English Chess Forum

Registrations, Transfers and Rules of Eligibility for Participation in FIDE Competitions
1. Registration under a Federation
1.1 A player may only be registered under one Federation at any one time.
1.2 A player who has dual citizenship must be registered under and only represent one Federation.
1.3 A player qualifies to be registered under a Federation:
(a) if he or she is qualified by citizenship or naturalization in the country of that Federation; or
(b) if he or she has resided for a continuous period of two years in a country of which he or she is
not a citizen and, after thorough examination and clearance by the FIDE General Secretary, is
approved for registration under the new Federation of his or her country of residence. This
two- year period of residence shall be reduced to one year if the player has not participated in
any FIDE competition (including continental individual and team events) for at least 5
consecutive years prior to the date of registration.
(c) if FIDE has approved his or her transfer.
2. Transfers between the Federations
2.1 A player who wishes to change his Federation and register under a new Federation must apply through
the new Federation to FIDE for a transfer. A notification fee of €250 is payable for all transfers.
2.2 Consent and Compensation Fee from New Federation
2.2.1 A player who qualifies to be registered under a new Federation may at any time transfer from one
Federation to another Federation with the consent of the new Federation to which he wishes to transfer.
2.2.2 Provided the player does not have a continuous period of residence of two years, such consent shall be
accompanied with a payment from the new Federation to the old Federation of a compensation fee
(“Compensation Fee”) according to the following scale:
FIDE Title/Rating Amount of Compensation Fee Payable
GM rated 2700 and above € 50,000
GM rated 2600 to 2699 € 30,000
GM rated below 2600 € 10,000
IM rated above 2400 € 6,000
IM rated 2400 or below € 4,000
FM or rated above 2300 € 2,000
Women players rated above 2600 € 50,000
Women players rated above 2500 € 20,000
Women players rated above 2400 € 10,000
Women players rated above 2300 € 5,000
Women players rated above 2200 € 2,000
WFM or rated above 2100 € 1,000
The rating of the player shall be that as published on the last FIDE Rating List before the date of receipt by the
FIDE Secretariat of notification of change of Federation.
2.2.3 The old Federation may at any time elect in writing addressed to FIDE and the new Federation to
waive all or any part of any Compensation Fee(s) due to it from the new Federation.
2.3 All transfers shall be the responsibility of the new Federation and must be submitted to the FIDE
Secretariat on the prescribed form in Annex A (“Notification of Change of Federation”), together with the
relevant:
(a) supporting documentary evidence of date and place of birth, citizenship and residence;
(b) Notification Fee of €250;
(c) Compensation Fee payable to the new Federation; and
(d) Transfer Fee payable, if any.
2.4 Upon receipt of a Notification of Change of Federation that is in satisfactory compliance with 2.2
above, FIDE shall inform the old Federation and publish such notification on the FIDE website. If no objection
is received in writing by FIDE within three months from the date of publication on its website, the notification
of change of Federation shall be deemed approved.
2.5 Transfers with Payment of Transfer Fees
A Federation may apply to FIDE to transfer a player before the stated period of residency in 1.3 if that player
provides supporting evidence together with payment of a transfer fee (“Transfer Fee”) according to the
following scale:
FIDE Title/Rating Residence in new Federation for a period between
0 to 12 months 13 to 24 months
GM € 5,000 € 3,500
IM € 2,000 € 1,500
FM or rated above 2300 € 1,000 € 750
WGM € 2,000 € 1,500
WIM € 1,000 € 750
WFM or rated above 2100 € 500 € 300
Others € 500 € 300
The rating of the player shall be that as published on the last FIDE Rating List before the date of receipt by the
FIDE Secretariat of notification of change of Federation.
2.6 The date of commencement of any period of residence shall be the day after the date of receipt by the
FIDE Secretariat of notification of change of Federation.
2.7 Any protest submitted to the FIDE Secretariat regarding transfers must be accompanied with a protest
fee of €500, which shall be refundable, if the protest is upheld. The Presidential Board shall decide upon all
protests.
3. Entries and Eligibility for Participation in Official FIDE Competitions
3.1 The rules in this section on entries for participation in official FIDE competitions and the eligibility of
players to represent a Federation shall apply to all official FIDE competitions at world level, including all
Continental events that are qualifying competitions for World events.
3.2 Entries
3.2.1 All entries for participation in official FIDE individual and team competitions shall be made by the
respective Federations only.
3.2.2 Players with personal right of entry (such as FIDE rating or qualification from another event) or
nominees (such as by the President or Organiser) may, in the absence of an entry by the Federation, enter
himself directly into such competition, provided that the player shall be personally liable for any financial
obligations to FIDE in respect of such entry.
3.3 Eligibility
3.3.1 A player is eligible to participate in official FIDE competitions and qualifies to represent a Federation
at any time only if he or she is registered under that Federation.
4. Penalties
4.1 The penalties in this section shall be imposed if it is found that a player has played for a Federation in
an official FIDE competition in breach of the rules in 3.3 above.
4.2 Penalties shall be imposed as follow:
(a) Individual competitions: The results of the offending player shall be annulled and his
opponents shall be awarded the maximum score. The offending player also loses his right to any qualification as
well as to claim any prize(s).
(b) Team competitions: The results of the matches in which the offending player has played shall
be annulled and the opposing teams shall be awarded the maximum score. The offending team also loses the
right to any qualification as well as to claim any prize(s).
4.3 In 4.2(a) and (b) above, the results shall be annulled, but the games played shall continue to be rated.
In addition, the results of the games played are valid for title applications only for the opponents of the
offending player.
4.4 The Federation which registered the offending player shall be fined a penalty fee of €5,000 for each
competition that the player was in breach of the rules in 3.3.
5. These regulations shall apply with effect from 1st July 2010.
ANNEX A
FORM FOR NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE OF FEDERATION
Name of Player
Current Address/Place of Residence
Date & Place of Birth*
Current Citizenship*
Player’s FIDE Rating ID number
Last Published Rating
FIDE Title (if any)
Current Federation(s)
List all Previous Federation(s)
Name of Proposed New Federation
Duration of Residence in New
Country*
Compensation Fee
Transfer Fee (if any)
* Please attach supporting documentary evidence.
To: FIDE
Certification and Consent of Proposed New Federation
We, ___________________________Chess Federation, certify that the information provided
in this form is true and accurate, and consent to the transfer of the above-named player from
the _______________________ Chess Federation to our Federation, and enclose a
Compensation Fee of _______________ as payment to the _______________________
Chess Federation.
_____________________________________
For and on behalf of proposed new Federation
Name of Signatory & Designation:
Date:
Consent of Player
I, _________________________________, the above-named player, confirm that the
information provided in this form is true and accurate, and that I am currently registered
under the _______________________ Chess Federation, and that I wish to transfer from this
Federation to the _______________________ Chess Federation.
I further confirm that I have been resident in _______________________ for a continuous
period of _____________ months/consecutive years.
_________________________
Name of Player
Date:
This application form is to be submitted by the proposed new Federation to the FIDE
Secretariat, together with the relevant notification and compensation fees, and any transfer
fee (if applicable).

Interesting. These regulations took effect on July 1st 2010 - does anyone know if there were 'transfer fees' applicable pre-July 1st 2010?

Andy Burnett

Andy Burnett wrote:Interesting. These regulations took effect on July 1st 2010 - does anyone know if there were 'transfer fees' applicable pre-July 1st 2010?

Andy Burnett

They did exist before, but the fees were lower.

I've managed to retrieve the old regulations from the Google cache, which hadn't been updated, fortunately.

Here they are:

05. General Rules for Participation in FIDE Events
Participation in FIDE Individual and Team Competitions
Approved by the 2003 FIDE Congress.
1. Entries
1.1 Entries for participation in FIDE official individual and team competitions shall be made by Federations save as provided in 1.2.
1.2 Where a player has qualified from one FIDE individual competition for another FIDE individual competition or is qualified for a FIDE individual competition by virtue of a personal right (such as FIDE Rating), he or she may in the absence of an entry by a Federation enter himself or herself directly into such competition but shall then be personally responsible for the financial obligations to FIDE in respect of such entry.
2. Eligibility for participation in official FIDE competitions
2.1 For all official FIDE competitions on the world level the following eligibility rules shall apply to the registration of players representing Federations.

Other chess competitions organized at the continental level shall be played according to regulations as approved by the Continental Assembly or by the Continental President in consultation with the Continental Board.
2.2 The players representing a Federation must be qualified by citizenship or naturalization to represent that Federation, save as otherwise provided below.
2.3.1 A player who has resided for at least three years in a country of which he or she is not a citizen after the date on which FIDE shall have received notification of change of Federation pursuant to 3.3 may become a registered player of a Federation after a thorough examination and clearance of the case by the FIDE President.
2.3.2 Provided that a player did not participate in a FIDE competition including continental individual and team events 5 years prior to the date of notification, the period of residence shall be reduced to one year in his new Federation before he can play for his Federation.
2.3.3 Players who are up to and under the age of 14 years prior to the day of notification shall have their period of residence reduced to one year in his new Federation before he can play for this Federation.
3. Transfer from one Federation to another
3.1 A player may at any time transfer from one Federation to another Federation with the consent of the Federation to which he or she wishes to transfer.
3.2 The notification of change of Federation shall be the responsibility of the new Federation and must be accompanied by a Notification Fee of EUR 130 and supported by evidence of residence signed by the player and certified by his or her new Federation. Notification of change of Federation shall be submitted on the prescribed form in Annex A.
3.3 Upon receipt of notification of change of Federation, FIDE shall inform the old federation and publish such notification on its website. If there is no objection received in writing to FIDE within three months from the date of publication on the FIDE website, the notification of change of Federation is approved.
3.4 Any protest submitted to the FIDE Secretariat must be accompanied with a protest fee of EUR 325, which shall be refundable, if the protest is upheld. The Presidential Board shall decide upon all protests.
4. Additional eligibility for participation in official FIDE competitions.
4.1 A player with dual citizenship may only represent one Federation and is eligible by citizenship to participate in a FIDE competition on condition that he or she has not represented any other Federation in any FIDE competition at any time in the preceding year.
4.2.1 In addition to all other criteria in 2 and 3, Federations may apply to register new players subject to such players having supported evidence of residence of ten months and if the following Transfer Fee is paid to FIDE.
4.2.2 Transfer Fee Structure
FIDE Title/Rating Residence in new Federation for a period between
10 to 16 months 16 to 24 months 24 to 36 months
GM EUR 3 200 EUR 2 000 EUR 1 300
IM EUR 1 600 EUR 1 000 EUR 650
FM or rated above 2300 EUR 800 EUR 500 EUR 325
WGM EUR 1 300 EUR 800 EUR 500
WIM EUR 650 EUR 400 EUR 250
WFM or rated above 2100 EUR 325 EUR 200 EUR 130
Others EUR 325 EUR 200 EUR 130

4.2.3 The rating of the player in 4.2.2 shall be that as published on the last FIDE Rating List before the date of receipt of notification of change of Federation by the FIDE Secretariat.
5. Penalties
5.1 A penalty shall be imposed if it is found that a player has played for another Federation in which notification of change of Federation had not been approved by FIDE.
5.2 Penalties shall be imposed as follow:
5.2.1 Individual competition : Results of the offending player shall be annulled and the opponents shall be awarded the maximum score. The offending player loses the right to any qualification as well as claim to any prize.
5.2.2 Team competition : Results of the matches in which the offending player had played shall be annulled and the opposing teams shall be awarded the maximum score. The offending team loses the right to any qualification as well as claim to any prize.
5.2.3 For any offence in 5.2.1 and 5.2.2, the Federation which registered the offending player shall be imposed with a penalty fee of EUR 3 200.
5.3 In 5.2.1 and 5.2.2, the results are annulled but the games played shall be rated. In addition, the results of the games played are valid for title application only for the opponents of the offending player.
6. These regulations shall apply with effect from 1 July 2004.


ANNEX A : Form for Notification of Change of Federation

Name of Player :
Date & Place of Birth (attach evidence) :
Current Citizenship (attach evidence) :

Player`s Rating ID Number :
Last Published Rating :
FIDE Title :

List of Previous Federations :
Name and Date of last official FIDE competition participated in :
Name of new Federation :
Duration of Residence in new country (attach evidence) :

Thanks David - much appreciated!