Tournament category (chess)
In chess, the tournament category is the classification of the strength of a chess tournament , which results from the average strength of the participants . In sections of 25 Elo points each , the category names are ascending numerically, starting with Category 1 for 2251–2275 Elo points.
The World Chess Federation once used tournament categories to award titles, but later changed this so that the individual opposition and not the general level of a tournament is weighted more heavily. Thus, for example, titles can also be achieved in open tournaments through good results against players with a correspondingly high rating .
Current top tournaments reach the categories 20 (2726-2750 Elo points) to 23 (2801-2825 Elo points).
Previous tournaments of the highest categories
Category 23 has so far reached two tournaments
| competition | place | year | Average rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinquefield Cup 2014 | St. Louis | 2014 | 2801.7 |
| Zurich Chess Challenge | Zurich | 2014 | 2800.8 (rounded up to 2801) |
Category 22 has so far been achieved in the following tournaments, sorted by Elo average:
| competition | place | year | Average rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway Chess | Stavanger | 2017 | 2796.8 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2013 | 2794.8 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2015 | 2794.6 |
| Norway Chess | Stavanger | 2018 | 2790.6 |
| Grand Slam Masters Final | Bilbao | 2010 | 2788.8 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2017 | 2787.7 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2018 | 2787.5 |
| Candidates Tournament London 2013 | London | 2013 | 2786.5 |
| Grand Slam Masters 2015 | Bilbao | 2015 | 2785.8 |
| Candidates tournament Berlin 2018 | Berlin | 2018 | 2785.6 |
| London Chess Classic | London | 2016 | 2785.2 |
| London Chess Classic | London | 2015 | 2784.2 |
| Zurich Chess Challenge | Zurich | 2015 | 2784.0 |
| Norway Chess | Stavanger | 2019 | 2783.8 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2019 | 2782.5 |
| Norway Chess | Stavanger | 2015 | 2781.9 |
| Grand Chess Tour | Zagreb | 2019 | 2781.8 |
| Grand Slam Masters Final | São Paulo and Bilbao | 2012 | 2781.2 |
| Grand Slam Masters Final | São Paulo and Bilbao | 2011 | 2780.2 |
| Shamkir Chess | Şəmkir | 2014 | 2780.2 |
| London Chess Classic Super Six | London | 2014 | 2779.8 |
| Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis | 2016 | 2778.6 |
| Shamkir Chess | Şəmkir | 2019 | 2778.2 |
| Candidates Tournament Moscow 2016 | Moscow | 2016 | 2777.8 |
| Masters Final | Bilbao | 2016 | 2777.7 |
| Valley Memorial | Moscow | 2013 | 2777.4 |
| Valley Memorial | Moscow | 2011 | 2776.4 |
| Valley Memorial | Moscow | 2012 | 2776.4 |