Asking about anything 'good' invites a subjective answer, one that depends on context and personal goals. From a purely objective perspective - what FIDE considers good, beginners with ratings between 1000 and 1200 merit attention. A player who's learning strategy could hold a rating between 1200 and 1600, while advanced players generally rate above 1800. But a 'good' rating actually depends on the player's goals and attitudes towards the game, a point this article explores.
What to Know About the Average Chess Player Rating
- The 'average' chess rating is subjective, depending on players' aims in the sport.
- From FIDE's perspective, an average rating ranges between 1600 and 1799.
- In March 2024, FIDE raised the rating floor from 1000 to 1400; below a 1400 rating, players are considered novices1.
- Note that chess ratings have a profound psychological impact on competitive chess.
What Is a Good Chess Rating?
Every chess enthusiast gets their chess rating by playing in rated events against rated players. Different rating systems have different rules and requirements for players to attain chess ratings.
For a FIDE rating, the rule is to play against 3 rated players and gain one point (either one win or two draws) in a single tournament. With that entry-level information set out, we can explore the Elo system that dictates FIDE ratings.
The Elo Rating System
The game of chess is the most fascinating and intellectual pastime ...
Howard Staunton, English chess Master
Chess is an ancient game but it didn't become a competitive sport until 18512. That's the year that Howard Staunton organised the London Chess Tournament. It laid the foundation for organised chess competitions. Today, we recognise that event as the first modern chess tournament.
In those days, chess clubs and tournaments around the world used a hotch-potch of rating styles to match players, even after FIDE's founding (in 1924). It wasn't until around 1939 that some sort of unity in ratings emerged. That year, the Hungarian chess master and physicist Arpad Elo devised an algorithmic formula to estimate players' relative skills based on match outcomes.
R′ =R+K(S−E)
Where R' is the new rating
R is the old rating
K is the scaling factor (K-factor)
S = 1 for a win, 0.5 for a draw, 0 for a loss
E is the expected score.
Elegant in its simplicity and effective in its 'predictions', it nevertheless took FIDE around 30 years to make the Elo rating official (in 1970). Today, chess clubs around the world may hew to their legacy rating systems, but many incorporate the Elo system.
The Australian Chess Federation (ACF) is not one of them; it relies on the Glicko rating system. To earn their FIDE rating, Australian chess players must compete in FIDE-sanctioned tournaments. Their ACF rating doesn't convert to a FIDE value.
What Are the FIDE Ratings?
As noted above, what makes a “good” chess rating is subjective. Many chess enthusiasts have no intention of playing professionally; the thrill of the game matters more than attaining a high rating. Still, playing in local or regional chess tournaments demands a rating. So those players will maintain what they consider a decent rating for that purpose.
From the official FIDE perspective, ratings are everything and the higher one climbs in the ratings, the more dedicated they are to the sport. As far as FIDE is concerned3, once you become a Class A chess player, you may as well call yourself a pro. This tables shows the breakdown for each FIDE rating level.
| 🔛Rating range | 📜Elo classification | 🔎What it means | 📝Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 1000 | Novice | A new entrant to tournament chess. | Formerly considered the FIDE ratings floor. |
| 1000 - 1199 | Class E, category 5 | A beginner player | |
| 1200 - 1399 | Class D, category 4 | Knows a few openings and can deploy simple strategies. | |
| 1400 - 1599 | Class C, category 3 | A growing familiarity with chess principles; making fewer strategic mistakes. | The new FIDE floor (as of March 2024). Falling below 1400 means players are considered unrated; they must undergo the initial rating process again. |
| 1600 - 1799 | Class B, category 2 | Above average player, confident with openings and comfortable with middle game. | |
| 1800 - 1999 | Class A, category 1 | Advanced player who makes few to no mistakes | |
| 2000 - 2199 | Expert | Players well on their way to earning their first FIDE title | |
| 2200 - 2299 | Candidate Master (CM) | The lowest of FIDE's four titles. | Introduced in 2002 |
| 2300 - 2399 | FIDE Master (FM) | Special provisions made for various age groups to attain this title. | Introduced in 1978 |
| 2400 - 2499 | International Master (IM) | Awarded to strong players who don't yet have the rating to qualify for Grandmaster. | Introduced in 1950 |
| 2500 - 2599 | Grandmaster (GM) | Awarded to outstanding players who've shown consistent performance. | Instituted in 1950 |
| 2600 - | No formal title; often called Super Grandmaster | No official statistics exists for this category, though unofficial numbers count as few as 30-40 players in this category. | Counts Ding Liren and Magnus Carlsen among their numbers. |
We've yet to find any of the best players in Australia at the Super Grandmaster level. However, we have more than 10 Grandmasters, the highest rated of them being Bobby Cheng (2583 as of March 2026). And Temur Kuybokarov (currently 2540) is right behind him so it's not impossible for us to soon celebrate our very first chess champion in that league.
What Makes a Good Chess Rating?
Now you have a better idea of what a chess rating consists of, you can get an idea of what you might consider a “good” rating. But maybe it's time to see chess ratings in a different light.
Chess Ratings: The Psychological Perspective
Humans are competitive by nature4. But then, so is every other organism on the planet. Every living thing competes for food and resources. In humans’ case, the list of things we compete over includes prestige and status; the things a high chess rating delivers.
The perpetual competitive state we live in does weird things to our brains. On one hand, we crave the dopamine release a successful contest delivers. On the other, the fear and anxiety we suffer at just imagining failure has terrible effects.
Think of improving your chess rating as a form of self-improvement, not as a means to beat the other players.
Playing chess delivers many cognitive benefits5 but one risks undoing them all if the focus is all on the competition for ratings. The downstream effects (damages) of such a mindset are far too numerous to detail here. However, one stands out: focusing too much on your rating may come at the cost of any improvements in your game.
Going further, now: focusing on ratings being good or bad is equally harmful. The better idea is to focus on improving your rating and adjusting your goals based on your progress.
Managing Expectations
Begin with the end in mind.
Stephen Covey, motivational speaker
In many walks of life, this is sound advice, but it does nothing for chess players who constantly wonder, "What is a good chess rating?" That doesn't mean that grandmaster hopefuls should never think of ratings. Only that ratings should not be the all-consuming thought that sends you hurdling from one tournament to the next.
Because doing so can have a negative effect on your rating. Recall all that stress and fretting mentioned above? It will keep you from getting your head in the game. By far, the better way to approach what might happen with your rating is to not focus on it at all.
Playing chess simply to attain higher ratings robs you of the joy, the benefits, and the practicality that regular chess playing brings.
Shifting your mindset away from "I wonder how much higher my rating will get after this tournament" will help you manage those pre-tournament jitters that could tank your performance. You might instead dwell on the new strategies you learnt since your last match-up, and how you'll deploy them as you enter the tournament hall.
Why Players Fret About Ratings
In a sense, the worry over ratings makes little sense. Tournament organisers don't look at your ratings and think "What a great/lousy player that one is!". They use your rating to pair you with players of similar strength, so you won't be outmatched.
Of course, if you aspire to Magnus Carlsen levels of chess notoriety, your FIDE rating might be slightly more important. However, if that's the prize you have your eye on, you likely already know the time and commitment you must invest into the game.
Either way, your rating is secondary to your performance. So, focusing on your chess skills and strategies is a far better use of your mental powers than fretting about ratings.
How Can You Achieve and Improve Your Chess Rating
To win more chess matches, you have to know the game intimately and also understand how to beat your opponent. Research, practice, and playing are the most obvious ways to win more matches.
It takes a lot of work and effort to improve your chess rating. The three core ways to do this are through studying chess, practising, and gaining experience through play.
Combine these three aspects to get the most out of your chess playing. When you start besting opponents in rated tournaments or even some of Australia's major tournaments, you'll see your rating increase as a result.
Rating Variations Across Platforms
In 2021, two major global events forever changed the chess world: the coronavirus pandemic and the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. That series drove hordes of new chess enthusiasts to online platforms like Chess.com and Lichess. They are both valuable learning tools, and a great way to get acquainted with this ancient sport.
However, online chess enthusiasts should know that their online rating does not automatically convert to over-the-board tournament ratings. To understand why, we only need to compare the conditions that dictate FIDE and online ratings.
FIDE ratings
- use Elo rating system
- rates a relatively small player pool
- time controls are more generous
- typically only rated players
Online ratings
- use Glicko or Glicko-2 rating system
- huge player pool
- allows for faster play
- may feature casual players, titled players, and juniors all mixed together
Despite those differences, players may estimate a prospective FIDE rating by converting their online ratings. The formula to use depends on the platform you’ve earned your rating on, as well as a few other factors.
Keep in mind that these approximate conversions only give you an estimate of your possible FIDE rating. To actually earn such a rating, you must become FIDE-affiliated. And then, you’ll follow the well-defined path from being a Class C chess player through becoming a Class A chess player and beyond.
What Is a Good FIDE Rating? Further Resources
- International Chess Federation. “New FIDE Rating and Title Regulations Come into Effect – International Chess Federation.” Fide.com, 2 Jan. 2024, www.fide.com/new-fide-rating-and-title-regulations-come-into-effect/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
- PK. “Chess through the Ages: A Timeline of the Ancient Game.” Enthuziastic, 20 July 2024, enthu.com/blog/chess/the-histroy-of-chess. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
- Author. “Understanding the FIDE Chess Rating System: Guide.” CircleChess, 17 Apr. 2025, circlechess.com/blog/understanding-the-fide-rating-system-an-opening-to-chess-expertise/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
- Universität Bonn. "Evolution of competitiveness: Scientists explain diversity in competitiveness." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 October 2014. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141029084021.htm. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
- Divyanshu Prakash (DPPlayingChess. “The Impact of Chess on Cognitive Skills.” Chess.com, 27 May 2024, www.chess.com/blog/TheChessHuddle/the-impact-of-chess-on-cognitive-skills. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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