What Is a Chess Norm?
If you follow competitive chess, you'll hear players talk about "earning norms". A norm is a specific performance benchmark in a qualifying tournament, it's one of the requirements for earning FIDE's top titles (IM and GM).
Definition
A norm is a tournament result where a player achieves a performance rating at or above the target title level: 2450+ for an IM norm, 2600+ for a GM norm. The performance rating is calculated based on your score and the average rating of your opponents.
Requirements for a valid norm
Not every strong performance counts as a norm. FIDE requires: at least 9 rounds, opponents from at least 3 different federations, a minimum number of titled opponents, and the tournament must be FIDE-rated. Round-robin tournaments with fewer rounds can also qualify if conditions are met.
How many norms needed?
Both the IM and GM titles require 3 norms, plus reaching the minimum rating (2400 for IM, 2500 for GM). The norms must be earned in separate tournaments. Some players earn all three quickly; others spend years hunting their final norm.
The difficulty
Earning a GM norm means performing at 2600+ level for an entire tournament. This is extremely demanding. Many strong IMs spend years trying to earn their third GM norm. See how titles are earned.