier in an Elo-style rating update that sets how many points a rating can move after a result; a larger K makes the rating react faster.
Guides that go further
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
Work out how a FIDE rating changes after a run of games.
Sources
- FIDE Handbook B.02 FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations, effective 1 March 2024, Clause 1.1.1, read Oct 21, 2026.
- FIDE Handbook B.02 FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations, effective 1 March 2024, Clause 7.3.3, read Oct 21, 2026.
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