Participation in tournaments to meet a requirement for a title

The awarding of titles by FIDE is intended to recognise the achievement of players in the field of competitive chess. The requirements for being awarded such titles is necessarily difficult, as the prestige of a title isn’t just based on it’s level, but also on those who have earned the title, both past and present.

The FIDE Qualification Commission regard this as a guiding principle for the bestowing of such titles. Almost all titles consist of meeting two requirements, the performance in individual events (title norms and direct titles), and overall playing strength (the rating requirement). These two parts not only ensure the prestige of the title itself, but also protect the title system from being devalued through abuse of either part of the system.

FIDE QC has dealt with a number of cases where players have attempted to manipulate tournament results and participation to meet one or more requirements for a title, in contravention of standard chess tournament rules. Examples have included only playing certain rounds in swiss events to maximise their rating gain, playing a succession of short draws in privately organised events to achieve a norm or rating gain, or having pairings modified by the organiser to increase norm chances. Arranging events such as matches for this purpose, using retired or inactive players, or targeting events with significant rating differences (eg RR or team events) may also result in action by FIDE QC.

Note, FIDE QC recognise that players have legitimate tournament reasons for playing in a certain way, or targeting a specific result, and we do not wish to pass judgement on that behaviour. But the underlying ethos is that titles are awarded based on competitive tournament play, rather than just targeting a certain result.

Any queries about tournament formats and regulations, the validity of events for titles and ratings, and any other issues that may require clarification should be directed to QC. While advice from local arbiters and federations may be helpful, such advice is not authoritative.