Chess is a game that many people love to play casually. It requires strategy, critical thinking, and speed. However, some people want to take their chess to a competitive level, and a FIDE rating is essential for that, but how do you get a FIDE rating in chess?
To get a FIDE rating in Chess, follow these steps:
- Play in FIDE-rated chess tournaments
- Score a minimum of half points against five FIDE-rated players, your scores only count towards the rating if they are 1000 or above.
- Complete the above criteria in less than 26 months.
Since the minimum FIDE rating was lowered to 1000, rating opportunities became accessible to more players. Read on to find out more about the FIDE rating and the rating process.
Check out the video explained by International Arbiter Gopakumar Sudhakaran on how to get fide rating in chess
What is the Process of Getting a FIDE Rating in Chess?
The FIDE is the international governing for chess. They regulate and set the rules for chess games, as well as organize chess competitions around the globe. They also give medals and awards to individuals and organizations. The FIDE was created in France in 1924. The process of achieving a FIDE rating is as follows.
Register for a FIDE Membership
Before getting a FIDE rating, you have to register to be a member of the FIDE and be put into their player database. To do this, go to the FIDE website
for your country and create an account. Once you register, you will get a unique FIDE ID that you can use to register for rated tournaments.
You receive a FIDE ID by registering for an account and providing your name, gender, date of birth, email address, and photo to the FIDE rating officer in your country.
Start Competing in Rated Tournaments
Once you are registered and have your ID, you can start competing in rated tournaments. To get your first FIDE rating, you have to play five rated chess games with rated players as your opponents. In those games, you must have scored a minimum of half points against your opponents and receive a performance score of no less than 1000.
The results from the games that you have played over a period of 25 months will be considered for your overall rating. The performance score or rating is your overall performance based on the number of chess games played, scores in the games, and the rating that your opponent has.
FIDE Rating Requirements
To receive a rating once you are registered, you have to qualify for the official FIDE rating list which is published on the first day of each month.
If you are a new player to the rankings, you will only be on the list if the rating is based on results obtained under a minimum of 5 games played against rated players in a period of 26 months.
Your total rating also has to be at least 1000 to make the list.
Different k-factors of fide rating
The K-factor in the FIDE rating system is a parameter that determines how much a player’s rating changes after a tournament. The higher the K-factor, the more a player’s rating will change.
The following are the different K-factors used in the FIDE rating system:
- K = 40 for a player new to the rating list until they have completed events with at least 30 games. This is to allow new players to quickly reach their true playing strength.
- K = 20 for players with a rating under 2400. This is to allow players to improve their ratings more quickly at lower levels.
- K = 10 for players with a published rating of at least 2400. This is to make the ratings more stable at higher levels.
- K = 20 for RAPID and BLITZ ratings all players. This is because these time controls are less accurate than standard chess, so the ratings need to be more stable.
Special Condition:
- K = 40 for all players until the end of the year of their 18th birthday, as long as their rating remains under 2300.
The K-factor is also used to calculate the rating of a player who is playing against an unrated player. In this case, the K-factor is used to estimate the strength of the unrated player.
How to Get a FIDE Rating for Blitz Chess
Blitz chess is a type of speed chess where players are given 10 minutes or less to play a full game. To get a FIDE rating for blitz chess, you have to score a minimum of 0.5 points against five already rated blitz players once you are registered with the FIDE.
This must be achieved over 26 months and be supplemented with a performance score of at least 1000.
How to Get a FIDE Rating for Rapid Chess
Rapid chess is a type of speed chess where each player is given 30 minutes or less to play all of their moves. So, it is like blitz chess but not as fast. The requirements to receive a rating are the same as blitz chess, where you have to score no less than 0,5 points in five rated games and have a minimum performance score of 1000.
How Is the FIDE Rating Calculated?
Now that you know what must be done to achieve a FIDE rating, it is important to understand how these ratings are calculated. There are three different cases with their own method of calculating the overall rating.
Calculating Base FIDE Rating
To calculate your base or initial FIDE rating use the initial rating calculator on FIDE.com, Calculating your initial score manually can be time-consuming. In order to use the calculator, you will need to know the average rating of the rated opponents you played against in a tournament, your total score against these opponents, and the number of games played.
There are three different cases for which your initial rating will vary.
1st Case: You Scored 50% Playing Against Rated Players
If you played against five rated players with an average performance of 1500. This average rating is determined by adding the rating of each opponent together and dividing by the number of opponents played.
If you scored 2.5 points against 5 players with a combined average 1500 rating, you scored 50% overall. You earn 1 point for each match you win and there were 5 points total so you won 2.5 points.
Case 2: You Scored More Than 50% Against Rated Players
Let’s say against 5 rated players with an average rating of 1500, you score 4 out of five points. By convention, if you score more than 50%, you will get 20 rated points added for every 0.5 points you score in a game.
Since you scored four points, subtract half or 2.5 from it. 4-2.5 = 1.5 and 1.5 is 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5, Based on the rule above, there are three half points, so you will get 60 points added to your rating.
Case 3: You Scored Less Than 50% Against Other Players
If you scored less than 50% against the rated players you competed with, then 72 rating points get deducted for every 0.5 points earned. So, let’s say you play against five rated players with an average score of 1500, and you score 2 points each game which is less than 50% of the total points or 2.5
Based on the above calculation, subtract 2 from 2.5. This is 0.5 which means you will subtract 72 points from your base score.
Each of these cases will change the way your rating is calculated, so it’s important to know about them
Note: Players whose ratings drop below 1000 are shown as unrated on the next list. Thereafter they are treated in the same manner as any other unrated player.
Conclusion
To get a FIDE rating, you have to compete in FIDE-rated tournaments and score a minimum of half points against rated players. The way to calculate your rating depends on the type of chess game you play and your overall score in a tournament, Before you can get a rating, you have to register with the FIDE and start playing rated games.