Grandmaster (chess)

Grandmaster (GM) is a title 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, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for cheating.

The title of Grandmaster, along with the lesser FIDE titles of International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), and Candidate Master (CM), is open to all players regardless of gender. The great majority of grandmasters are men, but 42 women have been awarded the GM title as of 2024, out of a total of about 2000 grandmasters.^[1] There is also a Woman Grandmaster title with lower requirements awarded only to women.

There are also Grandmaster titles for composers and solvers of chess problems, awarded by the World Federation for Chess Composition (see List of grandmasters for chess composition). The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) awards the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (ICCGM). Both of these bodies are now independent of FIDE, but work in cooperation with it.

"Super grandmaster" is an informal term to refer to the world's elite players. In the past this would refer to players with an Elo rating of over 2600, but as the average Elo rating of the top players has increased it has typically come to refer to players with an Elo rating of over 2700. Super GMs, the number of whom has grown considerably over the years, have some name recognition in the world of sport and are typically the highest earners in chess.^[2][3]

FIDE titles are only awarded at the quarterly FIDE Council meetings. Players who have qualified for the GM title but have not yet been awarded it are informally referred to as "GM-elect".^[4][5][6]