FIDE And World Chess Agree To Test A First Over-The-Board Official Rating, Earned Online
FIDE and World Chess today announced they have agreed to work toward the First Rating Experiment—a first-of-its-kind program that would let players earn their first official over-the-board FIDE blitz and rapid rating through online play.
Today, around 500,000 players hold an official FIDE OTB rating. This program is designed to open that to millions more. For players who have never had access to rated over-the-board chess, it could lead to a professional chess career.
"This is how FIDE grows the game responsibly," said FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. "Transparent, controlled, and built with the community. We've agreed on a framework that puts the integrity of the rating system first — and opens it to players who have never had a way in."
"A FIDE rating opens doors to a professional chess career for those who want it. Some players who want one have never had a way in. This program is designed to change that," said Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess. "We've agreed on the framework. Now we're doing the work properly — with FIDE, and with the chess community."
The two parties have agreed in principle and are now working toward a final agreement. Today's announcement invites the chess community to engage with and shape the program before anything is finalised. The program, if confirmed, would run for two years — with the possibility of extension — on worldchess.com, the official FIDE online platform, in rapid and blitz, under full FIDE supervision.
How it works
To qualify for rating conversion, a player would need to build a real body of online rated play — including a minimum number of games in online rated tournaments, not just casual games. Once eligible, their results go through fair-play checks. If those pass, a rating is issued using a carefully designed coefficient.
That coefficient is the technical heart of the program. It is calculated to ensure that a rating earned online reflects the same standard of play as one earned over the board — that an online result and an OTB result at the same level mean the same thing. The coefficient is set by specialists, recalibrated every six months against large player cohorts, and approved by FIDE.
The rating has a fixed ceiling, currently proposed at 1,800. Above it, ratings are earned over the board, as always. Players will be able to convert their rating to OTB once a calendar year, subject to community and professional input.
Fair play
Every qualifying game is screened by layered detection built for this program. Results in doubt are held and reviewed by a dedicated Anti-Cheating Officer, with a formal appeals process available to any player. The system has been independently reviewed by external experts and will undergo further certification. Every player verifies their identity before qualifying.
Community review
The technical design — the coefficient methodology, the qualifying standard, the rating ceiling, the appeals route — is open for review and discussion before anything is finalised. This is a genuine conversation, not a formality. Players, coaches, federations, and experts are invited to engage with the detail, raise concerns, and help shape the final rules.
FIDE and World Chess aim to finalize and launch the program in July, subject to further community discussion and professional input.
We invite the chess community to submit feedback on the community page, https://worldchess.com/convert-online-rating-to-otb.