English Chess Forum

Is it necessary to go FM, IM, then GM? Can you skip one or two of them? Has anyone ever become a GM without being an FM or IM first? I have encountered someone who went straight to IM, there is no record of him being an FM. I didn't think that was possible.

It is possible, though uncommon.

It is impossible to become a GM through the normal criteria without be eligible to be an IM or FM. But you don't have to apply for the lower titles. Most GMs didn't bother with FM, Kramnik went straight to GM.

It seems somewhat counterproductive to me to not get the other titles along the way, even if you are confident you'll make it to GM you are still going to have to play a lot of tournaments to get there so why not save yourself a bit of money by using the discount that those lower ranked titles bring with them?

Paul Cooksey wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:16 pm

It is impossible to become a GM through the normal criteria without be eligible to be an IM or FM. But you don't have to apply for the lower titles. Most GMs didn't bother with FM, Kramnik went straight to GM.

Kramnik went straight to GM did he? I didn't know that.

Another example might be Judit Polgar who, en route to qualifying for her GM title, could have collected the WFM, WIM and WGM titles but didn't bother.

Joey Stewart wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:29 pm

It seems somewhat counterproductive to me to not get the other titles along the way, even if you are confident you'll make it to GM you are still going to have to play a lot of tournaments to get there so why not save yourself a bit of money by using the discount that those lower ranked titles bring with them?

Well you have to pay for each title and discounts for CMs and FMs aren't that common. Imagine a female player who ultimately becomes a GM paying for WCM, WFM, CM, FM, WIM, WGM, IM, GM. That's a lot of money.

Kasparov's very first ever FIDE rated tournament was Banja Luka, which he won to gain an initial FIDE rating of 2595, putting him 15th in the world at the time. I think he went from unrated to GM in the space of a year or so,.when he won the World Junior.

On the plus side it's highly unlikely anyone would ever go that progression route anymore with ratings so broken you are either IM/GM standard and blow through all the competition straight up to the big titles or you are stuck in the quagmire of underrated tournament players for evermore without even getting a low title.

FIDE are tight bastards making masters pay for their titles though, it's supposed to be an award for excellence not another way to gouge money out of hard pressed chess players!

Morozevich also had a precipitous start to his career. His first international tournament was Lloyds Bank 1994, which he won with 9.5/10, smashing a very strong field. He then won Pamplona, too. He was awarded the GM title the same year. He may have gone from unrated to GM in less than half a year, although I'm not entirely sure. Someone will know.

Paul McKeown wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 18, 2023 12:00 am

Kasparov's very first ever FIDE rated tournament was Banja Luka, which he won to gain an initial FIDE rating of 2595, putting him 15th in the world at the time. I think he went from unrated to GM in the space of a year or so,.when he won the World Junior.

Actually, not quite. It would indeed be a surprise if the actual USSR Championships didn't get rated and Gazza played his first about six months before Banja Luka. But it was at the end of 1978 so just missed the January 1979 rating list. Then they were just issued annually (imagine that now!) but a "supplementary" list was published in the middle of the year to account for new players entering it and similar stuff. Kasparov's rating for Banja Luka was well over 2600, but "only" scoring 50% in the Soviet finals dragged it down a bit.

Thanks for the detail, Matt. It is still true that Kasparov went from unrated to GM in a very short period?

Yes, it is correct IIRC that he "skipped" the IM title.

A few in the more distant past (eg Tal and Fischer) achieved that by getting an automatic GM title qualifying for the Candidates.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 18, 2023 12:45 am

A few in the more distant past (eg Tal and Fischer) achieved that by getting an automatic GM title qualifying for the Candidates.

According to P H Clarke (in Mikhail Tal's Best Games Of Chess), FIDÉ awarded Tal the full GM title around mid-1957, on the strength of his winning the USSR championship earlier that year - long the before the Portoroz Interzonal where he qualified for the Candidates'.

You go straight to G.M. without any other title if you win The World Senior Chess Championship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sen ... ampionship

This was always my plan but when I reached the age to qualify I kept forgetting to my entry in.