--- title: "Rating category in chess" url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-category.md" canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-category" last_updated: "2026-11-07" type: "reference" summary: "A rating category is a band of ratings, often 200 points wide, that groups players of similar strength so they can be sectioned, paired." related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/us-chess-rating.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-list.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/open-tournament.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-system.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"] --- # Rating category 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. A rating category is a band of ratings, often 200 points wide, that groups players of similar strength so they can be sectioned, paired. A rating category is a band of ratings, often 200 points wide, that groups players of similar strength so they can be sectioned, paired, prized and described together in a tournament. A rating category turns a continuous number into something you can say aloud. Chess rating scales are built around a 200 point step: FIDE's regulations describe the scale as having a class interval of 200 points (Rating Regulations, clause 8.1), and US Chess pegs its rating-based titles to levels 200 points apart, from 4th Category at 1200 through 1st Category at 1800 to [Candidate Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md) at 2000. FIDE does not hand out classes to ordinary players. Its Title Regulations acknowledge only the titles they list, which are GM, IM, FM and CM and the women's equivalents (clauses 0.1 and 0.3). Organizers and clubs therefore make their own letter or name labels for bands, and a label means whatever the event announcement says it means. The main practical use is sectioning. A large weekend event often has an [open section](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/open-tournament.md) plus sections capped at a rating, so a 1400 player is not paired against a 2200 player in round one and prizes are competitive inside each band. Prize rules interact with it too: US Chess can set a [rating floor](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-floor.md) when a player wins a large prize in an under-rating section. Crossing a boundary changes only the label. Read the announcement for the real limits, and see the entries on [rating list](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-list.md), open tournament and [US Chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/us-chess-rating.md). A neighboring idea is [Scholastic tournament](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/scholastic-tournament.md). A scholastic tournament is an event for school-age players, usually organized in sections by grade or age, with prizes for individual students and often for school teams as well. Also worth reading is [Sectional](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/sectional.md). A sectional is a tournament section limited to players inside a set rating range, so that each competitor mostly faces opponents of similar strength and prizes are fought for fairly. Rating and title terms like "Rating category" 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 - [US Chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/us-chess-rating.md) - [Rating list](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-list.md) - [Open tournament](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/open-tournament.md) - [Swiss system](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md) - [Rating system](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-system.md) ## Guides that go further - [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. - [Average chess rating and a good chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/chess-rating-percentiles.md): What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control. - [Chess rating calculator](https://georgelichess.com/tools/rating-calculator.md): Work out how a FIDE rating changes after a run of games. ## Sources - FIDE Handbook B.02 FIDE Rating Regulations, effective 1 March 2024 (Clause 8.1), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B022024 - FIDE Handbook B.01 FIDE Title Regulations, effective 1 January 2024 (Clauses 0.1 and 0.3), read 2026-10-21: https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B012024 - US Chess, The US Chess Title System (Glickman, February 2016) (Section 2, The Norm Criteria), read 2026-10-21: https://new.uschess.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/us-chess-title-system-glickman-02.2016.pdf - US Chess, The US Chess Rating System (Glickman and Doan), dated 6 April 2026 (Section 5), read 2026-10-21: https://new.uschess.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/us_chess_rating_system_specs-2026-04-06.pdf [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 - [US Chess rating](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/us-chess-rating.md) - [Rating list in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-list.md) - [Open tournament in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/open-tournament.md) - [Swiss system in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/swiss-system.md) - [Rating system in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/rating-system.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)