ARBITERS’ MANUAL

1 FIDE arbiters COMMISSION arbiters MANUAL 2021 ii iii iv INTRODUCTION Dear fellow arbiters , dear friends, This MANUAL is yours! Since the first edition published in 2013, the arbiters ' MANUAL has been a reference for thousands of chess arbiters worldwide. It has been evolving over time, adding regulations, sharing examples or comments, removing obsolete Year after year, it has been aggregating the experience of colleagues passionately investing their energy in making the MANUAL better! More than a teamwork, our MANUAL is a concrete illustration of the FIDE motto: Gens Una Sumus we are one family. One family with other commissions who produce regulations that we have to apply in tournaments; and especially with arbiters sharing various views or feedback. Thank you all for your contribution in helping our sector to grow! This edition contains 2 new chapters: FIDE Online Chess regulations with comments and sample exam questions for FIDE arbiters .

2 Those are 2 practical topics and the Commission hopes that they will help readers in their arbiter's activities and training! Our team also took some time to review comments and interpretations, so that you benefit from better added value when studying the subjects. For all these reasons, the FIDE arbiters ' Commission is proud to release the Arbiter's MANUAL 2021! Wishing you good reads and even better tournaments! Laurent FREYD Chairman FIDE arbiters Commission Revisions list Version Number Date Changes 00 01 Oct 2017 Initial Version 01 31 Dec 2017 2018 version, FIDE laws changes taking effect from January 2018 (Articles , , , , , , ) Addition: Guidelines for the organisers FIDE Swiss Rules : the whole section has been rewritten, : a clarification 02 01 Sep 2018 Some minor grammatical corrections, New Anti-cheating guidelines for arbiters , Title norms example correction 03 04 01 July 2019 April 2020 Some minor grammatical corrections General Rules and Technical Recommendations for Tournaments New General Regulations for Competitions Addition.

3 Regulations for the classification of the Chess arbiters Some minor grammatical corrections Reorder chapters Revise some of interpretations FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations New Standards of Chess Equipment, Venue, for FIDE Tournaments, Rate of Play and Tie-break Regulations New General Rules and Technical Recommendations for Tournaments 05 March 2021 Addition: FIDE Online Regulations (Chapter 13) Notes by Professor Ken Regan on the application of Statistical Evidence Sample Exam Questions for FIDE arbiters (Chapter 14) New comments and update previous interpretations. vii Contents vii CHAPTER 1: THE ROLE OF THE arbiters AND THEIR DUTIES .. 1 Summary of the general duties of an Arbiter .. 2 CHAPTER 2: THE FIDE laws OF CHESS (E01) .. 5 A Brief History of the laws of Chess .. 5 INTRODUCTION .. 7 PREFACE .. 7 BASIC RULES OF PLAY .. 8 Article 1: The nature and objectives of the game of chess.

4 8 Article 2: The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard .. 9 Article 3: The moves of the pieces .. 11 Article 4: The act of moving the pieces .. 16 Article 5: The completion of the game .. 19 COMPETITION RULES .. 20 Article 6: The Chessclock .. 20 Article 7: Irregularities .. 26 Article 8: The recording of the moves .. 29 Article 9: The drawn game .. 31 Article 10: Points .. 34 Article 11: The conduct of the players .. 35 Article 12: The role of the Arbiter (see Preface) .. 38 APPENDICES .. 40 Appendix A. Rapid chess .. 40 Appendix B. Blitz .. 42 Appendix C. Algebraic notation .. 43 Appendix D. Rules for play with blind and visually disabled players .. 46 Guidelines .. 49 Guidelines I. Adjourned games .. 49 Guidelines II. Chess960 Rules .. 51 Guidelines III. Games without increment including Quickplay Finishes .. 53 Glossary of terms in the laws of Chess .. 55 CHAPTER 3: ANTI-CHEATING GUIDELINES (B06 ANNEX 6).

5 60 Recommendations for arbiters .. 60 1. How breaches of AC regulations may occur during the game: .. 61 viii 2. Applicable precautions: .. 61 3. Screening games for precaution and information: .. 62 4. How to deal with suspicious behavior: .. 62 5. How to deal with the new Article 11. 3. 3 of the laws of Chess: .. 63 6. How to deal with accusations: .. 64 Notes by Professor Ken Regan on the application of Statistical Evidence .. 65 I. Purposes of Statistical Results .. 65 II. Statistical Tests .. 65 III. Types of Arbiter Actions .. 66 IV. Instructions for Using Statistical Evidence .. 66 V. Process Apart From Observational Evidence .. 67 VI. Instructions for Considering Complaints .. 67 VII. Instructions for Evaluating Complaints .. 68 VIII. On-Site Judgments and Further Steps .. 69 CHAPTER 4: TYPES OF TOURNAMENTS .. 70 1. Round Robin System .. 70 2. Swiss Systems .. 71 3. Scheveningen System .. 73 4. Skalitzka System.

6 76 5. Other systems .. 77 Matches .. 77 Knock out .. 77 CHAPTER 5: FIDE SWISS RULES (C04) .. 78 Basic rules for Swiss Systems ( ) .. 78 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments ( ) .. 79 A. Pairing Systems .. 79 B. Initial Order .. 80 C. Late 81 D. Pairing, colour and publishing rules .. 82 FIDE (Dutch) System ( ) .. 83 A. Introductory Remarks and Definitions .. 83 B Pairing Process for a bracket .. 86 C Pairing Criteria .. 89 D Rules for the sequential generation of the pairings .. 91 E Colour Allocation rules .. 92 ix FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems ( ) .. 93 Baku Acceleration .. 94 CHAPTER 6: FIDE RATINGS (B02).. 95 FIDE Rating Regulations (B02) .. 95 0. Introduction .. 95 1. Rate of Play .. 96 2. laws to be followed .. 96 3. Playing Time per Day .. 96 4. Duration of the Tournament: .. 96 5. Unplayed Games .. 96 6. Composition of the Tournament .. 97 7. Official FIDE Rating List .. 97 8. The working of the FIDE Rating System.

7 99 9. Reporting Procedures .. 102 10. Monitoring the Operation of the Rating System .. 102 11. The requirements for the FIDE Rating System Administrator .. 102 12. Some comments on the Rating system .. 103 13. Inclusion in the Rating list .. 103 CHAPTER 7: FIDE RAPID AND BLITZ RATING REGULATIONS (B02) .. 104 0. Introduction .. 104 1. Rate of Play .. 104 2. laws to be followed .. 105 3. Number of rounds per Day .. 105 4. Duration of the Tournament .. 105 5. Unplayed Games .. 106 6. Composition of the Tournament .. 106 7. Official FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Lists .. 107 8. The working of the FIDE Rating System for Rapid and Blitz ratings .. 109 9. Reporting Procedures .. 111 10. Monitoring the Operation of the Rating System .. 112 11. The requirements for the FIDE Rating System Administrator .. 112 12. Inclusion in the Rating list .. 112 CHAPTER 8: INTERNATIONAL TITLE REGULATIONS (B01) .. 113 0. Introduction.

8 113 1. Requirements for titles designated in .. 115 x 2. Application Forms for titles are annexed hereto. They are: .. 132 3. List of Application Forms .. 133 CHAPTER 9: STANDARDS OF CHESS EQUIPMENT, VENUE FOR FIDE TOURNAMENTS, RATE OF PLAY AND TIE-BREAK REGULATIONS (C02).. 134 1. Chess Equipment .. 134 2. Chess Pieces .. 134 3. Chess boards .. 136 4. Chess tables .. 137 5. Chess clocks .. 137 7. Testing Clocks and equipment .. 141 8. Tournament halls for the FIDE World or Continental Championships and Olympiads 141 9. Broadcasting .. 144 10. Requirements on treatment of disabled chess players .. 144 11. Requirements on treatment of school tournaments .. 147 12. Rate of play - time controls .. 151 13. Tie-Break Regulations .. 152 Details of Berger table .. 159 Details of Varma 163 CHAPTER 10: GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR COMPETITIONS (C05) .. 164 Preface .. 164 1. Scope .. 164 2. The Chief Organiser (CO).

9 164 3. The Chief Arbiter (CA) .. 165 4. Preparation of the Playing Hall and Chess Equipment .. 166 5. Pairings .. 166 6. Drawing of lots and withdrawals .. 166 7. Team competitions & Team Captain s Role .. 168 8. Tie-breaks and unplayed games .. 170 9. Conduct of the Players .. 170 10. Appeals procedure .. 170 11. 171 12. Invitation, Registration and Functions for L1 tournaments .. 171 13. Appointments of CA for L1 tournaments .. 173 CHAPTER 11: REGULATIONS FOR THE TITLES OF arbiters (B06) .. 174 xi 1. Introduction .. 174 2. General Regulations .. 175 3. Requirements for the title of FIDE Arbiter .. 176 4. Requirements for the title of International Arbiter .. 177 5. Application Procedure .. 178 6. arbiters Licence .. 179 CHAPTER 12: REGULATIONS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF CHESS arbiters (B06 ANNEX 2) . 180 1. General .. 180 2. Inactive IA and FA .. 180 3. Active IA and FA .. 180 4. Procedure for the classification of IA and FA.

10 182 5. Appointment of the IA and FA, according to their Categories .. 182 CHAPTER 13: FIDE ONLINE CHESS REGULATIONS .. 183 Introduction .. 183 Part I: Basic Rules of Play .. 183 Article 1: Application of the FIDE laws of Chess .. 183 Part II: Online Chess Rules .. 184 Article 2: Playing Zone .. 184 Article 3: Moving the Pieces on the Virtual Chessboard .. 185 Article 4: Virtual Chessclock .. 186 Article 5: Completing the Game .. 186 Part III: Regulations for Online Competitions .. 187 Article 6: Competition Types .. 187 Article 7: Scoring System .. 187 Part III a: Regulations for Online Competitions with Supervision .. 188 Article 8: General Provisions .. 188 Article 9: Players Conduct .. 188 Article 10: The Arbiter s Role .. 190 Article 11: Disconnections .. 191 Article 12: Playing Device .. 192 Article 13: Video Conferencing System .. 192 Article 14: Cameras and Microphones .. 193 Article 15: Irregularities.