FIDE Rating Calculator

FIDE uses the Elo formula. It works out your expected score — E = 1 / (1 + 10 ^ ((their rating − yours) / 400)) — then multiplies the gap between what you scored and what was expected by your K-factor: ΔR = K × (S − E).

A 1600 beating an 1800 at K = 20 gains 20 × (1 − 0.24) = 15 points. Score exactly what your rating predicts and you gain nothing.

It limits how much one game can move your rating. FIDE uses 40 for new players until 30 rated games, 40 for under-18s rated below 2300, 20 for established players below 2400, and 10 for anyone who has ever reached 2400.

You do not choose it — it follows from your age, experience and peak rating. The K = 10 band is permanent once entered.

The bigger the gap, the bigger the reward. At K = 20, beating someone 100 points above you is worth 13, 200 above is worth 15, and 400 or more is worth 18.

The reverse is just as true: losing to someone 200 below costs 15. Ratings fall through avoidable losses faster than they climb through expected wins.

When two players are more than 400 points apart, FIDE treats the gap as exactly 400. That caps both reward and risk: a 2200 beating a 1500 gains the same as against an 1800.

Without it, the favourite would gain almost nothing for a win and lose a great deal for a defeat — so strong players would avoid these games.

Get a FIDE ID from your national federation, then play FIDE-rated tournaments. After at least five games against rated opponents and a score of at least half a point, your first rating appears on the next monthly list.

Those games can span several events. A zero score against rated opponents produces no rating at all.

FIDE publishes ratings down to a floor of 1400. A player below that stays on the list at the floor rather than dropping further.

The floor has moved over the years, so older articles quoting 1000 or 1200 are out of date.

A new rating list is published on the first of every month. A tournament finishing mid-month normally lands on the following list, once the organiser has reported it.

Between lists your official rating does not change, however many games you play. This calculator shows what the next one will say.

No. Each site runs its own pool with its own starting values and maths, so the numbers are not interchangeable and there is no official conversion.

Online blitz and bullet ratings usually sit well above a player’s FIDE classical rating. Only FIDE-rated over-the-board games affect your FIDE rating.

Yes. Any result below your expected score reduces it, including a draw against a lower-rated opponent. A peak rating is not protected — only the K = 10 band and the 1400 floor are permanent.

So consistency beats one good tournament: a strong event can be undone by a weak one, and steady play against slightly stronger opposition is the reliable way up.