Elo ratings

Elo ratings, invented by the Hungarian statistician Professor Arpad Elö, express the playing strength of chess players. Strong club players may reach 2000 points, International Masters are usually 2300 to 2500, Grandmasters up to 2700, with a very small number of players exceeding event that (Garry Kasparov is the only player in history to exceed 2800). Twice a year the world chess federation issues an Elo rating list with ratings for tens of thousands of players.

 

Here's a list of rating categories

 

Playing strength

Player category

1000-1600

Average club player

1600-2100

Strong club player

2100-2300

International league player

2300-2450

International Master (IM)

2450-2650

Grandmaster (GM)

2650-2850

Supergrandmaster, world champion