Blitz vs rapid chess ratings
The same rating in blitz and in rapid, side by side. Rates are per 100 live moves: moves played while the game is not already decided.
What the terms meanShow less
- 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
How the same rating plays in blitz and in rapid
| Measure | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blunders | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 37.3 | 23.5 | 16.3 | 12.6 | 9.6 | 6.6 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 37.4 | 21.7 | 14.8 | 11.2 | 8.8 | 5.4 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 41.4 | 25.7 | 16.5 | 11.7 | 8.2 | 4.2 |
| Mistakes | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 17.4 | 17.0 | 15.5 | 14.0 | 12.1 | 9.5 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 16.7 | 16.4 | 14.9 | 13.4 | 12.0 | 8.7 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 17.1 | 16.8 | 15.0 | 13.6 | 11.6 | 7.4 |
| Inaccuracies | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 9.7 | 11.3 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.0 | 9.7 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 9.5 | 11.5 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.4 | 9.3 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 9.2 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 8.6 |
| Average centipawn loss | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 114.3 | 84.2 | 69.4 | 60.2 | 51.4 | 40.8 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 113.3 | 78.9 | 64.7 | 56.0 | 49.3 | 36.2 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 118.0 | 84.1 | 66.2 | 55.9 | 46.1 | 30.4 |
| Plays the engine's top move | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 23% | 29% | 32% | 33% | 37% | 42% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 23% | 30% | 33% | 35% | 38% | 44% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 21% | 29% | 33% | 35% | 39% | 46% |
| Finds the only move | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 49% | 64% | 71% | 75% | 79% | 84% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 48% | 66% | 73% | 77% | 81% | 87% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 45% | 63% | 73% | 77% | 83% | 89% |
| Game length | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 24.8 | 30.9 | 34.0 | 36.1 | 37.6 | 41.3 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 26.1 | 30.6 | 34.4 | 36.8 | 38.4 | 45.5 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 27.3 | 30.8 | 34.0 | 35.5 | 37.9 | 44.3 |
| Live moves per game | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 8.1 | 12.6 | 16.9 | 19.6 | 22.5 | 27.0 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 8.5 | 12.8 | 17.5 | 21.1 | 23.9 | 29.9 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 7.8 | 11.4 | 15.8 | 19.2 | 22.9 | 30.6 |
Blitz against rapid, up the ratings
Blunders against blitz 3+0
Against blitz 3+0: at 500 rapid has 9% more, and at 2000 rapid has 15% fewer.
Blitz 5+0Rapid 10+0
Inaccuracies against blitz 3+0
Against blitz 3+0, the two are about level at 500 and at 2000 alike.
Blitz 5+0Rapid 10+0
Only move against blitz 3+0
Against blitz 3+0: at 500 rapid is 1 point lower, and at 2000 rapid is 4 points higher.
Blitz 5+0Rapid 10+0
What the clock does at each speed
| Measure | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seconds per move | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 7.6 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 10.9 |
| Games in time trouble | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 35% | 27% | 22% | 23% | 28% | 35% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 20% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 24% | 41% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 6% | 6% | 7% | 9% | 16% | 30% |
| Games lost on time | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 19.8% | 15.5% | 11.7% | 9.8% | 11.6% | 10.1% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 11.0% | 8.1% | 9.0% | 9.5% | 11.3% | 6.7% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 3.7% | 2.1% | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% | 3.9% |
| Blunders in the opening | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 30.6 | 16.1 | 9.2 | 5.6 | 3.2 | 1.4 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 30.5 | 14.8 | 8.4 | 4.9 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 34.2 | 19.5 | 10.7 | 6.3 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
| Blunders in the middlegame | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 47.2 | 30.5 | 21.1 | 16.5 | 12.5 | 8.2 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 47.2 | 28.1 | 19.0 | 14.6 | 11.2 | 6.5 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 51.6 | 32.7 | 21.1 | 14.9 | 10.6 | 5.1 |
| Blunders in the endgame | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 38.0 | 25.2 | 19.6 | 17.3 | 14.2 | 11.2 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 38.3 | 23.8 | 17.2 | 13.3 | 12.5 | 9.2 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 40.3 | 23.4 | 16.7 | 13.1 | 9.8 | 6.4 |
| Blunders, clock over half | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 33.7 | 20.8 | 14.1 | 10.6 | 7.2 | 4.1 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 34.8 | 19.9 | 13.2 | 9.6 | 6.9 | 3.0 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 40.3 | 24.9 | 15.8 | 10.9 | 7.1 | 2.5 |
| Blunders, clock under 10% | ||||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 55.9 | 37.5 | 31.4 | 24.6 | 21.6 | 17.0 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 52.8 | 35.5 | 26.4 | 19.9 | 17.6 | 13.7 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 51.1 | 38.7 | 27.3 | 18.1 | 14.7 | 9.4 |
Where the faster game costs most
Games in time trouble
In blitz 3+0 against rapid: 4.5 times as often at 500, 75% more often at 2000.
Games lost on time
In blitz 3+0 against rapid: 7.4 times as often at 500, 2.2 times as often at 2000.
Endgame blunders against blitz 3+0
Against blitz 3+0: at 500 rapid has 7% fewer, and at 2000 rapid has 31% fewer.
How the same rating ranks in blitz and in rapid
| Measure | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players rated below it | ||||||
| Chess.com blitz | none | 51% | 85% | 96% | 99.4% | 99.95% |
| Chess.com rapid | none | 50% | 86% | 97% | 99.7% | >99.99% |
| Same rank, other speed | ||||||
| Blitz rating, in rapid | n/a | 512 | 953 | 1399 | 1867 | 2194 |
| Rapid rating, in blitz | n/a | 487 | 1048 | 1610 | 2149 | n/a |
Chess.com ranks its blitz players and its rapid players separately, each among the players of that speed. The last two rows are the rating that stands as high at the other speed.
The blitz and the rapid players
Half of Chess.com's blitz players are rated below 485, and half of its rapid players below 498.
Blitz playersRapid players
The rating that plays the same moves
| Blitz 3+0 | Blitz 5+0 | Rapid 10+0 |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 100 | 170 |
| 200 | 178 | 284 |
| 300 | 255 | 384 |
| 400 | 327 | 464 |
| 500 | 410 | 545 |
| 600 | 512 | 639 |
| 700 | 604 | 726 |
| 800 | 668 | 788 |
| 900 | 728 | 854 |
| 1000 | 798 | 934 |
| 1100 | 884 | 1014 |
| 1200 | 988 | 1104 |
| 1300 | 1089 | 1195 |
| 1400 | 1174 | 1274 |
| 1500 | 1257 | 1349 |
| 1600 | 1358 | 1441 |
| 1700 | 1481 | 1548 |
| 1800 | 1592 | 1620 |
| 1900 | 1707 | 1702 |
| 2000 | 1846 | 1806 |
| 2100 | 1974 | 1909 |
| 2200 | 2070 | 1988 |
| 2300 | 2146 | 2055 |
| 2400 | 2230 | 2114 |
| 2500 | 2309 | 2176 |
| Blitz 3+0 | Blitz 5+0 | Rapid 10+0 |
|---|---|---|
| 600 | 571 | 626 |
| 700 | 657 | 724 |
| 800 | 744 | 814 |
| 900 | 840 | 898 |
| 1000 | 926 | 974 |
| 1100 | 1008 | 1052 |
| 1200 | 1090 | 1132 |
| 1300 | 1174 | 1214 |
| 1400 | 1260 | 1289 |
| 1500 | 1360 | 1364 |
| 1600 | 1462 | 1444 |
| 1700 | 1574 | 1546 |
| 1800 | 1684 | 1666 |
| 1900 | 1793 | 1772 |
| 2000 | 1896 | 1867 |
| 2100 | 1998 | 1954 |
| 2200 | 2099 | 2036 |
| 2300 | 2196 | 2109 |
| 2400 | 2284 | 2178 |
How far apart the same play is rated
Points a blitz 3+0 rating stands above the same play
The moves of a blitz 3+0 1500 are those of a 1257 in blitz 5+0 and a 1349 in rapid 10+0.
Each row of the table is one standard of play: the ratings whose players play as well, move for move. It compares the moves, not what one player would be rated at each speed.
Blitz 5+0Rapid 10+0
Frequently asked about blitz and rapid ratings
Answered for Chess.com, the choice at the top of the page.
Is a rapid rating higher than a blitz rating?
Not across the site as a whole. Half of Chess.com's blitz players are rated below 485 and half of its rapid players below 498, and a blitz 1500 stands as high among the blitz players as a rapid 1399 does among the rapid players. For one player it comes down to which speed suits them: the two ratings are earned in separate games against separate fields, and nothing ties one to the other. Every rating side by side: the Chess.com rating guide.
Is a 1500 in blitz as strong as a 1500 in rapid?
No. Move for move the blitz players are the weaker, which is what less than a third of the thinking time would suggest. On Chess.com, players rated 1500 in blitz 3+0 play about as well, move for move, as players rated 1349 in rapid 10+0. Lower down the two are close: a blitz 500 plays like a rapid 545. A blitz 2000 plays like a rapid 1806. That compares the quality of the moves, not what one player would be rated at both speeds.
Do players blunder more in blitz than in rapid?
Not at the lower ratings, and more as ratings rise. On Chess.com, a 1500 blunders on 12.6 of every 100 live moves in blitz 3+0 and on 11.7 in rapid 10+0. At 500 it is 23.5 against 25.7, and at 2000 it is 9.6 against 8.2. The extra time shows most in the endgame, where a 1500 blunders on 17.3 of every 100 live moves in blitz and 13.1 in rapid.
How many blitz games are lost on time?
About one in 4. On Chess.com, 24% of the blitz 3+0 games a 1500 plays end on the clock, against 9% of their rapid 10+0 games. The 1500 is the one who runs out of time in 9.8% of their blitz games and 3.8% of their rapid games. They are down to a tenth of their time in 23% of blitz games and 9% of rapid games, so the clock decides far more games in blitz than in rapid.
What is the difference between 3+0 and 5+0 blitz?
Two more minutes each come to about 1.9 more seconds a move: a 1500 on Chess.com spends 3.5 seconds a move in blitz 3+0 and 5.4 in blitz 5+0. The extra time shows late in the game: endgame blunders fall from 17.3 of every 100 live moves to 13.3, where in the opening it is 5.6 against 4.9. Move for move, a blitz 3+0 1500 plays like a blitz 5+0 1257.
Blitz vs rapid on the other site
This page opens on Chess.com, and the choice at the top changes every table on it. The same tables and answers for the other one are below.
Lichess
How the same rating plays in blitz and in rapid on Lichess
| Measure | 600 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2400 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blunders | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 36.3 | 22.4 | 15.2 | 9.5 | 6.5 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 35.6 | 21.3 | 13.6 | 8.6 | 5.6 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 38.7 | 23.3 | 13.7 | 8.2 | 4.7 |
| Mistakes | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 15.0 | 12.4 | 9.5 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 16.7 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 12.0 | 9.1 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.3 | 11.8 | 8.2 |
| Inaccuracies | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 9.7 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 9.7 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 9.8 | 11.3 | 11.8 | 11.4 | 9.7 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 8.7 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 11.0 | 9.0 |
| Average centipawn loss | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 108.2 | 82.4 | 65.9 | 51.3 | 40.9 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 105.5 | 78.1 | 62.0 | 48.0 | 37.1 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 107.7 | 79.4 | 60.6 | 46.4 | 33.8 |
| Plays the engine's top move | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 24% | 29% | 32% | 37% | 42% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 24% | 30% | 33% | 38% | 43% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 23% | 30% | 34% | 38% | 45% |
| Finds the only move | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 50% | 64% | 71% | 80% | 85% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 52% | 66% | 76% | 81% | 87% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 48% | 64% | 75% | 82% | 88% |
| Game length | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 26.1 | 29.8 | 34.4 | 38.1 | 41.0 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 27.7 | 30.8 | 35.0 | 38.3 | 40.9 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 28.5 | 30.0 | 34.0 | 38.1 | 41.5 |
| Live moves per game | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 8.0 | 12.3 | 17.4 | 22.9 | 27.5 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 8.6 | 12.7 | 18.6 | 23.8 | 27.8 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 8.1 | 11.2 | 17.3 | 23.5 | 28.0 |
What the clock does at each speed on Lichess
| Measure | 600 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2400 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seconds per move | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 7.0 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.8 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 9.4 | 11.0 |
| Games in time trouble | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 28% | 25% | 25% | 29% | 33% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 18% | 15% | 19% | 22% | 27% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 5% | 5% | 8% | 14% | 27% |
| Games lost on time | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 21.8% | 16.1% | 11.7% | 14.0% | 10.9% |
| Blitz 5+0 | 14.1% | 10.3% | 9.5% | 11.0% | 10.3% |
| Rapid 10+0 | 7.1% | 5.1% | 4.5% | 5.8% | 5.6% |
| Blunders in the opening | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 29.4 | 15.5 | 8.2 | 3.3 | 1.4 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 28.7 | 14.9 | 7.0 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 32.1 | 17.5 | 8.1 | 3.2 | 1.0 |
| Blunders in the middlegame | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 46.6 | 29.2 | 19.7 | 12.2 | 8.0 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 45.2 | 27.5 | 17.5 | 11.0 | 7.0 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 48.9 | 30.1 | 17.5 | 10.6 | 5.8 |
| Blunders in the endgame | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 36.8 | 26.2 | 19.5 | 14.7 | 11.2 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 36.8 | 22.3 | 17.4 | 11.7 | 8.8 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 33.6 | 22.0 | 15.7 | 9.9 | 7.2 |
| Blunders, clock over half | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 33.0 | 19.6 | 12.9 | 7.2 | 3.9 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 33.4 | 19.5 | 11.9 | 6.7 | 3.6 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 38.2 | 22.7 | 13.0 | 7.2 | 3.1 |
| Blunders, clock under 10% | |||||
| Blitz 3+0 | 55.5 | 39.5 | 28.6 | 22.7 | 17.6 |
| Blitz 5+0 | 51.9 | 33.5 | 26.2 | 18.3 | 13.6 |
| Rapid 10+0 | 46.1 | 33.7 | 20.0 | 14.6 | 11.0 |
How the same rating ranks in blitz and in rapid on Lichess
| Measure | 600 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2400 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players rated below it | |||||
| Lichess blitz | 0.9% | 13% | 55% | 90% | 99.1% |
| Lichess rapid | 2% | 17% | 61% | 94% | 99.6% |
| Same rank, other speed | |||||
| Blitz rating, in rapid | 539 | 950 | 1433 | 1921 | 2291 |
| Rapid rating, in blitz | 671 | 1053 | 1568 | 2080 | 2523 |
Lichess ranks its blitz players and its rapid players separately, each among the players of that speed. The last two rows are the rating that stands as high at the other speed.
Questions about blitz and rapid ratings on Lichess
- Lichess: Is a rapid rating higher than a blitz rating?
- Across the site as a whole, rapid ratings run a little lower. Half of Lichess's blitz players are rated below 1447 and half of its rapid players below 1379, and a blitz 1500 stands as high among the blitz players as a rapid 1433 does among the rapid players. For one player it comes down to which speed suits them: the two ratings are earned in separate games against separate fields, and nothing ties one to the other. Every rating side by side: the Lichess rating guide.
- Lichess: Is a 1500 in blitz as strong as a 1500 in rapid?
- No. Move for move the blitz players are the weaker, which is what less than a third of the thinking time would suggest. On Lichess, players rated 1500 in blitz 3+0 play about as well, move for move, as players rated 1364 in rapid 10+0. Lower down the two are close: a blitz 1000 plays like a rapid 974. A blitz 2000 plays like a rapid 1867. That compares the quality of the moves, not what one player would be rated at both speeds.
- Lichess: Do players blunder more in blitz than in rapid?
- Not at the lower ratings, and more as ratings rise. On Lichess, a 1500 blunders on 15.2 of every 100 live moves in blitz 3+0 and on 13.7 in rapid 10+0. At 1000 it is 22.4 against 23.3, and at 2000 it is 9.5 against 8.2. The extra time shows most in the endgame, where a 1500 blunders on 19.5 of every 100 live moves in blitz and 15.7 in rapid.
- Lichess: How many blitz games are lost on time?
- About one in 4. On Lichess, 28% of the blitz 3+0 games a 1500 plays end on the clock, against 10% of their rapid 10+0 games. The 1500 is the one who runs out of time in 11.7% of their blitz games and 4.5% of their rapid games. They are down to a tenth of their time in 25% of blitz games and 8% of rapid games, so the clock decides far more games in blitz than in rapid.
- Lichess: What is the difference between 3+0 and 5+0 blitz?
- Two more minutes each come to about 1.9 more seconds a move: a 1500 on Lichess spends 3.8 seconds a move in blitz 3+0 and 5.7 in blitz 5+0. The extra time shows in every part of the game: opening blunders fall from 8.2 of every 100 live moves to 7.0, middlegame blunders from 19.7 to 17.5 and endgame blunders from 19.5 to 17.4. Move for move, a blitz 3+0 1500 plays like a blitz 5+0 1360.