In this posting we’ll discuss how to organize a FIDE rated round robin event.

So some administrative topics to cover first:

1. The Chief TD must be a USCF Senior TD or higher
2. The organizer must submit to Walter Brown (wbrown@uschess.org) at the USCF the following information so he can register it with FIDE:
   1. Name of the event
   2. Format (RR in this case)
   3. Time control to be used
   4. Dates of the event
   5. Location of the event
   6. Chief TD
   7. Names of any players that currently do NOT have FIDE ID’s so he can create them

Now what you need to do is find 4 FIDE rated players and 6 non-FIDE rated players. All 10 players should be relatively similar in strength with it being ok that the FIDE rated players are a bit stronger than the non-FIDE rated field. You want the event to be competitive, not lop-sided.

I personally recommend using those rated under 2199 FIDE and if you can find them, which is hard right now, U2100. The reason, aside from the competitive issue, is the time control issue. When players are rated 2199 and under you can use a time control that is a total of 90 minutes, such as G/60 + 30/sec increments or G/90. If even 1 player is rated over 2200, then the minimum think time must be at least 120 minutes. *Note when increments are used, you compute the total time based on a 60 move game, which would add 30 minutes to each side assuming a 30/sec increment.

I personally recommend staying under 2199 so you can take advantage of the faster time control allowed and to use the G/60 + 30/sec increment. The 30/sec increment will require everyone to continue taking score even after they fall below 5 minutes.

Now do to a 9 round event, you can format this is multiple ways - 3 days with 3 rounds per day, or somehow spread it out over multiple weekends. Make sure you keep in sync with the FIDE ratings cycles to make life easier. FIDE publishes their ratings every other month starting with January.

A few possible formats:

• Friday, Saturday, Sunday - 3 rounds per day
• 3 consecutive Saturdays or Sundays with 3 rounds each day
• 1 round Friday, 2 Saturday, 2 Sunday, and then 2 another Saturday and 2 Sunday

So you get the idea on the different types of formats. Just make sure all of the players have no conflicts with the schedule.

Now personally I also recommend providing the boards, sets, and clocks for the event so the player can just come and player their games.

After the tournament is done, submit the tournament to the USCF for rating and make sure you mark it as a FIDE rated event. You’ll pay an extra $60 per FIDE rated section on top of the regular rating FIDE because it’s a FIDE rated event. You’ll also have to send an email to Walter with a colors allocation crosstable and a regular crosstable. The USCF has to provide what colors people played in an event.

The design of the tournament in terms of prizes is really up to you, the organizer. I can’t advise one way or the other as many different aspects have to be taken into account.

The next posting we’ll look at how 1 organizer can help increase the number of FIDE rated players over the course of 1 year.

Good Chess to All,

Sevan A. Muradian, Founder
North American Chess Association
International Arbiter and International Organizer