FIDE General Assembly and confirmed at Instanbul's PB after the approval of the new structure of the FIDE Commissions and Committees.

Please download Regulations for the Titles of Arbiter in PDF format.

05. Regulations for the Titles of Arbiter.
As approved by GA 1982, amended by GA 1984 to 2008.

1. Introduction

1.1 The following regulations can only be altered by the General Assembly following recommendation by the Arbiters' Commission.

1.1.1 Changes to the regulations shall only be made every fourth year, commencing from 2004 (unless the Commission agrees urgent action is required).

1.1.2 Any such changes shall take effect from 1 July of the year following the decision by the General Assembly.

1.1.3 The titles for award are International Arbiter (IA) and FIDE Arbiter (FA).

1.1.4 The titles are valid for life from the date awarded or registered.

1.1.5 The judging unit is the FIDE Arbiters' Commission.

1.1.6 The Arbiters' Commission is appointed by the General Assembly for the same period of office as the FIDE President. The Commission shall include a chairman, appointed by the FIDE President, a Secretary, appointed by the Chairman in consultation with the FIDE President and not more than 11 experts, who shall have voting rights in the Commission. No Federation shall have more than one representative in the Commission.

1.1.7 The Presidential Board or Executive Board may confirm the titles under 1.1.3 in clear cases only, after consultation with the Arbiters' Comission chairman.

1.1.8 The Commision usually makes its decisions in the sessions immediately preceding the opening of the General Assembly.

1.1.9 In exceptional circumstances, the Commision may recommend a title by correspondence voting.

2. General Regulations for Arbiter norms

2.1.1

Format	:Swiss, Round Robin or other
Level	:World, Continental, Open, National
Type	:Individual, Team
Certificates	:number of norm certificates to be issued
Norms	:number of norms that can be used in application

 

Format	Level of event	Type	Certificates	Norms
=	World	=	No limit	=
=	Continental	=	No limit	=
Swiss	International	=	1 per 50 players	No limit
Swiss	National Championships	Individual (adult)	Maximum 2	Maximum 2
Swiss	National Championships	Team	Maximum 2	Maximum 2
Rapid Chess	World / Continental	=	=	Maximum 2

2.1.2 An arbiter norm in the highest division of the National Team Championship, whereby the following requirements are met:

1. A minimum of four boards per team;
2. A minimum of 10 teams;
3. At least 60% of the players are FIDE rated.
4. At least 5 rounds.

2.1.3 Applicants for the title of IA/FA must be at least 21 years old.

3.Requirements for the title of FIDE Arbiter (FA).

All of the following:

3.1 Thorough knowledge of the Laws of Chess, the FIDE Regulations for chess competitions, the Swiss Pairing Systems.

3.2 Absolute objectivity, demonstrated at all times during his activity as an arbiter.

3.3 Sufficient knowledge of at least one official FIDE language.

3.4 Skills to operate electronic chess clocks of different types and for different systems.

3.5 Experience as chief or deputy arbiter in at least three (3) FIDE Rated events (these can be either national or international) and attendence of at least one (1) FIDE Arbiters' Seminar and successfull passing (at least 80%) an examination test set by the Arbiters' Commission. FIDE Rated event valid for a norm is considered any tournament with minimum 10 players in case that it is played with Round Robin system and with minimum 20 players in case that it is played with Swiss system.

3.6 The title of FIDE Arbiter for each of the IBCA, ICSC, and IPCA shall each be equivalent to one FA norm.

3.7 For a candidate, being a match arbiter in an Olympiad is equivalent to one FA norm. No more that one such norm will be considered for the title.

3.8 Being chief or deputy arbiter in official World and Continental Rapid Championships shall be equivalent to one (1) FA norm.
No more than one such norm will be considered for the title.

3.9 Attendence of one (1) FIDE Arbiters' Seminar and successfull passing (at least 80%) an examination test set by the Arbiters' Commission, shall be equivalent to one (1) FA norm. Not more than one (1) such norm will be considered for the title.

3.10 Applicants from federations which are unable to organize any tournaments valid for titles or rating, may be awarded the title on successfull passing an examination test (at least 80%) set by the Arbiters' Commission.

4. Requirements for the title of International Arbiter (IA).

All of the following:

4.1 Thorough knowledge of the Laws of Chess, the FIDE Ragulations for chess competitions, the Swiss Pairing Systems, the FIDE Regulations regarding achievement of title norms and FIDE Rating System.

4.2 Absolute objectivity, demonstrated at all times during his activity as an arbiter.

4.3 Obligatory knowledge of English language, minimum at conversation level; and of chess terms in other official FIDE languages.

4.4 Minimum skills at user level to work on a personal computer. Knowledge of pairing programs endorsed by the FIDE, Word, Excel and E-mail.

4.5 Skills to operate electronic chess clocks of different types and for different systems.

4.6 Experience as chief or deputy arbiter in at least four FIDE rated events such as the following:

a. The final of the National Individual (adult) Championship (maximum two norms).
b. All official FIDE tournaments and matches.
c. International title tournaments and matches.
d. International chess events with at least 100 players.
e. All official World and Continental Rapid Champioships (maximum one norm).

4.7 The title of the International Arbiter for each of the IBCA, ICSC, IPCA shall each be equivalent to one IA norm.

4.8 Being a match arbiter in an Olympiad is equivalent to one IA norm. No more than one such norm will be considered for the title.

4.9 The title of International Arbiter can be awarded only to applicants who have already been awarded the title of FIDE Arbiter.

4.10 All the norms for the IA title must be different from the norms already used for the FA title and must have been achieved after the FA title have been awarded.

4.11 At least two (2) of the submitted norms shall be signed by different Chief Arbiters.

5. Application Procedure

5.1 Application forms for the titles listed in 1.1.3 are annexed hereto. They are:

Tournament Report Form with cross-table and decisions on appeals	- IT3 (one for each norm)
Arbiter Norm Report Form	- IA1 or FA1 (one for each norm)
Arbiter Title Application Form	- IA2 or FA2

5.2 The norm reports supporting a title application must be for at least two different formats of tournament, according to 2.1.1, or at least one international rated event according to 4.6d, and achieved in events with starting dates that fall within a six-year period. The application must be submitted not later than the second FIDE Congress after the date of the latest event listed. Norms from Seminars are valid for a period of four (4) years.

5.3 Applications must be submitted to the FIDE Secretariat by the federation of the applicant. The national federation is responsible for the fee.

5.4 All title applications together with full details must be posted on the FIDE website for a minimum of 60 days prior to finalisation. This is in order for any objections to be lodged.

6. List of Application Forms:

1. Tournament report form IT3.
2. International Arbiter norm report form IA1.
3. Application for award of the title of International Arbiter IA2.
4. FIDE Arbiter norm report form FA1.
5. Application for award of the title of FIDE Arbiter FA2.