[alvfbmxp] Chess titles

This is a proposal to drastically overhaul the chess title system, which has seen inflation in recent years.

The International Master title is awarded to a player who is within of 120 rating points of the number 5th ranked player. This title approximately corresponds to what is informally called a Super GM today. The International Master title is not a permanent title; it may be gained and lost as ratings change. In fact it is less a title as an abbreviation for a rating.

The number 5 comes from the apocryphal story of the 5 original grandmasters. Also, the number 5 ranking should be more stable than number 1. If the current number 5 dramatically changes in rating, another player with a rating likely similar to the old number 5 rating will become number 5. The value 120 is actually 120.4119982655924780854955579 which when plugged into the Elo formula represents a one-third probability of the lower-rated player defeating the higher rated player. As of April 2009, the threshold rating to be an IM is 2636, or ranked 96 or better. It is understood that the rating system is not perfect, that a player might inflate his or her rating by choosing opponents carefully and playing very conservatively, accepting quick draws against higher or similarly rated opponents. Thus we have the 120-point margin instead of awarding IM to just the top 5.

The title of Grandmaster is bestowed on a player who won 50 games against International Masters, counting at most two against any particular IM, once for each color. The GM title rewards wins only, not draws, and does not penalize losses, so encourages players to play exciting chess and go for the win. We are trying to help the perceived "draw problem" in top-level chess, where many players will take draws or play conservatively because rating points are on the line. The GM title is independent of rating. There may be IMs who do not achieve GM, and there may be GMs who are not IMs. The GM title is permanent. The GM title awards longevity, a lifetime achievement award signifying 50 moments of brilliance against strong opposition. The GM title is prestigious. By tradition, defeating an IM can be called acquiring a GM "norm", but we may also informally call it "collecting a scalp". The number 50 is chosen arbitrarily, and research should be done to tune the number to a reasonable number.

The FIDE Master title (FM) shall have the same requirements of the grandmaster title now.

This ends the "world class" titles. National and regional federations may establish their own titles calibrated to designate high level play relative their local level of play.

These titles can be calculated retrospectively.