Questions tagged [fide]
Questions about FIDE, the international governing body of chess.
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Does a draw on the board need to be declared before the time flag is reached?
I was participating in a FIDE-rated blitz tournament a while back (15+0, if it matters for the rules), and had finished my match, and was watching another board. White had about 10 seconds remaining ...
5
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1answer
66 views
What is the longest sequence of consecutive captures in a FIDE rated game?
What is the longest sequence of consecutive captures (including both pawn captures and piece captures) in a FIDE rated game?
5
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2answers
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Does a chess position exists where one player has insufficient material, and at the same time has a forced mate in 2?
I was thinking about the USCF and FIDE rules on flagging when the opponent has insufficient material. I think I came up with a scenario with the USCF-rule where the best move would be to let the clock ...
3
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2answers
381 views
Is it possible to resign in stalemate?
Say that two players, likely lower rated, are playing a rated tournament over-the-board game. Player A has a winning position, and then blunders a move and stalemates. Player B, misunderstanding the ...
2
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0answers
134 views
What are all the world chess championships (such that…)?
Wiki says: Magnus Carlsen is 'the current World Chess Champion, World Rapid Chess Champion, and World Blitz Chess Champion'. Wesley So is 'current World Fischer Random Chess Champion'.
What world ...
11
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1answer
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Series of illegal moves in check
This question falls under FIDE rules (USCF answers/comments welcome).
If I make an illegal move leaving myself and my opponent in check, hit the clock and my opponent misses it and then continues play ...
0
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0answers
34 views
How can I become a fide player in chess [duplicate]
Actually I want to get a name in lichess as gm or lm or cm or wcm like that but I don’t know how to become a fide player
6
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1answer
119 views
Is an arbiter allowed to leave the playing hall while some games haven't finished yet?
I've observed the arbiter responsible for the category I'm playing often leaves the playing lobby to smoke or drink/buy coffee/water in a nearby shop. Those "breaks" are quite long. What ...
24
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3answers
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Am I allowed to call the arbiter on my opponent's turn?
My opponent, in their turn, was distracting me making annoying sounds. However, the arbiter said that I should wait until it's my turn when I called them. Is this correct?
12
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1answer
790 views
Does FIDE have rules governing online chess?
FIDE has its Laws of Chess which have governed over-the-board chess for almost 100 years. During the Covid pandemic OTB chess has almost stopped in many countries and more and more chess is being ...
10
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1answer
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A 50-move-rule claim turned out to be incorrect - can the arbiter punish me?
I claimed a 50-move draw, but my claim turned out to be incorrect. Can the arbiter punish me by increasing the opponent's time or reducing mine?
10
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What is the point of time increments?
I am having difficulty understanding the purpose of increments in time control. What is the point? If it just adds more time to the game, why not simply make the game that much longer? I am aware that ...
6
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1answer
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Can a player win if their opponent has made 2 illegal moves but helpmate isn't possible?
Suppose that in a KQ vs. K endgame (or in an endgame where Black can't possibly mate the other side), White makes two illegal moves. Can Black claim a win?
8
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I didn't notice that my opponent forgot to press the clock and made my move. What should I do?
My opponent made a move but didn't press the clock. I didn't notice, so I made my move and then realised that the clock is already pressed. Am I allowed, under FIDE rules, to press the clock two times:...
2
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1answer
38 views
How does the JaVaFo engine work and how random are the pairings?
In most official FIDE tournaments, the JaVaFo engine is used to pair the players according to some FIDE-defined rules. What are those rules and how random are the pairings (i.e. can I reproduce them ...
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3answers
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Elo distribution
In some online chess platforms you can see the Elo distribution of the players.
It usually has Gaussian form.
Is there somewhere where you can find the distribution of the classical Fide Elo?
2
votes
1answer
45 views
What does it mean for a country to be a FIDE “Affiliated Organization” instead of a FIDE Member?
According to the latest FIDE newsletter the Isle of Man has become a FIDE affiliated organization:
The General Assembly approved the admission of the Isle of Man Chess Association as an affiliated ...
5
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2answers
167 views
How many FIDE rated games are played per year?
I was surprised not to be able to easily find this statistic. How many FIDE rated games are played around the world each year?
2
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2answers
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Is there a data file available (e.g. a .csv) containing every single rated game?
Question
Is there a data file somewhere containing every single (FIDE) rated game?
What I found out so far
I see many websites with some limited database search capability, or summary statistics, but ...
8
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1answer
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How would FIDE handle a player with ADHD in tournaments?
I recently stumbled upon Why is coffee provided during big chess events when it contains a banned substance? and learned that amphetamines are banned by FIDE.
How would FIDE handle a player with ADHD ...
5
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2answers
285 views
What's the oldest age at which a grandmaster played their first rated game?
Of all grandmasters past and present, what is the oldest age at which any of them started playing chess?
Define started playing chess:
The day that person played their first (FIDE, or equivalent) ...
5
votes
1answer
311 views
Do FIDE rules ban stimulants? Which ones?
Do FIDE rules ban stimulants? I think they ban 'drugs', but would coffee be okay? What about beer or wine?
I hope they ban smoking somehow now.
And I would think that NADH could help old ...
12
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4answers
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Are Elo Ratings Zero-Sum?
Are Elo ratings a zero-sum system in chess? In other words, if I gain +9 points from a game, does my opponent necessarily take a -9 point loss? If so, would it make sense to say that Elo points are a ...
4
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1answer
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Timeline of key historical changes to FIDE Laws & WFCC Codex?
A well-answered question here: FIDE Laws of Chess pre-2017 asks for locations of historical sets of FIDE Laws. I am asking for something which partially builds on that.
Is there a timeline of "...
5
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2answers
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What if you messed up your notation a lot?
While playing in an OTB game where both players take notation, it's not uncommon for people to make a mistake here and there. Is there any rule regarding having a lot of mistakes? Furthermore, what if ...
2
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0answers
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What are Silver and Bronze positions for FIDE direct titles?
I refer to https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B01DirectTitles2017 for the following question:
Direct titles are awarded based on your performance in certain tournaments.
A gold finish is being 1st ...
3
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1answer
437 views
What are the chess time limits used by FIDE?
I was wondering, what time limits does FIDE use for its professional matches?
0
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1answer
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End of game edge cases
Hello I have a few "edge" cases which I am quite interested what do you think about.
Note that all of those are on my understanding of FIDE chess rules and might be wrong - thank you for the ...
5
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1answer
220 views
Mate with both hands: Result?
Constructed case: In a tournament (LoC Tournament Rules apply, no rapid, no blitz) White plays d7-d8Q by placing the new Queen on d8 with the right hand and removing the pawn d7 with the left. White ...
8
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5answers
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Why is there no rule allowing a player to claim a draw in lonely king endgames?
I was wondering, why is there no way for a player, who has sufficient mating material, to claim a draw against a lonely king?
According to Wikipedia:
The rules allow for several types of draws: ...
2
votes
2answers
173 views
Why the initial rating of FIDE is calculated that strangely?
Let suppose an unrated player plays a FIDE rated swiss tournament where its opponent's ratings are e.g. 1300,2000,2100,2200,2300 and wins all of them, then his initial rating will be 2100 according to ...
2
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2answers
350 views
FIDE Rules On Reading DURING Game
Are you allowed to read a book unrelated to chess during a FIDE rated classical tournament game? I myself have done this a few times whilst studying for exams, but was never sure if it was allowed or ...
2
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2answers
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Difference between a grandmaster and an international master?
International chess tournaments are played in many cities in the world. What are the criteria that differentiate a chess grandmaster from a chess international master? Dibyendu Barua of Calcutta [...
5
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1answer
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Initial FIDE rating below floor, what happens?
I'm curious to know what happens in the following scenario:
I play a Swiss tournament and meet 3 rated players, I score at least half point but do badly overall. Then I play another Swiss tournament ...
19
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1answer
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Is there a “touch-promote” rule?
When a pawn is moved to the promotion square, can one change their mind about what piece to promote to? Say I push a pawn to the promotion square, remove it, grab an additional queen, do not yet place ...
9
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2answers
302 views
When has the FIDE rule against bringing the game into disrepute been invoked (if ever)?
In the current FIDE Laws of Chess article 11.1 says:
11.1 The players shall take no action that will bring the game of chess into disrepute.
I have heard elderly arbiters fulminating about some ...
4
votes
1answer
300 views
Initial FIDE rating Question
According to FIDE, if I win half of my games in my first FIDE tournament, then my rating = the average of my opponents ratings.
If a tournament has 10 rounds, and I can only play the first 3 (and in ...
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0answers
32 views
Chess clock non-functional in ongoing game [duplicate]
I would like to know what happens to a game, according to FIDE rules, in the case of a clock becomeing non-functional during ongoing game.
Is the chess game abandoned and declared a draw match? Is the ...
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1answer
3k views
Worst grandmaster by rating
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/fun-with-chess/worlds-lowest-rated-grandmaster
This is a joke thread about the 'world's worst grandmaster', Panko Smoobachuk. Seeing this post, I wondered, what is the ...
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1answer
519 views
Why are the requirements for becoming a GM so complicated?
Wikipedia's article on chess grandmasters indicates that the requirements to become a GM is complicated, and has always been complicated. For example right now, to become a GM, one needs to have had a ...
3
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1answer
178 views
Who was the first modern grandmaster?
According to Wikipedia, the modern system for awarding FIDE titles evolved from the "Dorazil" proposals, presented to the 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad FIDE Congress. On the same Wikipedia page ...
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2answers
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What is the process for amending the rules of chess?
I read the whole document issued by FIDE containing the Laws of Chess, but nowhere does it say how (or even if) the rules of chess can be amended.
Is every change to the rules supposed to yield a new ...
2
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1answer
93 views
East and West German Chess
Interested in chess history, I wonder if there is an accessible data set that lists all players from East and West Germany in the 80's, ideally with information like the FIDE website (name, national ...
3
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1answer
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As we come out of lockdown, how much FIDE rated chess was played in June 2020?
I asked a similar question about chess during lockdown. Now that some countries are coming out of lockdown and chess is resuming FIDE has published data for June.
NB I looked at May data and as far as ...
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2answers
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Resignation when a draw is offered
In a recent online game, I offered a draw when the endgame is clearly drawing. To my surprise, instead of replying to my draw offer, my opponent resigned. I have no idea why they did so and my best ...
12
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2answers
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Is shuffling aimlessly for hundreds of moves permissible?
As I write this, game 73 of the TCEC Season 18 superfinal has just ended. What was most "interesting" about this game is the sheer amount of shuffling both sides did: starting from around ...
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2answers
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Does a loophole still exist in the defintion of castling?
Castling on the e-file with a promoted rook, an idea immortalized by Tim Krabbe and Max Pam, is no longer legal since FIDE amended the wording to state that castling is an actionn on the first/eigth ...
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1answer
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When was it possible for a player's king to be attacked by 3 of the opponent's pieces?
According to the current FIDE Laws of Chess:
3.9.1 The king is said to be 'in check' if it is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces, even if such pieces are constrained
from moving to ...
8
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2answers
763 views
Who were the first GMs, and how did they become GMs?
In order to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, a player must achieve three Grandmaster norms. This is not the place to go into detail about what those are; the pertinent point is that norms can ...
4
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1answer
220 views
Why does FIDE recommends using German numbers and piece names for blind and visually impaired?
While reading FIDE version of the rules, I stumbled upon Appendix E: Rules for play with Blind and Visually Handicapped.
There, in E2.1:
The moves shall be announced clearly, repeated by the opponent ...
