USCF rating categories

Category	Rating range
Senior Master	Over 2400
National Master	Over 2200
Expert	2000–2199
Class A	1800–1999
Class B	1600–1799
Class C	1400–1599
Class D	1200–1399
Class E	1000–1199
Class F	800-999
Class G	600-799
Class H	400-599
Class I	200-399
Class J	under 200

Chess expert is a title given by the United States Chess Federation

United States Chess Federation

The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...

 (USCF). It is awarded to chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 players rated

Chess rating systems

A chess rating system is a system used in chess to calculate an estimate of the strength of the player, based on his performance versus other players. They are used by organizations such as FIDE, the US Chess Federation , International Correspondence Chess Federation, and the English Chess Federation...

 from 2000 to 2199. Players rated above that are masters

Chess master

A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....

 while players below that are class players. Approximately 400,000 chess players have USCF ratings, of which approximately 4000 are rated 2000 or better. Thus, chess experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament chess players.

The title of chess expert is not awarded for life. Every time a tournament chess player plays a game, his rating goes up or down depending on the game's outcome and on how strong his opponent is. If the rating of a chess expert falls below 2000, he is not a chess expert any more. This is in contrast to international titles awarded by FIDE, which are awarded for life. In European countries the term of "expert" is not used. Instead, players of that level are called "Candidate Masters", although the FIDE Candidate Master title generally requires a higher rating (2200 FIDE).

It is possible (and common) for players in the United States to have a rating that places them in the 'expert' category, while still retaining the title of 'Life Master' or 'National Master'. The 'title' of 'master' is awarded to anyone meeting the criteria laid down by the USCF, including having once been rated over 2200. Like the FIDE titles of FIDE Master, International Master, and Grandmaster, the title of 'Master' is awarded for life. Players with a rating below 2200, but who have earned the title of 'National Master' or 'Life Master' are, according to the USCF, still referred to as 'masters'.

The first USCF rating list was published in December 1950. On that list, experts were players rated from 2100 to 2300 and masters were players rated from 2300 to 2500. However, within a few years, it was discovered that the ratings were rapidly deflating. As a result, the classifications were dropped by 100 points so that since then experts were rated between 2000 and 2200. In 1960, the USCF adopted the new Elo rating system

Elo rating system

The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....

 replacing the original Harkness

Kenneth Harkness

Kenneth Harkness was a chess organizer. He is the creator of the Harkness rating system.-Life and career:...

 System. There have been continuous adjustments to that system ever since, with the primary purpose of stabilizing the rating system against the forces of inflation and deflation, so that a chess expert today will be approximately the same strength as a chess expert was 20 or 40 years ago.

This information stated here also applies in Canada, under the auspices of the Canadian Federation of Chess (CFC), with one difference being that Class E encompasses all players rated under 1200. Similar class distinctions may apply in other national chess federations as well.

See also

• United States Chess Federation ratings
• FIDE titles
  FIDE titles
  The World Chess Federation, FIDE , awards several performance-based titles to chess players. Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms . Once awarded, FIDE titles are held for life...
  
  
• Chess titles
  Chess titles
  A chess title is a lifetime title created by the world chess organization FIDE bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Examples of chess titles are Master and Grandmaster.- Over board chess :...