How do I find my chess ELO? (Free calculator)

Have you ever wondered how to find your chess ELO? It’s one of the questions I get asked most, and it makes complete sense: you want to know where you stand to know where to head next. The answer depends on whether you’ve already played official games or not. Let’s take a look.

1. If you don’t have an official ELO yet

If you haven’t played tournaments or registered on any platform, you don’t have an ELO assigned yet. And that’s fine: everyone starts from zero.

The fastest way is to create an account on Lichess or Chess.com and play a few games. Within a few hours you’ll already have a number reflecting your level. You can also play against the computer to get into rhythm before facing real opponents.

Want an estimate right now, without creating any account? That’s what the calculator below is for. Answer the questions and I’ll give you an approximate range.

2. If you’ve already played official tournaments

If you’ve competed in tournaments, your official ELO might live in several registries depending on the tournament level:

• Local or club ELO — managed by your club or provincial federation. Check directly with them.
• National federation ELO — the one from your national chess federation. Look it up in their player database.
• FIDE ELO — the international one. It’s only generated if you’ve played tournaments sanctioned by FIDE. You can look it up at ratings.fide.com.

Keep in mind that your ELO is not fixed. It goes up when you beat strong opponents and down when you lose to weaker ones. The bigger the gap in level, the bigger the swing in points.

What now?

Knowing your ELO is the starting point, not the goal. What matters is using it to improve. If you’re between 1200 and 1400 points, I recommend reading how to go from 1200 to 1400: it’s the jump that stalls the most players, and it has concrete solutions.

If you want a broader roadmap, check out how to become a better chess player. There I explain what to work on depending on your current level.

Once you know where you stand, going up is a matter of method. And that, I can definitely teach you.