One of the highest titles in international chess after GM, ‘International Master’ or IM is awarded to those players who have outstanding performance record. Both men and women can qualify for this title.
It was created in 1950 for the chess masters all over the world who have a minimum Elo rating of 2400. After a player gets the IM title, he/she moves on to contest for the GM title. However, it is not always necessary that all the GMs must be International Masters.
Current regulations
There are few requirements that a chess player needs to fulfill to achieve the title of ‘International Master’. Some of them are as follows:
The player needs to have 3 favorable results in all the international tournaments he has played including against other IMs and Grandmasters.
The player needs to have an Elo rating of 2400 minimum to 2500
The runner up of the World Junior Championship can be awarded the IM title.
The correspondence chess players by International Correspondence Chess Federation ICCF, chess problem composers and solvers can also win this title.
A player holding the chess International Master title is supposed to be in the top 0.25% of all tournaments at the time when the title is awarded to him/her.
Title inflation
There has been a steady inflation in the number of players contesting for IM title in the recent time. Of many reasons, increase in the number of tournaments and players are mostly affecting the standard of the contest. FIDE officials and chess experts are however, trying to find out means to restore the stature of the title.
