Do Chess Ratings Expire? The Truths and Myths

Chess ratings mean a lot to players who work hard to improve and earn higher ratings. However, some players may stop playing at any point or need to take a break. 

So, what happens in this situation? Do you lose your rating when you decide to stop playing for a while? Do chess ratings expire?

Chess ratings never expire. No matter how long you have stopped playing, nothing affects the points that you have gained. ELO and other systems keep the rating of the last game you played. However, if you remain inactive for a year, you’ll be flagged as inactive in FIDE.

Keep reading to learn more about your chess rating in terms of inactivity!

Do Chess Ratings Expire?

Unlike what Mikko Markkula, the Chairman of the Qualification Commission in FIDE, has suggested, the chess rating doesn’t expire after 10 years. In fact, a player’s FIDE Rating doesn’t expire ever. Once you get rated, you keep it for life.

However, if you take a break for 12 months, you’ll be flagged as “inactive.” This period was extended to 24 months due to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s lack of rated events may have caused many players to be considered inactive. Once chess activity resumes its pre-pandemic levels of participation and competition, this alteration is undone.

The “inactive” flag means something different in online chess than in OTB chess. On chess.com, you get marked “inactive” only if you delete your account. Online chess sites can’t flag you inactive if you stop playing without deactivating your account.

On the FIDE site, you will not find an “inactive” flag or marking anywhere, I checked. Instead, you will find that your ranking among the active players drops to 0. Check the screenshot below:

Can I Be Marked “Unrated” Due to Inactivity? 

You cannot be marked “unrated” due to inactivity. However, if a player’s rating falls below 1000, FIDE designates them as “unrated. After that, they receive the same treatment as every other unrated player.

If a player is listed as “unrated,” it means they haven’t yet completed a rated game and don’t have any ratings. That does not imply that you are ranked while they are not in the game you are playing against them. Both players must adhere to the categorization of games as either rated or unrated.

In contrast, rated players compete under strict regulations of competition in official tournaments that are governed by tournament directors who have been approved by national federations that are themselves, members of FIDE, the world body that regulates chess competitions all across the world.

How Often Do Chess Rating Update?

FIDE chess ratings update monthly.

The World Chess Federation (FIDE), the governing body of chess all around the world, publishes its new rating list on the last day of every month in the nighttime, to come into use from the first day of the new month. 

Can You Play Chess Again After a Long Absence?

You can always return to chess after a period of inactivity. Since you are not worrying about losing the rating you’ve gained in your life, you can safely leave the chessboard for a while if you need to. However, you should be aware of the consequences (other than the rating-related ones).

Because classical chess is a time-limited game, inactivity affects your ability to think clearly and quickly, which reduces your ability to play precisely. 

For a variety of reasons, players have periodically delayed their game practice. Some players, like Fischer, were successful in doing this throughout their careers and maintained their analytical practices during exercises other than tournament competitions so that there was no evident decline in their game’s precision when they returned to the chessboard.

The lack of precision was evident when they did a poor job of maintaining these analytical approaches. Lasker, for example, had fallen out of the top two when he returned in the middle of the 1930s. But he was still quite powerful. To do him justice, I must point out that he was 65 years old when he made his final return.

If you want to maintain your level, you need to practice and keep analyzing chess tactics on your time off. Your rating will stay the same despite the lack of playing or practice, but your skills may not.

Does Your Chess Rating Go Down If You Don’t Play?

Your chess rating doesn’t go down if you don’t play. If you decide to take a break or stop playing for a while, your rating will remain the same as the last time you played. Even the “inactive” flag you get after being inactive for 12 months will disappear once you get back to the board.

You can learn more about what is considered to be a good chess rating here. I also have a guide on how to get past a certain rating that you also may find useful if you’re ever stuck.

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