I am a relatively weak player (~1600 chess.com) who mostly plays online blitz. Recently I've been thinking about shooting for a title (e.g. USCF expert) as a long-term goal. The area where I live has always had a relatively few OTB matches, and is even worse with the COVID pandemic.
Is there any title which can be achieve partially or completely via online play? Of course, I could always shoot for a particular rating, but a title somehow feels more significant.
Is there any title it's possible to achieve partially or completely via online play?
Yes, there are. FIDE has their own online platform and offer FIDE titles for achievements on their online Arena.
1.1 FIDE introduces and recognises titles designated for the chess players of the lower rating band. Ordered hierarchically from higher to lower status, these titles are:
1.1.1 Arena Grandmaster (AGM or ag)
1.1.2 Arena International master (AIM or ai)
1.1.3 Arena FIDE master (AFM or af)
1.1.4 Arena Candidate master (ACM or ac)
These titles are available for rapid, blitz and bullet. To achieve a title at a particular level and time control you have to play 50 games of rapid, 100 games of blitz or 150 games of bullet. You also have to reach a particular rating for each title.
The rating requirements are:
AGM = 2000
AIM = 1700
AFM = 1400
ACM = 1100
