Genre: Information/Explanation

Grandmaster ( chess ) The title Grandmaster is awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE . Apart from World Champion , Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain . Once achieved , the title is held for life . In chess literature it is usually abbreviated to GM . ( Other titles are also often abbreviated : FM for FIDE Master , IM for International Master , and CM for Candidate Master . ) The abbreviation IGM for International Grandmaster is also sometimes used , particularly in older literature . Grandmaster , International Master , and FIDE Master are open to both men and women . A number of women have earned the GM title , with the first two having been Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978 and Susan Polgar in 1991 . Since about 2000 , most of the top 10 women have held the GM title . A separate gender-segregated title , Woman Grandmaster ( WGM ) , is also available . It is awarded to women who attain a level of skill between that of a FIDE Master and an International Master . The first known use of the term grandmaster in connection with chess was in an 1838 issue of Bell's Life , in which a correspondent referred to William Lewis as " our past grandmaster " . Lewis himself later referred to Philidor as a grandmaster , and the term was also applied to a few other players . In the Ostend tournament of 1907 the term grandmaster ( Großmeister in German ) was used . The tournament was divided into two sections : the Championship Tournament and the Masters' Tournament . The Championship section was for players who had previously won an international tournament . Siegbert Tarrasch won the Championship section , over Carl Schlechter , Dawid Janowski , Frank Marshall , Amos Burn , and Mikhail Chigorin . These players were described as grandmasters for the purposes of the tournament . Non-standard and Soviet usage before 1950 Before 1950 , the term grandmaster was sometimes informally applied to other world class players . The Fédération Internationale des Échecs ( FIDE , or World Chess Federation ) was formed in Paris in 1924 , but at that time did not formulate criteria on who should earn the title . In 1927 , the Soviet Union's Chess Federation established the title of Grandmaster of the Soviet Union , for their own players , since at that time Soviets were not competing outside their own country . This title was abolished in 1931 , after having been awarded to Boris Verlinsky , who won the 1929 Soviet Championship . The title was brought back in 1935 , and awarded to Mikhail Botvinnik , who thus became the first " official " Grandmaster of the USSR . Verlinsky did not get his title back . When FIDE reorganized after World War II it adopted regulations concerning the award of international titles . Titles were awarded by a resolution of the FIDE General Assembly and the Qualification Committee . FIDE first awarded the Grandmaster title in 1950 to 27 players . These players were : Since FIDE did not award the Grandmaster title posthumously , world-class players who died prior to 1950 , including World Champions Steinitz , Lasker , Capablanca , and Alekhine , never received the title . Title awards under the original regulations were subject to political concerns . Efim Bogoljubov , who had emigrated from the Soviet Union to Germany , was not entered in the first class of Grandmasters , even though he had played two matches for the World Championship with Alekhine . He received the title in 1951 , by a vote of thirteen to eight with five abstentions . Yugoslavia supported his application , but all other Communist countries opposed it . In 1953 , FIDE abolished the old regulations , although a provision was maintained that allowed older masters who had been overlooked to be awarded titles . The new regulations awarded the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE to players meeting any of the following criteria : The world champion . Masters who have the absolute right to play in the World Championship Candidates Tournament , or any player who replaces an absent contestant and earns at least a 50 percent score . The winner of an international tournament meeting specified standards , and any player placing second in two such tournaments within a span of four years . The tournament must be at least eleven rounds with seven or more players , 80 percent or more being International Grandmasters or International Masters . Additionally , 30 percent of the players must be Grandmasters who have the absolute right to play in the next World Championship Candidates Tournament , or who have played in such a tournament in the previous ten years . A player who demonstrates ability manifestly equal to that of ( 3 ) above in an international tournament or match . Such titles must be approved by the Qualification Committee with the support of at least five members . After FIDE issued the 1953 title regulations , it was recognized that they were somewhat haphazard , and work began to revise the regulations . The FIDE Congress in Vienna in 1957 adopted new regulations , called the FAV system , in recognition of the work done by International Judge Giovanni Ferrantes ( Italy ) , Alexander ( probably Conel Hugh O ' Donel Alexander ) , and Giancarlo Dal Verme ( Italy ) . Under the 1957 regulations , the title of International Grandmaster of the FIDE was automatically awarded to : The world champion . Any player qualifying from the Interzonal tournament to play in the Candidates Tournament , even if he did not play in the Candidates for any reason . Any player who would qualify from the Interzonal to play in the Candidates but who was excluded because of a limitation on the number of participants from his Federation . Any player who actually plays in a Candidates Tournament and scores at least 331 ⁄ 3 percent . The regulations also allowed titles to be awarded by a FIDE Congress on recommendation by the Qualification Committee . Recommendations were based on performance in qualifying tournaments , with the required score depending on the percentage of Grandmasters and International Masters in the tournament . Concerns were raised that the 1957 regulations were too lax . At the FIDE Congress in 1961 , GM Milan Vidmar said that the regulations " made it possible to award international titles to players without sufficient merit " . At the 1964 Congress in Tel Aviv , a subcommittee was formed to propose changes to the regulations . The subcommittee recommended that the automatic award of titles be abolished , criticized the methods used for awarding titles based on qualifying performances , and called for a change in the makeup of the Qualification Committee . Several delegates supported the subcommittee recommendations , including GM Miguel Najdorf who felt that existing regulations were leading to an inflation of international titles . At the 1965 Congress in Wiesbaden FIDE raised the standards required for international titles . The International Grandmaster title regulations were : 1 . Any World Champion is automatically awarded the GM title 2a . Anyone who scores at least 40 percent in a quarter-final match in the Candidates Tournament 2b . Scores at least the number of points in a tournament corresponding to the total of a 55 percent score against Grandmasters plus 75 percent against International Masters ( IM ) plus 85 percent against other players ( a GM " norm " ) . To fulfill requirement 2b , the candidate must score one GM norm in a category 1a tournament or two norms within a three-year period in two Category 1b tournaments , or one Category 2a tournament and one Category 1b tournament . The categories of tournaments are : 1a – at least sixteen players , at least 50 percent are GMs , and 70 percent at least IMs 1b – at least twelve players , at least 331 ⁄ 3 percent GMs and 70 percent IMs 2a – at least fifteen players , at least 50 percent IMs 2b – ten to fourteen players , at least 50 percent IMs . Since FIDE titles are for life , a GM or IM does not count for the purposes of this requirement if he had not had a GM or IM result in the five years prior to the tournament . In addition , no more than 50 percent plus one of the players can be from the same country for tournaments of 10 to 12 players , or no more than 50 percent plus two for larger tournaments . Seventy-four GM titles were awarded in 1951 through 1968 . During that period , ten GM titles were awarded in 1965 , but only one in 1966 and in 1968 . The modern system for awarding FIDE titles evolved from the " Dorazil " proposals , presented to the 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad FIDE Congress . The proposals were put together by Dr Wilfried Dorazil ( then FIDE Vice-President ) and fellow Committee members Grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić and Professor Arpad Elo . The recommendations of the Committee report were adopted in full . In essence , the proposals built on the work done by Professor Elo in devising his Elo rating system . The establishment of an updated list of players and their Elo rating enabled significantly strong international chess tournaments to be allocated a " Category " , based on the average rating of the contestants . For instance , it was decided that ' Category 1 ' status would apply to tournaments with an average Elo rating of participants falling within the range 2251 – 2275 ; similarly Category 2 would apply to the range 2276 – 2300 etc. The higher the tournament Category , the stronger the tournament . Another vital component involved the setting of meritorious " scores " for each Category of tournament . A player must meet or surpass the relevant score to demonstrate that they had performed at Grandmaster ( GM ) or International Master ( IM ) level . Scores were expressed as percentages of a perfect maximum score and decreased as the tournament Category increased , thereby reflecting the strength of a player's opposition and the relative difficulty of the task . Tournament organisers could then apply the percentages to their own tournament format and declare in advance the actual score that participants must achieve to attain a GM or IM result ( nowadays referred to as a norm ) . To qualify for the Grandmaster title , a player needed to achieve three such GM results within a rolling period of three years . Exceptionally , if a player's contributory games totalled thirty or more , then the title could be awarded on the basis of two such results . There were also circumstances where the system could be adapted to fit team events and other competitions . The full proposals included many other rules and regulations , covering such topics as : From 1977 until 2003 , FIDE awarded honorary Grandmaster titles to 31 players based on their past performances or other contributions to chess . Since 2007 , no distinction has been made between an " honorary " grandmaster and a full grandmaster . The following players have been awarded honorary Grandmaster titles : The requirements for becoming a Grandmaster are somewhat complex . A player must have attained an Elo rating of at least 2500 ( although they need not maintain this level to obtain or keep the title ) . In addition , at least two favorable results ( called norms ) from a total of at least 27 games in tournaments involving other Grandmasters , including some from countries other than the applicant 's , are usually required before FIDE will confer the title on a player . There are other milestones a player can achieve to get the title , such as winning the Women's World Championship , the World Junior Championship , or the World Senior Championship . Current regulations can be found in the FIDE Handbook . In 1957 , there were 50 GMs ( USSR : 19 , Yugoslavia : 7 , USA : 5 , Argentina : 4 , West Germany : 2 , France : 2 , Sweden : 1 , Czechoslovakia : 1 , Hungary : 1 , Austria : 1 , Belgium : 1 , Denmark : 1 , Netherlands : 1 , Poland : 1 ) . In 1972 , there were 88 GMs with 33 representing the USSR . The current FIDE ratings list includes over 1000 Grandmasters . Nigel Short was rated the third best player in the world in 1989 with a rating of 2650 ; in the 21st century such a rating would only be good enough for a player to reach the top 100 or so , with the third best player in the world usually rated around 2800 . Other minor factors come into play : there are more tournaments worldwide and cheaper air travel makes them more accessible to globe-trotting chess professionals , who include many players from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe whose movements are no longer restricted as they were before the 1990s . Additionally , players can make norms in tournaments that would have been previously considered too short for norms , making norms easier to get and allowing for more norm tournaments to be held . December 2008 saw a record number of GMs ( 1 , 192 ) and IMs ( 2 , 916 ) , causing some FIDE officials to suggest that FIDE should consider an " elite grandmaster " title . The unofficial title " Super Grandmaster " is sometimes used by players to refer to those with a 2700 + rating to distinguish the most serious world champion contenders . The proportion of titled players among rated players is actually becoming smaller due to the rise in the number of all chess players worldwide who have FIDE ratings . In response , one member of the FIDE Titles & Ratings Committee observed that it is now more common for weaker players to get FIDE ratings , so the comparison of Grandmasters as a proportion of all rated players is not really helpful .