43rd WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD
Batumi, Georgia
23 September – 6 October 2018

INFORMATION FOR THE TEAM CAPTAINS

Dear Team Captains,

With this letter I would like to inform you about the basic procedures of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad that will be held in Batumi, Georgia, from 23 September (Arrival) to 6 October 2018 (Departure).

You will be provided in advance by email (which will be sent to you on 16 September 2018 by TAP) with detailed instructions and the unique password for every participating team, for the online registration of your team composition for every round of the tournament. Additionally you have to submit online and according to the instructions that the will be also sent to you the FIXED BOARD ORDER of your team (i.e. the exact order of the boards, where you want the players of your team to play in the tournament) until 21 September, 24.00 hour.
In case of facing any difficulties you can send the FIXED BOARD ORDER of your team by email to the Chairman of TAP IA Werner Stubenvoll, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , until 21 September, 24.00 hour.

CAPTAINS’ MEETING:
The captains’ meeting will take place on 24 September, at 09.30, at the Batumi Sport Palace (Playing Hall). Transportation from and to your hotels will be provided by the Organizers.
Your participation in the meeting is very important, because all details of the Olympiad tournament will be discussed there.
The team pairings for the 1st round will be published on the websites (official website, chess-results.com, etc.) at 08.00, on 24 September.

BEFORE THE ROUND:
The deadline for submission of the team compositions is at 10.00 in the morning of the day of each round.
For the first round the deadline will be at 11.00 in the morning of the day of the round (24 September).
For the last round the deadline will be at 24.00 in the night of the previous round (4 October).
The submission must be online, through Swiss Manager Program and according to the instructions and with the use of the unique password that will be given to every captain by TAP. In case of any problem an Assistant will be present in every Olympiad hotel from 09.00 to 10.00 every morning, to offer any help needed. Additionally, the captains will be provided with the TAP telephone number and will have the possibility to call the TAP members, should any problem arise in the registration of their team composition.
In case that no team composition will be submitted by the captain for a specific round, the composition of the team shall be the Fixed Board Order (1, 2, 3, 4 boards) of the team.

ARRIVAL IN THE PLAYING HALL:
Every round of the Tournament will start at 15.00, except the last round (5 October), which will start at 11.00.
The Zero Tolerance has been extended to fifteen (15) minutes. It means that the players have the right to arrive at their board up to (maximum) fifteen (15) minutes after the start of the round. If they arrive after fifteen (15) minutes from the start of the round they may be forfeited, according to the Laws of Chess.
At the entrances of the Playing Hall there will be X-ray frames and for anti-cheating measures all the players and captains will have to pass through them. In order to avoid long queues and delays of the start of the games, please make sure that your teams arrive in the Playing Hall in advance before the start of the round and don’t miss the buses that will be provided by the Organizers for the transportation from your hotels. The buses will be scheduled in such a way that all last buses should arrive at the playing venue at 14.30 (except at the last round, when they will arrive at 10.30).
Additionally, the captains (and the players) have to deliver their laptops, mobile phones, watches, pens and any other communication device that they have with them, before entering the Playing Hall (they will be stored in special areas and given back to them on their departure from the Playing Hall).
Please take care so that none of your players carry such devices with him/her during the round, because they will be penalized, according to the FIDE Laws of Chess and the FIDE Anti-cheating regulations.
Captains are allowed to have books with them (supposing that they are not chess books, the match arbiters shall check them) and photo cameras. Taking photos (with or without flash) will be allowed according to the tournament regulations (i.e. only in the first ten (10) minutes after the start of the round).
The captains have the right to arrive in the Playing Hall maximum up to two (2) hours after the start of the round (The players of the team have to inform the match arbiter accordingly). At the moment they enter the playing venue, they are not allowed to leave it and come back, before the end of the match of their Team.
They must wear their badges and their green cards and present them to any check.

DURING THE ROUND:
Chairs for the captains will be next to the arbiter’s chair.
The captains have the right to communicate with their players according to the Laws of Chess, as follows:
The team captain must not stand behind the opposing team during play.
If the team captain wishes to speak to one of his players, he shall first approach the match arbiter. The team captain shall then speak to the player in the presence of an arbiter, using a language the arbiter can understand. The same procedure shall be followed if a player needs to speak to the Captain.
A team captain is entitled to advise the players of his team to make or accept an offer of a draw, following the draw restriction rule which is in effect for the Olympiad (30 moves must have been completed by both players) of the tournament regulations. He shall not intervene in a game in any other way. He must not discuss any position on any board during play.
The team captain may delegate his functions to another person, provided he informs the match arbiter of this in writing in advance.
As the 180 match arbiters from all over the world may not know the players and the captains of the participating teams, captains and players must wear their badges that they will receive from the Organizers, during the whole round.
Additionally the captains will be given five (5) green cards by the match arbiter. The players and the captain of the team MUST also wear this green card during the whole round and especially when they are walking in the Playing Hall or visiting toilets, the smoking area, the bar area etc.
The green card will indicate that their game is still in progress and therefore they are allowed to be in the Playing Hall. After the end of every game of the match, the player has to give his green card to the match arbiter and quit the Playing Hall (Analysis room is provided by the Organizers). After the end of the match the captain MUST receives back all the green cards (4) from the match arbiter, in order to use them (together with his own card) for the match of the next round. The captains must take care not to lose the green cards, as their number is limited and any loss may cause problems at the entrance of the players to the Playing Hall, as no player and captain will be allowed in the Playing Hall without his green card.
The captains are not allowed to visit the Press-Room or any other area of the playing venue, where they could analyze any games on computers or on chessboards. They must not carry any mobile phone, watch, laptop, tablet or any other device of communication while being in the Playing Hall.
If a captain or a player wants to submit a complaint for cheating reasons, he has to fill the form of the In tournament complaint, according to the FIDE Anti-cheating regulations. This form will be provided by the Chief Arbiter or the Deputy Chief Arbiters.

AFTER THE END OF THE MATCH:
The captain (or the player who finishes his/her game last) MUST sign the match protocol, after checking the results of the games and the final result of the match written by the match arbiter. Before he leaves the Playing Hall he has to receive back all the four (4) green cards from the match arbiter.
In case any player of his/her team will be selected for a check according to the article 11.3.3. of the Laws of Chess and the Anti-cheating regulations (i.e. thorough check in a separate room, with private inspection of clothes, bags and other items of the player), he may be present, as a witness of his/her player.

I believe that the captains play an important role in every Olympiad and their contribution to the success of the event is essential.

The good co-operation between Captains, Players and Arbiters is necessary, for the success of the 43rd World Chess Olympiad.

I hope to have your valuable help on this issue.

Expecting to see you all in Batumi.

IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Chief Arbiter
43rd World Chess Olympiad


Olympiad website batumi2018.fide.com