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The Chess.com rating guide

What players at each Chess.com rating actually do, side by side. Rates are per 100 live moves: moves played while the game is not already decided.

What the terms mean
Centipawn.
A hundredth of a pawn, the unit a chess engine scores a position in. Giving up a pawn for nothing costs about 100.
Centipawn loss.
How much worse a move is than the best move in the position. The average (ACPL) counts every move a player makes.
Blunder, mistake, inaccuracy.
A move that loses at least 150 centipawns is a blunder, at least 70 a mistake and at least 40 an inaccuracy. Only live moves are counted.
Only move.
A position where one move is clearly better than every other. “Finds the only move” is how often a player plays it.
Time trouble.
Less than a tenth of the starting time left on the clock. “Games in time trouble” is the share of games in which a player's clock got that low on any move, however the game stood.
Winning, better, balanced, worse.
How the engine scores the position for the player about to move. Balanced is within half a pawn either way, better is up to a pawn and a half ahead, winning is from there up to three pawns ahead, and worse is up to a pawn and a half behind.
+1, +2, +4.
A lead of at least one, two or four pawns by the engine's score. A lost position is one that has fallen two pawns behind or worse.
Percentile.
The share of a site's players who are rated lower. Blitz and rapid players are ranked separately.
Site
Chess.comLichess
Time control

How each Chess.com rating actually plays

Measure1005001000150020003100
Blunders37.323.516.312.69.64.1
Mistakes17.417.015.514.012.17.0
Inaccuracies9.711.312.211.911.08.1
Average centipawn loss114.384.269.460.251.431.0
Plays the engine's top move23%29%32%33%37%46%
Finds the only moveshare of positions with one real answer49%64%71%75%79%89%
Game length24.830.934.036.137.648.9
Live moves per gameplayed while the game is undecided8.112.616.919.622.535.1
How they use the clock
Games in time troubleunder a tenth of the clock35%27%22%23%28%40%
Seconds per move5.84.43.73.53.63.3
Instant movesplayed in two seconds or less28%38%46%50%52%62%
Clock left at move 8share of the starting clock79%87%91%92%93%93%
Clock left at move 15share of the starting clock55%68%75%79%79%78%
Clock left at move 30in games that get there25%32%40%42%40%39%
Clock left at move 50in games that get there14%17%20%20%16%15%
Moves played inside a scrambleown clock under a tenth4.1%3.1%2.6%3.1%4.5%9.7%
What the game looks like
Games that end decisivelywon or lost, not drawn98%97%97%97%96%89%
Reaches an endgame18%27%31%32%34%49%
Capturesper 100 own moves27.227.725.924.623.820.9
Checksper 100 own moves9.110.48.37.66.97.0

How strong is each Chess.com rating?

485is the rating half of Chess.com blitz players are below

A quarter are rated above 800, a tenth above 1168 and one in a hundred above 1871.

Blunders per 100 live moves

Blunders fall 89% between 100 and 3100: from 37.3 of every 100 live moves to 4.1.

Chess.com blitz 3+0Chess.com blitz players at each rating
0204050010001500200025003000Chess.com rating

How games are won and lost at each rating

Measure1005001000150020003100
Against their own rating
Score after reaching +158%62%63%63%67%76%
Score after reaching +259%65%68%69%73%83%
Ever loses from +435%27%22%20%16%6%
Score from lost positionsgames where their eval fell to minus two35%36%32%29%30%22%
Of all their games
Lost to a single blunder23%23%26%23%22%14%
Slowly outplayed9%11%15%20%23%22%
Fell apart after one error2.5%1.9%1.7%1.6%1.3%0.5%
Lost in the opening25.9%8.8%5.0%3.0%1.4%0.1%

What a lead is worth

Score against a player of the same rating

A pawn ahead, a 100 goes on to score 58% and a 3100 76%. From a lost position the same two still take 35% and 22%.

After reaching +1From a lost position
0%25%50%75%10050010001500200025003100Chess.com rating

Where each rating blunders

Measure1005001000150020003100
When in the game
Opening30.616.19.25.63.20.5
Middlegame47.230.521.116.512.54.5
Endgame38.025.219.617.314.27.6
In what kind of position
Winning34.423.619.016.513.37.1
Better30.316.411.89.06.72.2
Balanced26.915.49.77.45.42.2
Worse30.217.712.99.88.34.1
With how much clock left
Over half33.720.814.110.67.21.7
25 to 50%46.333.424.119.815.15.0
10 to 25%49.732.825.721.217.87.5
Under 10%55.937.531.424.621.611.9
With which piece
Queen44.227.920.116.112.55.9
Rook47.528.420.016.312.55.2
Knight37.823.716.212.29.13.5
Bishop34.220.914.111.07.83.2
Pawn33.222.015.010.98.23.1
King34.021.114.311.59.44.7

The four rows under “In what kind of position” leave out positions that are already won or already lost. Throwing away a won game still counts in the overall blunder rate, which is why that rate can be higher than all four.

Which phase the blunders come in

Blunder rate in each phase, against the rating's own average

At 100 the middlegame is where a player blunders most; from 1500 up it is the endgame, at 1.8 times their own average rate by 3100.

EndgameMiddlegameOpening
0x1x2x1005001000150020003100their own averageChess.com rating

How much players of the same rating differ

Measure1005001000150020003100
Blunders
A quarter are below34.121.315.011.79.03.9
A quarter are above42.627.118.414.110.64.6
Mistakes
A quarter are below16.216.014.713.011.36.5
A quarter are above18.618.116.415.013.07.5
Inaccuracies
A quarter are below8.510.511.511.410.47.6
A quarter are above10.712.012.812.411.58.5
Finds the only move
A quarter are below43%59%67%72%77%87%
A quarter are above55%68%74%78%81%90%
Seconds per move
A quarter are below4.9s3.6s3.2s3.0s3.2s3.1s
A quarter are above6.3s4.8s4.0s3.8s3.8s3.5s
Games in time trouble
A quarter are below22%14%13%13%19%30%
A quarter are above45%38%30%32%36%48%

How much a rating pins down

The typical player of each rating, and the half of its players nearest to them

Half of the players rated 1500 blunder about as often as a typical 1300 to 1650, but are in time trouble in anything from 13% to 32% of games.

Blunders

20401003100

Mistakes

10151003100

Inaccuracies

810121003100

Finds the only move

60%80%1003100

Seconds per move

4s6s1003100

Games in time trouble

20%40%1003100

What each rating finds on the board

Measure1005001000150020003100
Takes the free materialspotting hanging pieces before anything else62%77%84%87%89%95%
Finds the forkknight and queen forks, both directions30%40%44%49%56%75%
Finds the quiet best movepositions where nothing is forcing33%47%53%58%65%80%
Finds the defensive savedefending worse positions instead of collapsing34%46%53%57%61%75%
Trades down when aheadconverting an advantage by liquidating32%45%49%54%57%74%
Sees the deeper wincalculating past the third move of a line15%31%33%36%48%64%

The easy finds and the hard ones

How often the move is found

Free material is taken 62% of the time at 100 and 95% at 3100; a win several moves deep, 15% and 64%.

Free materialA defensive saveA deeper win
0%50%100%1005001000150020003100Chess.com rating

The openings each rating plays

Measure1005001000150020003100
As White
1.e4King's Pawn60%63%63%60%55%46%
1.d4Queen's Pawn18%20%22%25%29%36%
1.Nf3Réti / Zukertort4%3%2%3%5%11%
1.c4English Openingn/a2%2%3%5%5%
Against 1.e4
1...e5Open Game55%53%46%35%22%27%
1...c5Sicilian Defense3%5%9%16%27%40%
1...c6Caro-Kann Defense2%4%7%9%13%12%
1...e6French Defense7%9%8%12%13%8%
Against 1.d4
1...d5Closed Game41%49%46%43%32%22%
1...Nf6Indian Defense4%6%10%12%31%66%
1...e6French or Queen's Gambit10%14%11%15%9%2%

How opening choices shift with rating

First moves as White

1.e4 opens 60% of games at 100 and 46% at 3100; 1.d4, 18% and 36%.

1.e41.d4
0%20%40%60%1005001000150020003100

Replies to 1.e4

At 100 the reply is 1...e5 in 55% of games and the Sicilian in 3%. From 2000 up, the Sicilian is played more.

1...e51...c5
0%20%40%60%1005001000150020003100

Replies to 1.d4

At 100 the reply is 1...d5 in 41% of games and 1...Nf6 in 4%. From 2200 up, 1...Nf6 is played more.

1...d51...Nf6
0%20%40%60%1005001000150020003100

What punishes a blunder, and what causes it

Measure1005001000150020003100
The idea that refuted it
Piece left hanging32%26%24%21%20%16%
Losing exchange11%13%13%13%13%10%
Fork11%11%9%10%9%6%
Discovered attack12%10%9%10%9%7%
Pin or skewer7%6%7%7%7%7%
Pawn or promotion2%3%5%5%6%10%
King attack4%4%4%5%5%4%
Deflection3%4%4%4%5%4%
Trapped piece2%2%2%1%1%1%
Quiet move6%7%9%7%8%10%
Forced defense3%4%5%4%5%7%
Other6%9%10%12%12%17%
What caused it
Missed a threat34%32%29%30%29%15%
Played it too fast19%21%26%25%24%23%
Never looked at the reply25%21%19%18%15%6%
Misjudged the position11%14%14%13%12%7%
Low on time8%7%8%9%16%48%
Miscalculated3%3%3%3%2%1%
Misjudged an exchange1.1%0.9%0.9%0.9%0.8%0.3%

How the blunders change

Share of blunders, by what refuted them

A piece simply left hanging is 32% of all blunders at 100 and 16% at 3100.

Piece left hangingLosing exchangeAnother tacticQuiet move or defenseOther
0%25%50%75%100%1005001000150020003100

Share of blunders, by what caused them

Running low on time is behind 8% of blunders at 100 and 48% at 3100, more than any other cause from 2400 up.

Low on timeMissed a threatPlayed it too fast
0%20%40%1005001000150020003100

Frequently asked about Chess.com ratings

Answered for Chess.com blitz 3+0, the choice at the top of the page.

What is a good Chess.com rating?

It depends who you measure against. Half of all Chess.com blitz players are rated below 485, so anything above that is already rated above most of the site, and 1168 is ahead of nine players in ten. A stricter bar is much rarer: only one in 26 is rated 1500 or more, and one in 180 is rated 2000 or more.

What is the average Chess.com rating?

The average Chess.com blitz rating is 587, and the middle player is rated 485, lower than the average because a long tail of strong players pulls the average up. Half of all Chess.com blitz players are rated between 274 and 800.

What percentile is my Chess.com rating?

Chess.com ranks its blitz players and its rapid players separately, so it depends on the time control. Among Chess.com blitz players, 51% are rated below 500, 85% below 1000, 96% below 1500 and 99.4% below 2000. Each rating's own page leads with its exact share.

What is a beginner, intermediate and advanced Chess.com rating?

There is no agreed line, only a rule of thumb: beginners under about 1000, intermediate players around 1500 and advanced players from about 2000. On that scale, 85% of Chess.com blitz players are rated below 1000 and 99.4% below 2000. What changes between the three is easier to pin down: a 1000 blunders on 16.3 of every 100 live moves and loses 5.0% of games in the opening; for a 1500 it is 12.6 and 3.0%, and for a 2000 it is 9.6 and 1.4%.

How accurate are players at each Chess.com rating?

Closer together than the ratings suggest on the best move, and far apart on what the other moves cost. A 100 plays the engine's top choice on 23% of moves in Chess.com blitz 3+0 and a 3100 on 46%, because most positions have more than one reasonable move. The average loss a move falls from 114.3 centipawns to 31.0, and most of that is the big errors going: blunders fall 89% over those ratings and inaccuracies 16%.

How many blunders do players make per game?

About 3.0 a game at 100, 2.5 at 1500 and 1.5 at 3100 in Chess.com blitz 3+0, a smaller difference than the gap in strength suggests. The rate falls much further, from 37.3 of every 100 live moves to 4.1, but stronger players' games stay undecided for longer, so there are more moves left to get wrong.

At what rating do players stop hanging pieces?

They never stop completely. A piece simply left hanging is 32% of all blunders at 100 and still 16% at 3100 in Chess.com blitz 3+0. Blunders themselves get rarer, so that comes to about 11.8 hung pieces in every 100 live moves at 100 and 0.6 at 3100. When a piece is there to be taken, a 100 takes it 62% of the time and a 3100 95%, so the same slip is more likely to be punished as ratings rise.

Is a Chess.com rating the same as a Lichess rating?

No. Each site rates its players against its own pool, and the two pools are not alike: a Chess.com 1500 plays like a Lichess 1709 in blitz 3+0. Lichess numbers run higher for the same play until about 2000, where the two scales meet, so no single number converts every rating. Every rating converted, both ways: Chess.com vs Lichess ratings.

Is a blitz rating the same as a rapid rating on Chess.com?

No, they are two separate ratings, each ranked among the players of its own speed. Half of Chess.com's blitz players are rated below 485 and half of its rapid players below 498, so in the middle of the site the same number ranks about the same in both. The same number does not stand for the same play, though: move for move, players rated 1500 in blitz 3+0 play about as well as players rated 1349 in rapid 10+0. Every rating at both speeds: blitz vs rapid ratings.

Chess.com ratings at the other time control

This page opens on Chess.com blitz 3+0, and the choice at the top changes every table on it. The same tables and answers for the other one are below.

Chess.com rapid 10+0

How each Chess.com rating actually plays in rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
Blunders41.425.716.511.78.24.2
Mistakes17.116.815.013.611.67.4
Inaccuracies9.210.811.711.611.18.6
Average centipawn loss118.084.166.255.946.130.4
Plays the engine's top move21%29%33%35%39%46%
Finds the only moveshare of positions with one real answer45%63%73%77%83%89%
Game length27.330.834.035.537.944.3
Live moves per gameplayed while the game is undecided7.811.415.819.222.930.6
How they use the clock
Games in time troubleunder a tenth of the clock6%6%7%9%16%30%
Seconds per move9.29.08.68.59.710.9
Instant movesplayed in two seconds or less15%18%22%24%25%35%
Clock left at move 8share of the starting clock90%91%93%94%94%94%
Clock left at move 15share of the starting clock78%80%83%84%82%78%
Clock left at move 30in games that get there55%56%58%58%51%41%
Clock left at move 50in games that get there39%39%40%36%29%19%
Moves played inside a scrambleown clock under a tenth1.0%0.7%1.1%1.8%3.5%9.2%
What the game looks like
Games that end decisivelywon or lost, not drawn95%95%96%96%95%89%
Reaches an endgame26%28%31%30%34%42%
Capturesper 100 own moves25.427.225.824.323.421.8
Checksper 100 own moves9.712.49.88.17.17.1

How games are won and lost at each rating in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
Against their own rating
Score after reaching +163%65%65%66%68%73%
Score after reaching +264%68%71%73%77%83%
Ever loses from +425%21%17%14%10%6%
Score from lost positionsgames where their eval fell to minus two35%33%29%28%26%18%
Of all their games
Lost to a single blunder24%21%25%23%21%13%
Slowly outplayed6%10%15%20%27%25%
Fell apart after one error3%2%2%2%1%1%
Lost in the opening26.6%11.2%6.3%3.8%1.8%0.2%

Where each rating blunders in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
When in the game
Opening34.219.510.76.33.20.7
Middlegame51.632.721.114.910.65.1
Endgame40.323.416.713.19.86.4
In what kind of position
Winning37.024.718.514.511.17.0
Better34.119.411.88.55.62.4
Balanced29.116.310.06.84.72.2
Worse33.619.414.09.97.64.3
With how much clock left
Over half40.324.915.810.97.12.5
25 to 50%52.832.422.317.212.56.0
10 to 25%51.632.921.515.813.57.3
Under 10%51.138.727.318.114.79.4
With which piece
Queen48.630.320.414.810.76.1
Rook48.530.419.414.49.85.1
Knight41.526.316.511.57.94.0
Bishop37.823.415.010.37.23.2
Pawn37.524.215.210.47.23.5
King39.821.514.310.37.54.1

The four rows under “In what kind of position” leave out positions that are already won or already lost. Throwing away a won game still counts in the overall blunder rate, which is why that rate can be higher than all four.

How much players of the same rating differ in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
Blunders
A quarter are below38.323.915.510.77.63.8
A quarter are above45.628.118.013.19.04.8
Mistakes
A quarter are below15.915.614.012.510.66.6
A quarter are above18.117.615.714.312.47.9
Inaccuracies
A quarter are below7.810.011.010.910.37.8
A quarter are above10.011.212.111.911.59.0
Finds the only move
A quarter are below41%61%71%75%81%88%
A quarter are above51%67%75%80%85%91%
Seconds per move
A quarter are below7.3s7.2s6.8s6.3s7.9s9.6s
A quarter are above10.6s10.2s9.8s10.2s11.1s11.8s
Games in time trouble
A quarter are below1%1%2%0%7%19%
A quarter are above8%8%9%12%19%34%

What each rating finds on the board in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
Takes the free materialspotting hanging pieces before anything else59%77%84%88%91%95%
Finds the forkknight and queen forks, both directions21%45%53%57%68%80%
Finds the quiet best movepositions where nothing is forcing30%47%56%63%69%80%
Finds the defensive savedefending worse positions instead of collapsing30%47%55%59%66%74%
Trades down when aheadconverting an advantage by liquidating33%41%51%57%63%73%
Sees the deeper wincalculating past the third move of a line19%29%37%39%53%64%

The openings each rating plays in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
As White
1.e4King's Pawn58%70%68%66%61%52%
1.d4Queen's Pawn19%17%21%24%26%31%
1.Nf3Réti / Zukertort4%3%3%2%4%9%
1.c4English Opening2%n/a2%3%5%5%
Against 1.e4
1...e5Open Game56%60%58%46%31%23%
1...c5Sicilian Defense3%3%7%16%29%44%
1...c6Caro-Kann Defensen/a2%6%8%12%11%
1...e6French Defense4%6%8%10%10%11%
Against 1.d4
1...d5Closed Game43%49%51%48%42%31%
1...Nf6Indian Defense4%8%10%16%31%54%
1...e6French or Queen's Gambit11%14%10%9%8%3%

What punishes a blunder, and what causes it in Chess.com rapid 10+0

Measure1005001000150020002500
The idea that refuted it
Piece left hanging35%26%22%21%16%14%
Losing exchange9%12%12%14%12%10%
Discovered attack11%10%10%9%9%8%
Fork10%11%11%9%9%8%
Pin or skewer7%8%8%7%8%7%
Pawn or promotion3%3%4%5%6%9%
King attack4%4%4%4%5%6%
Deflection3%3%4%4%5%5%
Trapped piece2%3%2%2%2%1%
Quiet move6%7%7%8%7%7%
Forced defense3%4%5%5%5%7%
Other7%10%12%13%15%17%
What caused it
Missed a threat38%38%37%38%38%27%
Never looked at the reply28%26%23%21%18%10%
Misjudged the position13%15%18%18%17%14%
Played it too fast15%14%15%14%13%13%
Low on time2%2%3%4%10%34%
Miscalculated3%4%4%4%3%2%
Misjudged an exchange1.1%1.4%1.0%1.5%1.3%0.3%

Questions about Chess.com ratings in rapid 10+0

Chess.com rapid 10+0: What is a good Chess.com rating?
It depends who you measure against. Half of all Chess.com rapid players are rated below 498, so anything above that is already rated above most of the site, and 1103 is ahead of nine players in ten. A stricter bar is much rarer: only one in 37 is rated 1500 or more, and one in 400 is rated 2000 or more.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: What is the average Chess.com rating?
The average Chess.com rapid rating is 580, and the middle player is rated 498, lower than the average because a long tail of strong players pulls the average up. Half of all Chess.com rapid players are rated between 295 and 781.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: What percentile is my Chess.com rating?
Chess.com ranks its blitz players and its rapid players separately, so it depends on the time control. Among Chess.com rapid players, 50% are rated below 500, 86% below 1000, 97% below 1500, 99.7% below 2000 and over 99.99% below 2500. Each rating's own page leads with its exact share.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: What is a beginner, intermediate and advanced Chess.com rating?
There is no agreed line, only a rule of thumb: beginners under about 1000, intermediate players around 1500 and advanced players from about 2000. On that scale, 86% of Chess.com rapid players are rated below 1000 and 99.7% below 2000. What changes between the three is easier to pin down: a 1000 blunders on 16.5 of every 100 live moves and loses 6.3% of games in the opening; for a 1500 it is 11.7 and 3.8%, and for a 2000 it is 8.2 and 1.8%.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: How accurate are players at each Chess.com rating?
Closer together than the ratings suggest on the best move, and far apart on what the other moves cost. A 100 plays the engine's top choice on 21% of moves in Chess.com rapid 10+0 and a 2500 on 46%, because most positions have more than one reasonable move. The average loss a move falls from 118.0 centipawns to 30.4, and most of that is the big errors going: blunders fall 90% over those ratings and inaccuracies 7%.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: How many blunders do players make per game?
About 3.2 a game at 100, 2.3 at 1500 and 1.3 at 2500 in Chess.com rapid 10+0, a smaller difference than the gap in strength suggests. The rate falls much further, from 41.4 of every 100 live moves to 4.2, but stronger players' games stay undecided for longer, so there are more moves left to get wrong.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: At what rating do players stop hanging pieces?
They never stop completely. A piece simply left hanging is 35% of all blunders at 100 and still 14% at 2500 in Chess.com rapid 10+0. Blunders themselves get rarer, so that comes to about 14.5 hung pieces in every 100 live moves at 100 and 0.6 at 2500. When a piece is there to be taken, a 100 takes it 59% of the time and a 2500 95%, so the same slip is more likely to be punished as ratings rise.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: Is a Chess.com rating the same as a Lichess rating?
No. Each site rates its players against its own pool, and the two pools are not alike: a Chess.com 1500 plays like a Lichess 1675 in rapid 10+0. Lichess numbers run higher for the same play until about 2100, where the two scales meet, so no single number converts every rating. Every rating converted, both ways: Chess.com vs Lichess ratings.
Chess.com rapid 10+0: Is a blitz rating the same as a rapid rating on Chess.com?
No, they are two separate ratings, each ranked among the players of its own speed. Half of Chess.com's blitz players are rated below 485 and half of its rapid players below 498, so in the middle of the site the same number ranks about the same in both. The same number does not stand for the same play, though: move for move, players rated 1500 in blitz 3+0 play about as well as players rated 1349 in rapid 10+0. Every rating at both speeds: blitz vs rapid ratings.