August's 2026 Just the Rules

All Things Chess
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The August 2026 Just the Rules FYI column is now available: Just the Rules: FYI | US Chess.org

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If a tournament is both FIDE and US Chess rated there are bound to be some rules conflicts. If your TD follows a FIDE rule when it bumps up against a similar, but slightly different, US Chess rule, then the tournament stands a good chance of being rated in both systems.

All FIDE rated tournaments in the USA must be US Chess rated (that’s how US Chess verifies the event and collects the FIDE rating fee) and must use the FIDE Laws of Chess per the FIDE regulations.

I’ve always just looked at this as US Chess allows using the FIDE Laws of Chess as an acceptable variation that does not need to be announced in advance. Just saying “FIDE rated” is good enough for players to know that the FIDE Laws will be used.

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Chris,

Good point! Thanks.

Good Chess,

Tim

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All FIDE rated tournaments in the USA must be US Chess rated (that’s how US Chess verifies the event and collects the FIDE rating fee) and must use the FIDE Laws of Chess per the FIDE regulations.

One small note about the bolded text in the above quote: while it is generally true, it is not universally true. Neither the 1995 nor 2016 WC matches were rated by US Chess. The 2024 World Rapid & Blitz was not domestically rated either.

When I first got wind that the 2024 WRB was coming to the US, I asked the FIDE office if US Chess should be prepared to rate it. The response: when FIDE is the organizer of record, the host federation does not need to rate the event. This seemed logical for various reasons, so I accepted the answer.

Of course, this does not change Chris Bird’s central point, with which I concur. No good nit should be left unpicked, though.

-bmr-

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The FIDE website says that FIDE academies may run FIDE-rated events, but it doesn’t say if they have to also be sanctioned by the national federation in their country. SPICE folded when Webster pulled their funding, I don’t know if that leaves any FIDE academies still operating in the USA.

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The latest Academy regulations state that academies, depending on their level, “Have the right to organize FIDE rating events subject to approval by TRG and both the Events and Qualification Commissions, and to inform and submit report via respective National Chess Federation.”

So yes, they must do these through their respective national federation, and US Chess has the right to require those events in the USA federation to be US Chess rated and collect rating fees if that is their process of submitting a FIDE rating report.

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Boyd is absolutely correct. This is stated in the FIDE Rating Regulations, “0.3 Tournament reports for all official FIDE and continental events must be submitted and shall be rated. The Chief Arbiter is responsible for submitting the rating report file to the FIDE Rating Administrator”. If anyone is lucky enough to get into the position to need to know this, I assume it is knowledge they already possess.

However, while not technically correct, to avoid confusing anyone with a situation they most likely will never come across, it seemed a lot easier to stick to the KISS principle via what I wrote :grinning_face:

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