APPEALS COMMITTEE PROCEDURAL RULES (Approved by 2022 1st FIDE Council on 28/04/2022)

Applied from 01/01/2023

1.       Scope

These procedures will apply to appeals in competitions under the aegis of GSC and EVE. Other competitions may opt to apply similar procedures either in part or in full.

2.       Composition

2.1     The Appeals Committee shall preferably include:

2.1.1      A titled player (GM, WGM, IM, WIM)

2.1.2      A licenced International Arbiter

2.2     The Commission that the tournament is under the aegis of will nominate the following to the FIDE President for appointment:

2.2.1      One Chairman of the Appeals Committee

2.2.2      Two members of the Appeals Committee

2.3     Two reserve members may optionally be appointed, who will serve on the Appeals Committee in a case where the appeal involves a player from the same Federation as one of the members. Reserve members will be appointed by the Commission under whose aegis the competition is being organised. These may be appointed in advance or at the Technical Meeting.

2.4     The three members and two reserves must all represent different Federations.

2.5     For the Grand Prix, Candidates Tournament and World Championship matches, the Appeals Committee should neither be players in the tournament, nor represent the Federation of any of the players in the tournament. No reserves shall be appointed for these tournaments.

2.6     It is only mandatory for the Chairman to be present at the venue. Appeals Committee meetings can be held by Video Conferencing System.

2.7     A person who is serving a ban by the Fair Play Commission, Ethics & Disciplinary Commission or Arbiters’ Disciplinary Commission, or who is under probation (see Article 15 of the Ethics & Disciplinary Code), is ineligible to be a member of an Appeals Committee.

3.       Appeal Process

3.1     The Appeals Committee (AC) may receive an appeal from any of the following:

3.1.1      In an individual tournament, a player. If the player is under 18, then the appeal must be submitted by the player’s parent, guardian, Head of Delegation.

3.1.2      In a team event, the Captain.

3.2     If the appellant is unable to write their appeal for medical reasons, or because of a disability, then the appeal may be written by an assistant.

3.3     An appeal must be made by a party directly impacted by the situation in which the dispute occurred.

3.4     Appeals must be submitted to the AC Chairman in writing within the following timeframes, either after the round or the particular infringement:

3.4.1      1 hour in a standardplay tournament

3.4.2      15 minutes in a rapidplay or blitz tournament

3.5     The appeal must be written in English.

3.6     The appeal fee must also be paid within the timeframes specified in article 3.4, unless the regulations of a specific tournament waive this requirement. If the appeal is upheld, then the fee will be returned. The specific regulations of a tournament will include this fee. If the appeal is rejected, then AC may decide to reimburse the fee.

3.7     An appeal may only be made to AC once the appellant has received a decision from the Chief Arbiter. The topics of the appeal may include, but are not limited to:

3.7.1      The arbiter incorrectly applying the FIDE Laws of Chess

3.7.2      The arbiter incorrectly applying the Tournament Regulations

3.7.3      The behaviour of a player

3.8     No AC member can sit in judgement in a dispute involving one player from their Federation, and a reserve member will sit instead. If both players involved in a dispute are from the same federation as one or two members of AC, then all three members sit in judgement.

3.9     Upon receipt of an appeal, the AC Chairman is empowered to ask for written statements within a specific timeframe from other people, including but not limited to:

3.9.1      The opponent

3.9.2      The Chief Arbiter

3.9.3      The arbiter who made the original decision

3.10   AC endeavours to:

3.10.1    Communicate its decision in writing as soon as possible after receipt of the appeal. If the appeal procedure causes a delay to the tournament schedule, the next round shall be played as originally planned if ¾ of the total number of rounds or fewer have been played. The pairings for the next round shall be done with the result of the disputed game being the result as decided by the Chief Arbiter. If more than ¾ of the total number of rounds have been played, the Chief Arbiter shall decide whether or not the next round shall be delayed until the decision of the Appeals Committee has been made.

3.10.2    Find solutions that are within FIDE’s legal framework and the spirit of FIDE’s motto, gens una sumus.

3.11   The written verdict will be communicated in the following ways:

3.11.1    By e-mail to the appellant and any parties involved in the dispute

3.11.2    Publicly, by publishing it on the tournament website

3.12   AC will provide a written report to GSC or EVE, depending on which Commission the tournament is under the aegis of, within 7 days of the conclusion of the tournament, including:

3.12.1    The appeals that were submitted

3.12.2    The decisions taken on those appeals