I Made My Own Chess Ranks, with Chess.com 1600 as First Dan

Hi, I'm Shingo Suzuki, also known as Suzushin.

I've recently been playing chess as a hobby. My Chess.com Rapid rating is currently exactly 500. I'm still very much a beginner.

I hang pieces, end up in one-sided positions, and sometimes even miss mate in one!

Still, if I'm going to play, I'd like to improve little by little. And a thought occurred to me.

On Chess.com, a player's strength is expressed as a rating. A higher number is satisfying, of course. But for me, “I've reached this rank!” is more exciting than “I've reached this rating!”

Why not assign my own ranks to Chess.com ratings? So here's my completely personal chess rank system. It uses dan and kyu, the graded ranks familiar in Japanese activities such as go and shogi.

I started chess because I wanted a hobby

I didn't really have a particular hobby, so I went looking for one.

I'd always liked board games: go, shogi, and Othello were games I often played. But if I was going to take up a new hobby, I wanted something a little different. I wanted to do something slightly outside the usual choices, so immersing myself in go or shogi didn't quite feel right. Then I found chess.

A chess game changes dramatically from move to move. Finding the best move each time is hard, but that makes finishing a game satisfying. Though right now, I lose most of them!

I also like how much depth there is if you try to master it. Even openings have so many variations that I can't memorize them all. Learning basic chess principles seems the more immediate priority.

And if I'm going to play, I want to get good. At 500, I'm almost at the starting line. I'd like to improve gradually—ideally to the point where I could hold my own very comfortably among ordinary casual players!

I'm easily motivated by graded ranks

On Chess.com, a higher rating indicates a stronger player and a lower one a weaker player.

Seeing that number rise is pleasing, and aiming higher is a worthy goal. But sometimes a rating alone doesn't motivate me very much. Ranks appeal to me more.

Some Japanese qualifications have graded difficulty levels. Those naturally make me want to work toward the next grade. For example, Eiken, an English proficiency test, has Grades 5, 4, 3, Pre-2, 2, Pre-1, and 1. I worked my way up from Grade 5 to Pre-2 myself.

“Chess doesn't have an official dan and kyu system…”
“But wouldn't it be fun if it did?”
“Wouldn't that motivate me more?”

That led me to make this personal chess ranking system.

Setting Chess.com 1600 as first dan

First I needed a benchmark. I chose Chess.com Rapid, setting 1600 as first dan.

First dan sounds like someone reasonably strong. If I'm going to call myself that, I'd like it to represent a level where I can feel I've genuinely improved, rather than an easy milestone. For me, 1600 feels like a line where I could consider myself quite strong as an ordinary player.

From my current 500, that's a distant goal! But that also makes it worthwhile.

With first dan at 1600, I've made each kyu rank a 100-point step. That makes the next target easy to understand.

My chess ranking table

Here's the table. Please remember that this is my own unofficial scale, intended as a set of goals I can enjoy pursuing.

Once earned, a rank is yours to keep

These ranks use peak rating. Once promoted, you keep that rank.

Ratings rise and fall, and being demoted each time would hurt my motivation. So I've decided there's no demotion after earning a rank.

I want this system to emphasize how far I've reached, rather than only my current strength.

For example, I'm currently 11 kyu at 500. If I reach 600, I'll earn 10 kyu. Even if I later drop to 580, I won't go back to 11 kyu.

Aim for the next kyu, rather than one huge goal

At 500, I'm 11 kyu on this scale. First dan is still 1100 points away. That's a lot for me!

But I don't need to aim straight for first dan. First, I want 10 kyu at 600. After that, 9 kyu. I'll raise the target 100 points at a time, and hopefully reach first dan eventually.

Small moments of achievement along the way, with first dan as the eventual goal: that seems more enjoyable and sustainable for me than chasing one enormous target immediately.

Starting at 11 kyu: how strong can I become?

By my new scale, I'm currently around 11 kyu—still a beginner.

• I often leave pieces to be taken for free.
• I frequently end up in one-sided positions.
• I sometimes miss mate in one.

I make plenty of mistakes, but that also means there's room to improve.

First dan is a high bar. Moving up from 11 kyu feels more approachable. I'm curious to see how my play develops while using these ranks.

First, I'll aim for 10 kyu

Thinking that ranks might make chess more exciting, I've created my own scale. First dan is Chess.com Rapid 1600, with 100-point steps between kyu ranks.

I'm 11 kyu now, so my first target is 10 kyu at 600! Then I'll work toward 9 kyu, 8 kyu, and eventually first dan.

Of course I want to get stronger. But chess is a hobby, so enjoying it comes first.

If ranks motivate you more than ratings too, perhaps you'd like to try this scale. Let's enjoy chess and aim for first dan together!