bithead@ihlpf.UUCP (P. Stein) (12/07/85)
>> Between 2200 and 2400, you are called a chess master. But, >>you are not even close to being alowed to tie the shoe laces of the likes >>of Bobby Fischer, Spassky, Kasp[o]_a_rov, etc. Between 2400 and 2600 (maybe >>2500), you are a grand master. It is now that you go hunting for big game. >>After 2600, you are an international grand master. > >In the USCF rating system, 2200-2399 is master, 2400- is senior master. >The title of Grandmaster is awarded only by the International Chess >Federation; it does _not_ depend on one's Elo (i.e., international) or >USCF rating. The only kind of grandmaster is an international grandmaster. >-- >Col. G. L. Sicherman Although there isn't a one-to-one correspondence between ratings and titles it should be noted that titles awarded by FIDE are indeed based on ratings. Titles such as IM and GM are awarded to players who have maintained a specified level of play in a specified number of events. FIDE has stringent regulations as to what constitutes a "FIDE ratable" event. Titles are usually qualified for by achieving 3 norms. These norms are a function of the individual's performance and the strength of the event. The average rating of the entire field determines what "category" the event is. The higher the category the easier it is to make norms and the opposite is true. One could win an event and fail to make a norm! So although a title does not depend on one's rating, it very much did depend on the ratings of others. P. Stein