You've probably seen some accounts on Chess.com that have red letters next to their name such as GM, IM, WFM, and etc. These are FIDE titles, and players with FIDE titles can get them added to their account. You can see a list of all the different titles here.

If you already have one of these titles from FIDE, see here for how to get it added to your Chess.com account!

But how do you go about getting a title from FIDE? How does one become a Grandmaster anyway? Before FIDE will give the Grandmaster title to a player, the player must have an Elo chess rating of at least 2500 at one time and three favorable results (called norms) in tournaments involving other Grandmasters, including some from countries other than the applicant's. There are also other milestones a player can achieve to attain the title, such as winning the World Junior Championship.

To become an International Master (IM) The conditions are similar to GM, but less demanding. The minimum rating to apply for an IM is 2400.

To qualify for a FIDE Master (FM) title a player must achieve a FIDE Rating of 2300 or more.

Candidate Master (CM) is similar to FM, but with a FIDE Rating of at least 2200.

All the titles listed above are open to men and women. Separate women-only titles, such as Woman Grandmaster (WGM), are also available.

See here for more tips and details on how to earn these titles from FIDE!

You can apply for the title on the FIDE website here!