Chronic heart failure (CHF), a serious clinical condition with high mortality and rehospitalization rate, is the most common cause of hospitalization among the patients over 65 years old. Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome characterized by impaired physiologic reserve, increased vulnerability, and decreased resistance to stressors. The incidence of CHF in the frail people is high. CHF and frailty, through shared pathological pathways, adversely affected the prognosis. The identification of frailty in CHF population is of great importance, and a consensus on diagnostic criteria and models of assessment for frailty can enhance the capacity of its early prevention, identification and management. This paper reviews the recent progress in research on the prevalence, mechanism and assessment of CHF in the frail population.