OLYMPIC E-SPORTS SERIES FINALS REGULATIONS 2023

Approved by FIDE Council on 30/05/2023

1.       Scope

1.1     The Olympic E Sports Series Finals 2023 (hereinafter referred to as OESF) shall be organised in Singapore 21-25 June.

1.2     The tournament is held as part of a multi-sport Olympic E-Sports Series, organised by the International Olympic Committee (hereinafter referred to as the IOC).

1.3     The governing body of the chess tournament is the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

1.4     The FIDE Global Strategy Commission (hereinafter referred to as GSC) oversees preparing Regulations, communicating with the participants and the IOC.

1.5     The platform for playing games in the tournament is Chess.com. All players will play from the same venue with supervising arbiters present.

1.6     The body responsible for adopting and changing these Regulations is the FIDE Council (upon GSC’s recommendations).

1.7     At any time, any circumstance or unforeseen situation not covered in these Regulations shall be referred to the FIDE President for the final decision.

2.       Qualification

2.1     10 players will participate in OESF:

2.1.1      8 players from a qualifying system organised by Chess.com with oversight from GSC.

2.1.2      1 wildcard from the host Federation, nominated by the FIDE President.

2.1.3      1 female wildcard, nominated by the FIDE President.

2.2     All players qualifying from Article 2.1 are subject to verification from the IOC.

3.       Format & System

3.1     The tournament is held in two stages:

3.1.1      Pool Stage. The 10 players are divided into two pools of 5, played as a Round Robin tournament.

3.1.2      Knockout Stage. The qualifiers from the Pool Stage play matches to determine the winner.

3.2     Pool Stage

3.2.1      The draw for the Pool Stage will be conducted by ranking the 10 players in descending order of their FIDE Blitz rating in the FIDE rating list published in June 2023, to create a seeding list. The pools will be allocated in the following way:

3.2.2      The order of play in each pool, and who has white in the odd-numbered games of each match, will be determined by the Chief Arbiter, in liaison with GSC and the IOC. Each player will have white in Games 1 and 3 in two matches, and white in Games 2 and 4 in two matches. (Note the provisions of Article 3.4.10.)

3.2.3      Each match will be played as the best-of-4 games. Players will alternate colour between each game. If the match result is determined after 3 games, then the 4^th game in the match will not be played. The time limit for each game will be 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move starting from move 1.

3.2.4      The player who scores the most points will win the match. If both players score the same number of points, they will draw the match. A player will score 2 matchpoints for winning a match, 1 matchpoint for drawing a match, and 0 matchpoints for losing a match.

3.2.5      The rankings of each pool will be determined by:

• Matchpoints
• Gamepoint Difference (Games Won minus Games Lost; including forfeit games)
• Direct Encounter

3.2.6      The top 2 players in each pool will qualify for the Knockout Stage.

3.3.    Knockout Stage

3.3.1      Each match will be played as the best-of-4 games. Players will alternate colour between each game. If the match result is determined after 3 games, then the 4th game in the match will not be played. The time limit for each game will be 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move starting from move 1.

3.3.2      The pairings for the Knockout Stage Semi Finals will be:

3.3.3      The player who won their pool will get to choose to play white or black in Game 1 of the Semi Finals. They will also have that colour in Game 3 and the Armageddon game of their Semi Final (see Article 3.3.6).

3.3.4      The players who win in the Semi Finals will qualify for the Gold Trophy Match. The players who lose in the Semi Finals will qualify for the Bronze Trophy Match.

3.3.5      In the matches in Article 3.3.4, the player with the better ranking in their pool will choose white or black in Game 1 of their Trophy Match. They will also have that colour in Game 3 and the Armageddon game of their Trophy Match (see Article 3.3.6). If the two players have the same pool ranking, the pool results and criteria listed in Article 3.2.5 will be used to determine who chooses white or black.

3.3.6      The player who scores the most points will win the match. If both players score the same number of points, they will draw the match and play an Armageddon game. White will have 5 minutes and Black will have 4 minutes. A draw in the Armageddon game will result in Black winning the match.

3.4     Miscellaneous

3.4.1      The games are played in accordance with the FIDE Online Chess Regulations (see Annex 1), specifically Part 3: Regulations for Hybrid Chess Competitions. Players may not use traditional chess sets as specified in Article 20 of those Regulations.

3.4.1      A player who arrives more than 5 minutes late for their match will be deemed to have lost Game 1. A player who arrives more than 10 minutes late for the start of their match will be deemed to have lost the match 3-0 by forfeit.

3.4.2      The players in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place will win a Gold, Silver and Bronze Trophy respectively.

3.4.3      The schedule is as follows:

              The above times are subject to short-notice amendment in the event of an over-running match, technical issues, or a match finishing early. The Chief Arbiter will be responsible for notifying players of the revised schedule.

3.4.4      The IOC will pay for the following expenses for all players and the Principals (see Article 3.4.9):

• Transfer to and from the airport in Singapore
• Single room and hotel food
• Economy flight ticket

3.4.5      The Pool Stage and Semi Finals will be played “off-stage” in Singapore. The Trophy Matches will be played “on-stage.”

3.4.6      The players are not permitted to bring in the playing area a telephone, technical and other equipment extraneous to play, which may in any way disturb or upset their opponents. The Chief Arbiter shall decide what constitutes extraneous equipment disturbing the opponent.

3.4.7      OESF will be played in a public environment with a live audience. Headsets to cancel noise will be provided.

3.4.8      All Trophy winners are expected to attend the Prize Ceremony.

3.4.9      FIDE will appoint the following Principals:

• Chief Arbiter                                1,000 USD
• Deputy Chief Arbiter                     750 USD

3.4.10    In the event of one or more players not arriving in Singapore for whatever reason, or withdrawing before the start of the tournament, FIDE may take any actions intended to equalise the playing conditions for the remaining players, including but not limited to the following options:

• GSC may invite a replacement player
• The Chief Arbiter may adjust the composition of each pool; e.g. if two players do not appear from one pool, the number of players in each pool may be equalised
• The colour sequence of individual pool matches

3.5     Connection Issues

3.5.1      The IOC is responsible for providing all technical equipment for the tournament, including laptops and mouses.

3.5.2      In the event of a disconnection, the following options are available to the Chief Arbiter, in liaison with the on-site technical support staff and local organisers:

• resume the game from the position immediately before the disconnection;
• restart the game from the initial position with the same time limit;
• restart the game from the initial position with a shortened time control;
• restart the game from the initial position with only two possible results, e.g. white wins or draw (Black wins = draw).

3.6     Dress Code

3.6.1      Players and arbiters are required to wear the clothing provided by the organisers during the tournament.

3.7     Anti-Doping

3.7.1      The Anti-Doping test procedure shall be regulated by the FIDE Medical Commission according to WADA requirements.

Annex 1 – Other Relevant FIDE Regulations

FIDE Online Chess Regulations:

https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/OnlineChessRegulations.pdf

Anti-Doping Regulations:

https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/B12