What Is a Good Chess Rating?
By Corey Zapin
It Depends (But Here Are the Numbers)
Asking "what is a good chess rating" is like asking "what is a good running time." It depends on who you are comparing yourself to. A 1200 is excellent for someone who learned the rules last month. It is below average for someone who has been playing tournaments for five years.
That said, here are some rough benchmarks to give you a frame of reference.
USCF Ratings
The US Chess Federation rates players from unrated through 2800+. The average tournament player is around 800 to 1000. Here is a general breakdown:
Under 800: true beginner, still learning basic tactics. 800 to 1200: developing player, understands fundamentals. 1200 to 1600: intermediate club player, solid grasp of tactics and basic strategy. 1600 to 2000: strong club player, competitive in local tournaments. 2000+: expert level, top 5% of tournament players. 2200+: National Master. 2400+: International Master territory. 2500+: Grandmaster level.
If you are rated 1200 USCF, you are better than most casual players but still early in your competitive journey. If you are 1600, you are a solid club player who wins more games than you lose in local events.
FIDE Ratings
FIDE ratings start at 1000 and theoretically go to around 2900 (Magnus Carlsen's peak was 2882). The average FIDE-rated player is around 1500 to 1600, but keep in mind that only players who compete in FIDE-rated events have a FIDE rating. This self-selects for more serious players.
FIDE ratings tend to be somewhat lower than USCF ratings for the same player, typically by 50 to 100 points, though this varies.
Chess.com Ratings
Chess.com ratings are on a different scale than over-the-board ratings. The average active Chess.com player is around 800 to 1000 in rapid. Here is what the percentiles roughly look like:
800: around 30th percentile. 1000: around 50th percentile (median). 1200: around 70th percentile. 1500: around 90th percentile. 1800: around 97th percentile. 2000+: top 1 to 2%.
So a 1200 on Chess.com puts you ahead of roughly 70% of active players. That is genuinely good, even though it might not feel like it when you keep running into 1500s who crush you.
Lichess Ratings
Lichess ratings run higher than Chess.com ratings. A typical player who is 1200 on Chess.com might be 1400 to 1500 on Lichess. This is because the two platforms use slightly different rating systems and have different starting points.
The percentiles shift accordingly. A 1500 on Lichess is roughly equivalent to a 1200 to 1300 on Chess.com. Do not let the higher number fool you into thinking you are stronger on one platform than the other.
Context Matters More Than Numbers
A 10-year-old rated 1400 USCF is performing exceptionally well. A 40-year-old at 1400 after ten years of study might feel stuck, but they are still stronger than the vast majority of people who play chess.
Compare yourself to your past self, not to other people. If you were 900 six months ago and you are 1100 now, that is 200 points of real improvement. Celebrate that. The rating is a measurement tool, not a judgment of your worth.
If you play on multiple platforms, it can be hard to know your "true" level. CoreSquares pulls together your ratings from Chess.com, Lichess, USCF, and FIDE so you can see all your numbers in one place and track your progress across all of them.