Richardson/Spens - what next?

[Andy Howie]

Hamish,

As is seen in the annual SNCL AGM bunfight, FIDE rating seems to put off players. I totally agree with you, I would like to see more FIDE rated games in Scotland

[hamish olson]

It puts off players yes but I suspect it encourages players too - perhaps just less vocal ones but everyone I speak to (obviously not literally) are very much in favour (perhaps because they are mostly people of roughly my age).

[Douglas Bryson]

If players want more events FIDE rated then CS would be happy to assist. It was the intention this season to try and rate Rich/Spens since that is an event organised by CS. Congresses other than Edinburgh are welcome to get info on how to rate their events. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chessscotland.com/grading/fide_registration.htm">http://www.chessscotland.com/grading/fi ... ration.htm</a><!-- m -->

If it was as simple as me being licensed and then submitting the events then of course we can do that right away. However I dont see how we can invent our own local variations if it contravenes official FIDE regulations - even if we are at the smaller end of the FIDE federation scale. If we did what happens if a player objects to FIDE regulations not being adhered to - this has already happened in the last few years. However in that case the player's objection was incorrect and the complaint was rejected.

To clarify the regulations prior to registering Rich/Spens 2013/14 we entered into correspondence with FIDE last August. That correspondence was with Takis Nikolopoulos, the Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters' Commission. In the absence of information to the contrary it would seem reasonable with such a title he is aware of FIDE regulations.

Going by the plain meaning of words my interpretation is you need a FIDE licensed arbiter present in the room - not at some remote location. If a remote location was acceptable then why did FIDE not mention this to CS? How do you arbit remotely anyway?

If the rating officer to be licensed was an acceptable working method then why was that not mentioned? They knew exactly our problem - that was the obvious time to mention that "solution" - he didn't.

We were given the option of appointing captains ie captains who are present in the playing room. Despite what Alex suggests above it is not acceptable for this to be a captain who is also playing in the match (according to the FAC chairman).

Perhaps subsequent FIDE rulings have overruled these interpretations. However the correspondence below is why Rich/Spens 2013/14 was not rated. Have I interpreted this correspondence incorrectly?

**********

Correspondence with FIDE - Aug 2013

Dear Mr. Bryson,

I mean non playing captains of course.
It is not possible to accept arbiters who are playing at the same time in the games.
For sure your Federation has to chose people and appoint them as national Arbiters to get license by FIDE, but they must not be players at the same time.
I understand how difficult it is for your Federation, but we cannot bypass the FIDE regulations on this issue.

With best regards
Takis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters' Commission

From: Chess Scotland Grading <grading@chessscotland.com>
To: Takis Nikolopoulos <takisnik@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 10:29 PM
Subject: Re: Licensed arbiters only for FIDE rating

Dear Mr Nikolopoulos,


Thank you for the information.

I wonder if you mean captains who are actually playing in the matches or only non-playing captains.

Usually in our club/league events the captain would be one of the players.


Yours in chess,

Douglas Bryson (Scotland federation rating officer)


----- Original Message -----
From: Takis Nikolopoulos
To: Chess Scotland Grading
Cc: FIDE.com
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: Licensed arbiters only for FIDE rating


Dear Mr. Bryson,

I believe that as a solution could be accepted that the Captains will be appointed by your
Federation as National Arbiters, but they need to be licensed. It means that your Federation has to register them to FIDE, by paying the license fee of 20 euros per National Arbiter.
The registration could be made by sending an email to FIDE ( to FIDE Office and to Arbiters'
Commission ) and asking for licenses, including the names of the National Arbiters that will get the License. The invoice will be sent by FIDE to the Federation later.

With best regards
Takis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters' Commission

From: FIDE.com <admin@fide.com>
To: Chess Scotland Grading <grading@chessscotland.com>
Cc: Takis Nikolopoulos <takisnik@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2013 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: Licensed arbiters only for FIDE rating

Dear Mr. Bryson

Please note that according to current regulations we cannot accept tournaments with non licensed Arbiters for rating. I'm also forwarding your email to Mr. Takis Nikolopoulos <takisnik@yahoo.com> for his information.

--
Best regards,
Vladimir Kukaev
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ratings.fide.com">http://ratings.fide.com</a><!-- m --> <!-- e --><a href="mailto:admin@fide.com">admin@fide.com</a><!-- e --> Friday, July 26, 2013, 12:02:49 AM, messsage received:


July 25, 2013

Dear FIDE,

I wonder if you could please confirm the following new regulation will be strictly enforced.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=161&view=article">http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html? ... ew=article</a><!-- m -->

0.3 All arbiters of a FIDE rated tournament shall be licensed otherwise the tournament shall
not be rated.

This regulation presents a real problem for our federation since we had hoped to submit our
top knock out club competition in Scotland for FIDE rating.

These matches are played at appropriate time controls in the home premises of each of the
competing clubs.

Our federation just does not have sufficient licensed arbiters to go round all these matches
which usually take place in multiple locations around Scotland on the same day.

Is it valid for the team captains to act as arbiters?

If not then I think we will have to no longer proceed with the idea of FIDE rating our top
club competition.


Yours in chess,

Douglas Bryson (Scotland federation rating officer)

[andyburnett]

That seems to be quite clear Dougie - I only mentioned the possibility because Nick Faulks on the ECForum had mentioned an (old, probably) laxness in attitude and/or the practical regulation of such FIDE rules.

I attended a Czech ExtraLiga match back in January. I'm pretty sure there was a dedicated arbiter present (no idea if he was licensed or not, but I will try to find out), but I also know that their league matches are played on weekends simultaneously around the country (similar to our CS events).

Looking up their FIDE rating report we see this.

Tournament Details April 2014
Detailed Information
Event code 86099
Tournament Name Extraliga 2013/2014
City Various
Country CZE
Number of players 180
System t
Category 0
Start Date 2013-11-02
End Date 2014-03-23
Date received 2014-03-25
Date registered 2013-09-08
Type
Time Control Standard 90 min / 40 moves + 30 min + 30 s / move
Zone
Chief Arbiter Palovsky, Ladislav (CZE) IA
Deputy Arbiter Simecek, Alexej (CZE) FA Prokopova, Jirina (CZE) FA
Chief Organizer Smajzr, Martin (CZE)
Organizer
Crosstable Size: 41842 bytes
PGN file
View Report Rated for April 2014 as Standard

It certainly doesn't say that there were (say)12 licensed arbiters over the year at different matches. Perhaps there were, and notwithstanding this point there is the issue, as you mention, of what happens when somebody does complain to FIDE?! I would be very surprised if every nation's leagues, etc. were complying with the FIDE rules on this - not to say we shouldn't of course, but if there is a grey area in practice we should consider 'exploiting' it. :-?

[Alan Tate]

It doesn't matter if some players do not support Fide rating this event. It's simply a positive step for Scottish chess and the more Fide rated events in Scotland the better.

[Andy Howie]

Alan,

I am in full agreement with you

Dougie,

Thanks for that. I thought that was the case!

[Andy Howie]

For those who have been following the parallel discussion on the ECForum on FIDE grading. I contacted the chairman of the QC on the queries that had been raised. It would appear that what is being stated on their forum is incorrect and I have had it confirmed that a licensed arbiter must be present at the event and not for example overseeing at the end of a phone