How to get a FIDE rating

What is a FIDE rating, and who issues it?

FIDE publishes one rating list on the first day of each month, adding all rated play of the period to the previous list (B02 7.1). A player is on the list through a national chess federation that is a FIDE member (B02 10.1), so the practical first step is to be registered with the federation of the country you play for.

For every player rated at least 1400 the list shows the title, federation, rating, ID number, the number of games rated in the period, the year of birth, the gender and the current K value (B02 7.1.2).

Which games count toward a first rating?

A game is rated only when it is played in a tournament that the federation of the host country registered in advance and reports to FIDE afterwards (B02 0.2, B02 9.1). The notice is three days before the tournament starts in the usual case (B02 0.2.2). The games themselves have to meet these conditions:

• Time: each player starts with enough time to finish a 60-move game, which is 60 minutes when both players are rated below 1800, 90 minutes when at least one is rated 1800 or higher and 120 minutes when at least one is rated 2400 or higher (B02 1.1).
• Time controls: a first time control that names a number of moves names at least 30 moves (B02 1.2).
• Length of the day: no more than 12 hours of play in a day, counted as 60-move games (B02 3.1).
• Rules: play follows the FIDE Laws of Chess (B02 2.1).
• Games played: a game is rated once both players have made at least one move, and unplayed games do not count (B02 5.1).
• Matches: a match in which one player is unrated is not rated (B02 6.1).

How many games do I need before a rating is published?

At least 5 games against rated opponents. They do not have to come from one tournament: results from tournaments in consecutive rating periods of not more than 26 months are pooled to make the first rating (B02 7.1.4).

If the first rating comes out below 1400 it is not published (B02 7.1.4). If an unrated player scores zero in the first event, that score is set aside; otherwise every result is used (B02 8.2.1).

A player whose published rating later drops below 1400 is shown as unrated on the next list (B02 7.2.1). A player who plays no rated game in a year is listed as inactive and becomes active again after one rated game (B02 7.2.2).

How is a first FIDE rating calculated?

The first rating comes from the average rating of your rated opponents and your score. Two hypothetical opponents rated 1800, against whom you are treated as drawing, are added to the average and to your score (B02 8.2.2). Your score as a share of the games, rounded to a whole percent, gives a rating difference dp from the Handbook table (B02 8.1.1). The first rating is the average plus dp, rounded to a whole number, and the highest first rating is 2200 (B02 8.2.3).

Here is a worked example that we computed from those rules. A player has five rated games against opponents rated 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800 and 1900 and scores 3 points. The two hypothetical draws add 1 point and 3600 rating points over 2 more games, so the calculation uses 7 games, 4 points and 12,100 opponent rating points in all. The average opponent is 1728.57, the score is 4 of 7 or 57 percent, and the table gives dp of +50. The first rating is 1728.57 + 50 = 1778.57, which rounds to 1779.

A weaker result gives a lower number. Six rated games against opponents rated 1450, 1500, 1550, 1600, 1650 and 1700 with a score of 2.5 points use 8 games and 3.5 points, which is 44 percent. The table gives dp of -43, the average opponent is 1631.25, and the first rating is 1588.

What changes after the first rating?

After the first list a rating moves with each result. The K factor is 40 until a player has completed events with at least 30 games, 20 while the rating stays under 2400 and 10 once the published rating has reached 2400. Players keep K at 40 until the end of the year of their 18th birthday while their rating is under 2300 (B02 8.3.3).

For rating purposes a difference of more than 400 points counts as 400 for players rated below 2650 (B02 8.3.1, effective from 1 October 2025). The chess rating calculator on this site applies these rules to a run of games you type in.

Do rapid and blitz games give a separate rating?

Yes. FIDE has separate regulations for rapid and blitz ratings. A rapid game is one where the time allotted plus 60 times the increment is more than 10 and under 60 minutes for each player, and a blitz game is more than 3 and up to 10 minutes (B02 Rapid and Blitz 1.1.1, 1.1.2). The first-rating rules follow the same pattern as standard play: two hypothetical 1800 draws and a highest first rating of 2200 (B02 Rapid and Blitz 7.2.3, 7.2.4).

How does a FIDE rating connect to a title?

Titles ask for a rating reached at some time. The Candidate Master title asks for 2200 and the FIDE Master title for 2300, by rating alone (B01 1.3). The International Master and Grandmaster titles also need norms and a rating of 2400 or 2500 (B01 1.5.3). The FIDE titles guide lists every requirement with its clause.

How does a FIDE rating compare with a Lichess rating?

They are different scales built from different pools of players, so a Lichess number is not a FIDE number and this site publishes no conversion. Chess ratings explained sets out how each system works and why the numbers differ, and the rating percentiles page shows where a Lichess rating sits among active Lichess players.