---
title: "Woman FIDE Master in chess"
url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-fide-master.md"
canonical_url: "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-fide-master"
last_updated: "2026-11-07"
type: "reference"
summary: "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."
related: ["https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-international-master.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-grandmaster.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide-master.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary/category/tournaments-ratings-titles.md", "https://georgelichess.com/glossary.md"]
---

# Woman FIDE Master in chess

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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.

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.

The Woman [FIDE Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide-master.md) title, written WFM, plays the same role in the women's series that FIDE Master plays in the open one: it is earned by a rating level, not by norms. The Title Regulations give it to a woman whose standard rating has touched 2100 at some time, and a woman who reached that level after 1 July 2017 must have played at least 30 rated games by then.

Direct awards also exist, such as results in listed girls' and women's events, and the minimum rating for an immediate direct WFM title is 1900, with a conditional award below it. The title is valid for life once the FIDE Council confirms it, and it is for over-the-board [standard chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/classical-chess.md). A Woman FIDE Master counts as a title holder when she appears in a norm field.

The only titles excluded from that count are the Candidate titles. The step below it is the Woman [Candidate Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md) title, set at a rating of 2000, and the step above is [Woman International Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-international-master.md). Read candidate master and [title requirement](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md) for the matching open-series rules.

Also called: WFM.

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 "Woman FIDE Master" 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

- [Woman International Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-international-master.md)
- [Woman Grandmaster](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-grandmaster.md)
- [Candidate Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md)
- [FIDE Master](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide-master.md)
- [Title requirement](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.md)

## Guides that go further

- [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 (Clause 1.3.3), 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

- [Woman International Master in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-international-master.md)
- [Woman Grandmaster in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/woman-grandmaster.md)
- [Candidate Master in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/candidate-master.md)
- [FIDE Master in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/fide-master.md)
- [Title requirement in chess](https://georgelichess.com/glossary/title-requirement.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)