C.04.A Appendix: Endorsement Of A Software Program

CONTENTS Handbook

Content

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.4 Other FIDE-approved Pairing Systems

C.04.4.1 Dubov System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4.2 Burstein System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4.3 Lim System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4 Other FIDE-approved Pairing Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.4.1 Dubov System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.4.2 Burstein System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.4.3 Lim System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.5 Double-Swiss Pairing System

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.A Appendix: Endorsement of a software program (effective till 31 December 2024)

C. GENERAL RULES AND TECHNICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOURNAMENTS / 04. FIDE Swiss Rules / C.04.A Appendix: Endorsement of a software program (effective till 31 December 2024) /

C.04.A Appendix: Endorsement of a software program (effective till 31 December 2024)

A.1	Introduction
	To manage big Swiss tournaments, the use of computer programs, to handle players’ data, pairings and results, is necessary. To avoid misunderstandings and to support both the organisers and the arbiters, FIDE recommends the use of computer programs endorsed by FIDE itself, after a successful endorsement procedure.
A.2	The endorsement procedure for a pairing system
	Each author of a program that helps to manage a chess tournament can apply for the FIDE endorsement by submitting an FE-1 form (see Annex-1). For an endorsement application to be considered, the program must be able to manage Swiss tournaments using the FIDE (Dutch) System (see C.04.3) or any other pairing systems approved by FIDE (see C.04.4.1-3). The endorsement is given for the specific pairing systems (one or more). Any program asking for endorsement should provide (explicitly or implicitly) a FIDE mode, which should offer all the functionalities and services required by FIDE for a tournament-managing program to be endorsable (see below). The program is to be endorsed in the FIDE mode. Moreover, it must provide the following services: an English language interface the capability to import and export files coded in the FIDE Data Exchange Format (see A.3.1 and Annex-4) the public availability of a (free) pairings checker (FPC - see A.4) the public availability of a (free) generator of simulated tournaments (RTG, see A.5), unless exempted by the System of Pairings and Programs Commission (SPPC) the possibility to be checked in a controlled environment the compliance with all the requirements presented in the Verification Check List (see Annex-4) The applicant should consider that merely complying with all the aforementioned requirements is not enough to receive a FIDE endorsement.
	The FIDE mode may also offer additional services or functionalities, provided that they are not explicitly prohibited by FIDE, on condition that those services and functionalities may not cause pairing mishaps for FIDE mode users. If, during the period of validity of the endorsement (see A.8), a breach of the above conditions is reported to the SPPC, and verified by the Commission, the endorsement may be immediately suspended (pending further investigation) or permanently revoked. In the latter case, the program reverts to the status of a new program to endorse.  If an error is discovered or reported in an endorsed software program, the secretary of the “Systems of Pairings and Programs” will send a notification to the supplier of the program to correct the error. Errors will be classified as major or minor. Major errors must be fixed within two weeks after from the time the secretary send the notification and within two months for minor errors. Should the error not be fixed within the stipulated timeframe, the endorsement of the programs will be automatically suspended until the error is fixed to the satisfaction of the “Systems and Pairings Committee Council”
A.3	Data Exchange formats and files
	A.3.1	FIDE Data Exchange Format
		See Annex-2/TRF16 or TRF06 for the descriptions of the current FIDE Data Exchange Format (version 2016, also called TRF16) or the old one (version 2006, also called TRF06).
	A.3.2	Tournament Report File (TRF)
		It is a file coded in TRF16 or TRF06.
A.4	(Free) Pairings Checker (FPC)
	An External Pairings Checker is a tool, embedded in the main program and containing the pairing engine, that can be freely used by anyone (without the user interface). For instance, be yourprogram.exe the name of the program executable. It is (normally) launched by a command prompt or double-clicking on it. The regular services it offers are not relevant from the (External Pairings) checker viewpoint. What it is expected from a checker is the possibility to launch yourprogram.exe from a command prompt with some parameters, like in: yourprogram.exe -check FIDE_Report_File.fid The checker must be able to read FIDE_Report_File.fid when coded in TRF16 and should be able to read it when coded in TRF06 (within the limitations of such a format). Then, for each round, the checker must rebuild the tournament, pair the round using the embedded pairing engine, and output a report describing which pairings are or are not consistent with those produced by the pairing engine.
A.5	Random Tournament Generator (RTG)
	The RTG is a freely available tool that, preferably run from a command prompt, can easily generate many simulated tournaments producing a full TRF (TRF16) file for each of them. In all those tournaments, the pairing rules implemented by the pairing engine must be strictly followed. It is recommended that the games results may somewhat respect the probabilities given by the FIDE rating table (see pairings.fide.com -Documents section-, for suggestions on how to code such a probability table).
A.6	The first endorsement procedure for a pairing system
	A subcommittee of four people must be named by the SPPC at the first Congress that follows the application for the endorsement of a program, as long as such naming activity is inserted into the SPPC agenda. The subcommittee shall report to the next Congress whether the program is suitable to be endorsed.
A.7	Endorsement for pairings systems when other programs have already been endorsed for the same pairing system
	As the verification of the pairing engine can be performed by computerized methods, and all the tools needed for such verification are freely available to the authors, the endorsement request can reach the SPP secretariat at any moment, as long as this is at least four months before the Congress to which it would be presented. As, by definition, an external RTG is available, it will be used to generate 5000 random tournaments. Such tournaments will be given in input to the candidate FPC and each discrepancy, as long as there are at most 10 of them, will be collected. Such discrepancies may depend on either: an error in the input file (i.e. they are the responsibility of the endorsed program which provided the RTG) [or] an error coming from the candidate [or] an interpretation divergence caused by unclear rules
	Errors of the first type must be redirected to the RTG provider. Problems of the third type are redirected to the SPPC, which should issue a statement describing the proper interpretation, and then fix the problems in the successive revision of the rules. Errors of the second type must be corrected in a reasonable time-frame before the candidate is presented to the Congress for endorsement. If the candidate has its own RTG, the latter is used to generate 5000 random tournaments, which will be then given in input to one (or more) of the available FPC(s). The analysis of the discrepancies is conducted in the same way as above.
A.8	SPPC Evolution Plan
	A.8.1	Endorsement Cycle
		It is a four-year period running from January 1st of YearX+1 to December 31st of YearX+4, where X is a leap year (for instance 2016, 2020, ...). Any endorsement given during the first three years of the Endorsement Cycle will last until the end of the Endorsement Cycle. No endorsement is given during the last year of the Endorsement Cycle, unless the SPPC decides otherwise. FE-1 applications can only be presented for the following Endorsement Cycle.
	A.8.2	Transition Period
		It is a time-period lasting from January 1st of YearX+1 (i.e. the year of the beginning of the Endorsement Cycle) to the Congress of the same year. It is the period during which the SPPC shall run the endorsement procedures of the programs that either were already endorsed or are presented for endorsement before the end of the previous Endorsement Cycle (i.e. December 31st of YearX).
	A.8.3	Interim Certificate
		Any program that passes the endorsement procedure during the Transition Period receives an interim certificate, which will allow the program to be immediately used with FIDE approval. A list of the interim certified programs will be available on pairings.fide.com for the whole Transition Period. The ensuing Congress will then transform such certificate in an official endorsement, unless a formal complaint against the software is brought to the attention of the SPPC before the Congress itself.
	A.8.4	List of FIDE endorsed programs (see also Annex 3)
		The official endorsement of a program is decided at the Congress that follows the presentation of the proper application. Any program that is officially endorsed is inserted into a list of endorsed programs. Such list is an annex to this section and, consequently, is part of the FIDE Handbook. An endorsed program shall be removed from the above list if it fails to pass the endorsement procedure run during the Transition Period, and the ensuing Congress (i.e. the Congress of YearX+1) acknowledges the failure.
	A.8.5	Rule Amendments
		If there is any variation or major clarification of the pairing rules, the SPPC shall define such changes at last for the Congress of YearX+3. This kind of changes normally comes into force on July 1st of YearX+5. However (see rule A.8.3) interim certified programs may already use the amended rules as soon as they are endorsed during the Transition Period of YearX+5. During the Transition Period, if there is a theoretical possibility for a conflict, the tournament directors shall communicate to the players which version of the rules they are going to use in the tournament.
A.9	Currently endorsed programs
	See Annex-3, containing the list of the endorsed programs and useful information related to them.
A.10	Section annexes
	Annex-1 Application for Swiss Pairing Program FIDE Endorsement FE-1 Annex-2 Tournament Report File Format (version 2006) TRF06 Tournament Report File Format (version 2016) TRF16 Annex-3 List of FIDE Endorsed Programs FEP24 Annex-4 Verification check-list VCL19

FIDE CHARTER

FIDE Charter effective from March 1, 2020

A. ADMINISTRATIVE SUBJECTS

01. Non-Elected Commissions

Non-Elected Commissions (effective from 25 November 2022)

Non-Elected Commissions (effective from 1 August till 24 November 2022)

Non-Elected Commissions (effective from 1 July 2021 till 31 July 2022)

Non-Elected Commissions (effective till 30 June 2021)

02. Financial Regulations

Financial Rules (effective from 1 Jan 2021)

Financial Regulations (effective till 31 Dec 2020)

03. Electoral Rules

Electoral Rules effective from 29 December 2021

Electoral Regulations effective till 28 December 2021

04. Honours and Awards

05. Form to Offer/Bid to hold a FIDE Meeting/Competition

06. FIDE Congress Regulations

General Assembly Internal Rules

Zonal Council Internal Rules

07. Regulations on Organization of Presidential Board Meetings

08. FIDE Ethics

EDC Procedural Rules effective from 1 September 2022

Ethics & Disciplinary Code effective from 1 April 2022

Code of Ethics effective till 1 April 2022

09. Anti-Cheating Regulations

10. Development Index Regulations

11. Regulations of the FIDE Advisory Board

12. Athletes Commission Internal Rules

13. FIDE Regulations on Affiliated Members

FIDE Statutes (effective till March 1, 2020)

B. PERMANENT COMMISSIONS

01. International Title Regulations (Qualification Commission)

FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 January 2024

Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 May 2025

Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 January 2024 till 30 April 2025

FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 January 2023 till 31 December 2023

FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 January 2022 till 31 December 2022

FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 July 2017 till 31 December 2021

Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 July 2017 till 31 December 2023

FIDE Title Regulations effective from 1 July 2014 till 30 June 2017

Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 July 2014 till 30 June 2017

02. FIDE Rating Regulations (Qualification Commission)

FIDE Rating Regulations effective from 1 March 2024

FIDE Rating Regulations effective from 1 January 2022 till 29 February 2024

FIDE Rating Regulations effective from 1 July 2017 till 31 December 2021 (with amendments effective from 1 February 2021)

FIDE Rating Regulations effective from 1 July 2014 till 30 June 2017

FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations effective from 1 March 2024

FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations effective from 1 October 2022 till 29 February 2024

FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations effective from 1 January 2022 till 30 September 2022

FIDE Rapid and Blitz Rating Regulations effective till 31 December 2021

Tournament Investigation Form – Guidelines

QC Appeal Rules

03. Regulations on Registration & Licensing of Players

Regulations for Registration & Licensing of Players (effective from July 1, 2015)

Special cases for obtaining FIDE flag

Regulations for Registration & Licensing of Players (valid till July 1, 2015)

Transgender Registration Regulations

04. Registration, Transfer & Rules of Eligibility for Player

Transfer Regulations & Rules of Eligibility for Players (effective from December 01, 2020)

Transfer Regulations & Rules of Eligibility for Players (valid from July 1, 2018 till November 30, 2020)

Registration, Transfer & Rules of Eligibility for Player (valid till 30 June 2018)

05. FIDE Database Enhancements

06. Regulations for the Titles of Arbiters

FIDE Regulations for Arbiters (effective from 1 July 2021)

B.06.1 – FIDE Regulations for the Titles of Arbiters

B.06.2 – FIDE Regulations for the Training of chess arbiters

B.06.3 – FIDE Regulations for the Classification of Arbiters

B.06.4 – Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events effective from 10 November 2025

B.06.4 – FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events effective from 20 July 2023 till 9 November 2025

B.06.4 – FIDE Regulations for the Appointment of Arbiters in World Events effective till 19 July 2023

B.06.5 – FIDE Arbiter Disciplinary Regulations

B.06.6 – Arbiter Stipend Regulations

Regulations for the Titles of Arbiters (effective till 30 June 2021)

07. Regulations for the Titles of Trainers / FIDE Endorsed Academies

Regulations for the Titles of Trainers / FIDE Endorsed Academies (effective from 20 December 2023)

Regulations for the Titles of Trainers / FIDE Endorsed Academies (effective from 1 July 2021 till 19 December 2023)

Regulations for the Titles of Trainers (effective till June 30 2021)

08. Regulations for Accreditation in Chess in Education

8.1 Regulations for the Titles and Certifications of Chess in Education

8.2 FIDE Chess School Award

8.3 Non-FIDE EDU Course Certification

09. Regulations on Seminars & Title Award for Organizers

Regulations on Titles for Organizers of Chess Tournaments (effective from 20 December 2023)

Regulations on Seminars & Title Award for Organizers (effective till 19 December 2023)

10. Guidelines for FIDE Technical Director

11. FIDE Online Arena Regulations

FIDE Online Arena Anti-cheating policy

FIDE Online Arena Rating Regulations

FIDE Titles for the Lower Rating Band

12. Anti-Doping Regulations (Medical Commission)

C. GENERAL RULES AND TECHNICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOURNAMENTS

01. Basic Guidelines for playing venues of FIDE Top-Level Tournaments

02. Chess Equipment

01. Standards of Chess Equipment

02. FIDE Compliant Electronic Chess Equipment

03. Guidelines for Tournament Invitation Agreement

04. FIDE Swiss Rules

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.1 Basic rules for Swiss Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.3 FIDE (Dutch) System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.4 Other FIDE-approved Pairing Systems

C.04.4.1 Dubov System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4.2 Burstein System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4.3 Lim System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.4 Other FIDE-approved Pairing Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.5 Double-Swiss Pairing System

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.6 Swiss Team Pairing System (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems (effective from 1 February 2026)

C.04.7 FIDE-approved Accelerated Systems (effective till 31 January 2026)

C.04.A Appendix: Endorsement of a software program (effective till 31 December 2024)

05. General Regulations for Competitions

General Regulations for Competitions. Annex 1: Details of Berger Table

General Regulations for Competitions. Annex 2: Details of Varma Tables

06. Restricted Drawing of Lots

07. Tie-Break Regulations

07. Tie-Break Regulations (effective from 1 August 2024)

07. Tie-Break Regulations (effective from 1 April 2024 till 31 July 2024)

07. Tie-Break Regulations (effective from 1 September 2023 till 31 March 2024)

07. Tie-Break Regulations (effective till 31 August 2023)

08. FIDE Chess Calendar

8.1. Calendar Administration Regulations

8.2. Calendar Annual Planner

09. Media Regulations

10. Captains and Heads of Delegation

11. Appeals Committee Procedural Rules

12. Video assistance system for tournaments

D. REGULATIONS FOR SPECIFIC COMPETITIONS

01. FIDE Individual World Championship Cycles

01. FIDE Individual World Championship Cycles events

02. Continental Championships and Zonal Tournaments

Table of Zonal Divisions - effective from May 1, 2023 (upd September 2024)

Table of Zonal Divisions - effective till April 30, 2023

03. Regulations for the FIDE World Cup

04. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series

05. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Swiss

06. Regulations for the FIDE Candidates Tournament

07. Regulations for the FIDE World Championship Match

08. Regulations for the FIDE Women’s World Cup

09. Regulations for the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Series

10. Regulations for the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss

11. Regulations for the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament

12. Regulations for the FIDE Women`s World Championship Match

13. Requirements for the World Cup 2021 hybrid qualifiers

14. Regulations for the FIDE Circuit

02. Chess Olympiad

01. Regulations for the FIDE Chess Olympiad

02. Olympiad Pairing Rules

Olympiad Pairing Rules (effective from 1 January 2022)

Olympiad Pairing Rules – Changes

03. Cycle for Competitions for Men`s and Women`s National Teams

01. Continental Team Championships

02. African Team Championships

03. Panamerican Team Championships

04. Asian Team Championships

05. Rules for the European Team Championship

06. FIDE World Team Championship

07. FIDE World Women's Team Championship

08. FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup

09. FIDE Online Olympiad

10. FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships

04. Other FIDE Competitions

01. General Regulations for FIDE Competitions

General Regulations for FIDE Competitions (effective from 1 December 2023)

General Regulations for FIDE Competitions (effective till 30 November 2023)

03. FIDE World Senior Championships

04. FIDE World Amateur Championships

05. FIDE World Junior Under-20 Championships

06. FIDE World Youth U14, U16 & U18 Championships

07. FIDE World Championships U8, U10 & U12

08. FIDE World Championships Under 7, U-9, U-11, U-13, U-15 & U-17

09. FIDE World Youth U16 Olympiad

10. FIDE World Team Championship 50+ and 65+

11. Guidelines to Protocol for FIDE Events

12. Guidelines on Treatment of Disabled Chess Players

13. Guidelines on Number of Arbiters in FIDE Events

14. Bids Evaluation Criteria

Bids Evaluation Criteria (effective from 1 December 2023)

Bids Evaluation Criteria (effective till 30 November 2023)

15. FIDE World Schools Team Championship

16. FIDE World Cup under 8, 10, 12

17. Olympic E-Sports Series Finals Regulations 2023

18. Regulations for the Global Chess League 2023

19. FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship

FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship 2025

FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship 2024

07. Regulations for the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships

01. Rules for the FIDE Open World Rapid Championship & FIDE Open World Blitz Championship

02. Rules for the FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship & FIDE Women’s World Blitz Championship

08. Regulations for the FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship

E. MISCELLANEOUS

01. Laws of Chess

FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023

Laws of Chess: For competitions starting from 1 January 2018 till 31 December 2022

Laws of Chess: For competitions starting from 1 July 2017 till 31 December 2017

Laws of Chess: For competitions starting from 1 July 2014 till 30 June 2017

Laws of Chess: For competitions starting before 1 July 2014

01. Laws of Chess (translation in Russian)

02. Handicapped Players

03. Regulations for Play with Computers

04. Online Chess Regulations

05. Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines

F. ADMINISTRATION

01. Boycotts

02. Resolutions