What is the chess Grandmaster title?

Dec. 3, 2023

Recently, Vaishali Rameshbabu and her younger brother Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa have become the first-ever Grandmaster brother-sister duo in history.

About Chess Grandmaster title:

  • Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve.
  • The Grandmaster title and other chess titles is awarded by the International Chess Federation, FIDE (acronym for its French name Fédération Internationale des Échecs),
  • The title is the badge of the game’s super-elite, recognition of the greatest chess talent on the planet, which has been tested and proven against a peer group of other similarly talented players in the world’s toughest competitions.
  • Besides Grandmaster, the Qualification Commission of FIDE recognises and awards seven other titles: International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Candidate Master (CM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM), Woman International Master (WIM), Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) are also be given.
  • All the titles, including that of Grandmaster, are valid for life, unless a player is stripped of the title for a proven offence such as cheating.
  • Revocation of title
    • The “use of a FIDE title or rating to subvert the ethical principles of the title or rating system may subject a person to revocation of his title”.
    • In case it is found after a title has been awarded that the player was in breach of the Anti-Cheating Regulations in one or more of the tournaments on which the title application was based, then the title may be removed by the Qualification Commission”.