How to Become a FIDE Rated Chess Player: Easy Steps to Your First Official Rating

Let me tell you a relatable story.

When I saw the grandmasters playing for the first time – I wondered how they memorized all the moves. The second thing that came to my mind was that how to get the ratings that show while the masters are playing.

Sounds relatable, right?

It happened to me and I am sure you felt the same.

Worry no more. Today I am here to guide you on how to get your first FIDE rating – i.e. How to be a FIDE-Rated Chess Player – and my personal story on how I gained the ratings. So, sit back and enjoy.

Your FIDE Rating Checklist

Getting a FIDE rating is not that hard. You can achieve this by following some simple steps.
Let me briefly tell you all the steps first – and I shall elaborate on them in this article.

For your first rating – you need to:
• Play in a FIDE Rated Tournament
• Play Against at Least Five Rated Players
• At Least Draw One Game in These Five Matches
• Check Your Rating on the FIDE Website in the Next Month

Yes, it’s that easy!

Before we proceed, I want to tell you my personal journey to my first ever rating!

How I Got My First FIDE Rating

When I played my first rated tournament – I didn’t even know that I could get a rating, let alone the process behind this. I participated in that tournament just for the sake of playing and out of excitement.

Months later I participated in another rated tournament at my university. This time the mere difference compared to my previous tournament was that I knew it was a rated one.

Chess Clock — When I saw a chess clock for the very first time

I lost my first game against an 1800-rated player. To be honest – I was expecting that loss. 😅

I was playing against someone rated around 1550 in the second round. It was a Grünfeld Defense game.

He kept mistaking pawns during the game – but he didn’t make any serious blunders.
In an intense bishop and pawn endgame – I won that game – and I cannot put it in words how amazing that moment was! My heartbeat was racing. I looked around and silently screamed, “Hey y’all! I have won my first rated game.”

But the fun part is, I still didn’t know I would be a rated player after that. I was chatting with one of my friends during the breaks. He told me that I would now get the ratings in the next FIDE update.

It literally made my day. I went on to win two more and draw one game in that tournament. And scored 3.5 out of 9.

The takeaway from my is belief. You may not be the best – but belief with patience can make you one.

Let’s move on to the main section of the article.

Play in a FIDE-Rated Tournament

A chess tournament that is recognized by FIDE – the international chess federation (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) – is called a FIDE-Rated tournament. The results of the games in such tournaments eventually impacts players’ ratings.

There are several types of chess ratings available. FIDE rating is the mostly widely accepted version across the world.

Generally, these tournaments are open to everyone. It means regardless of your age, profession – even if you are a non-rated player – you can join such tournaments.

You want to play a rated tournament. But the question is how to find a rated chess tournament.

Where to Find FIDE Rated Tournaments

You can find this kind of tournaments in several ways.

• Social media groups (Facebook, Discord, WhatsApp etc.)
• Local chess clubs
• Your college or university chess clubs
• National chess federation and its socials
• Official website of FIDE
• Chess-results website

These are the most prominent ways of finding a rated chess tournament.

What to Expect

The rules for these tournaments are as same as the international chess tournament – e.g. the touch rule, illegal move punishment.

You can find tournaments for different time controls such as blitz (3 minutes and 2 seconds increment), rapid (10 minutes and 5 seconds increment), standard or classical (90 minutes and increment).

Play Against at Least Five Rated Players

Rated players are those who already have their FIDE Ratings listed next to their names. They have a FIDE ID along with their name, date of birth, and the ratings in the respective time controls, all are listed on the official FIDE website. Titled players have their titles before their names. For example – GM Magnus Carlsen.

But what if you don’t meet five in one event?

Well, you don’t have to.

The rule is to play at least five rated players in total – not necessarily in a single tournament. You can always reach this milestone across tournaments combined.

Many beginners fall short of five rated players in one tournament – since it also depends on the winning streak in the tournament.

Draw at Least One Game

Playing against five rated player is not enough for your first rating. You must score a minimum of 0.5 points in those five matches. In simple terms, you must at least draw one of them.

Note that I am talking for the minimum efforts required to earn a rating. Even if you lose all the five match and draw the sixth one – you will still get the numbers alongside your name.

Does a win count? Of course it does! The minimum requirement is draw. A win is better. Why wouldn’t the better results not be counted?

Check Your Rating on the FIDE Website

FIDE updates the players’ rating list once every month. If you have fulfilled all the conditions above – you will find your name in the updated list in the following month (typically) of the tournament.

But how to check FIDE rating?

Simply go to ratings.fide.com and search your name on the site.

Home Page of FIDE Rating Site with the Search Bar

Note: Make sure you provide the exact same name you registered for the tournament. Misspelling may not show the expected results.

You will have a FIDE ID as well once you are officially registered.

Conclusion

In short, what you need to do comes down to 4 simple steps
1. Play in a rated tournament
2. Play against at least five rated players
3. Score at least 0.5 points against rated player(s) in those 5 games
4. Check your name on the official FIDE Rating site – and enjoy

It might seem overwhelming and intimidating to beat – or even draw – a rated chess player. But trust me, everyone has been through this phase. They passed this situation and got what they want.