FIDE Trainers Commission Report 2021 & Proposals and Plans for 2022

1. The FIDE Trainer System

1.1. Seminars

There was a total of 14 seminars, held in seven languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, German, Chinese and Norwegian), of which one was in Africa, two in Americas, five in Asia and six in Europe).

TRG organized four directly online, FIDE academies six, and four was with Federations. 

1. The FIDE Trainer System

1.1. Seminars

We plan to have at least 25 seminars in 2022, in nine languages, four in Africa, four in Americas, eight in Asia, and seven in Europe.

Three special seminars are also proposed: all women, at the Olympiad, and for the disabled.

1.2. Workshops – Trainer Education & Development

Trainers are encouraged to keep their skills relevant through participation in Professional Education & Development Workshops to be organised quarterly where credits will be awarded towards future licences and/or future title upgrades.

This was included in our regulations effective 1 July 2021 after tests in 2020, and we will implement this fully in 2022 beginning with “Use of Technology” and “Psychological & Training Issues”.

1.3. Titles

We have a total of 8,718 trainer titles awarded since the 3rd FIDE Council Meeting in October 2021

The largest number is now always between Asia and Europe, then Americas followed by Africa 

1. The FIDE Trainer System

1.4. Licensing

FIDE Trainer Titles are awarded for life and can only be suspended or revoked by a decision of the FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission or FIDE Council, while a Trainer License is a certification by FIDE and TRG of current proficiency to train at the indicated level of the awarded FIDE Trainer title.

Unfortunately. the license renewal rate, largely a legacy from before 2019, is still low

1.5. Organizing – Direct, Online/Physical, etc.

TRG will continue to prefer to organize seminars directly and online, the only exceptions being with trusted partners such as designated regional FIDE Academies, and when together and in conjunction with major events.

Online seminars ensures better quality with a mix of expert lecturers, a lower cost, and a bigger reach with increased accessibility as not confined to physical geographical constraints.

Examiners independent of lecturers and local organizers also ensure a fairer award of titles.  

1.6. Lecturers

TRG does not believe in only one way or one system, instead respecting the expertise of all leading trainers and their methods proven with results.

We however appreciate not all trainers can effectively also pass on the expertise to other trainers and so we have a pool of lecturers who can do this, all, or in one or more subjects, and are always looking to add more experts and in as many more languages as possible.

2. Academies

2.1. Tiers for 2022

FIDE Endorsed Academies are now categorized into three tiers, level 1/professional, level 2/club, and level 3/scholastics to better reflect their primary focus.

Criteria to qualify for each tier is varies and while the basic obligations remain the same, the special rights are very different.

Examples of Tier 1 Academies

  • Russian Chess Academy Russia 2012.04 
  • Tbilisi International Chess Academy Georgia 2017.03
  • Asia Chess Academy Jordan 2018.04 
  • Jussupow Schachschule Germany EB Q1 2020 
  • World of Chess – Kazakhstan – EB Q1 2020
  • Akademija ZSK Maribor Slovenia 3rd FC 2021 

2.2. Communications, Reporting & Compliance with Regulations

FIDE Endorsed Academies are required to provide an annual report by the end of January of the following year. and are also required to respond to any requests for information by TRG within 10 working days.

The annual membership yearly fee for a FIDE Endorsed Academy is to be paid by the end of January each year.

With a pandemic normality starting to take hold in many places, TRG intends to be very strict in 2022 regarding basic compliance as demanded of an entity carrying the FIDE name. 

2.3. Special Rights – Entering Players, Organizing FIDE Events

Academies entering players in FIDE events has seen objections by some Federations and so TRG has agreed with our colleagues in EVE as following:

This right is not absolute and varies according to the academy tier and accordingly the following will be written into EVE general regulations: “FIDE Endorsed Academies also have the right to register players through their respective National Chess Federation (NCF) with copy to TRG for endorsement”.

Clarification can be made by TRG provided the academy applying has initiated a respectful communication with the Federation.

2.4. Partnerships with Regional Academies & Big National Federations

TRG also awards “regional” status to FIDE academies ready and able to work with us in development, from seminars to workshops, and camps to social programs.

Having Tier 1 status does not give automatic “regional” status.

Currently Asia Chess Academy is responsible for Middle East and North Africa and Jussupov Schachschule is for German language speaking countries, and both have the right to organize seminars and workshops with TRG.

3 Training Support for Development

3.1. Olympiads

The limited scope trainer help for Online Olympiad this year generally went well and some important lessons were learned.

A big positive is that many FTs and FIs were able to do a very good job with lower ranked countries and that most trainers understood the needs, and so made a special effort to help develop the players beyond the scope of work, often with giving extra free hours of training.

TRG is optimistic an agreement can be reached with FIDE and the organizers of the Moscow Olympiad 2022 for an allocation for trainer support for between 50-100 teams, of which a minimum 25 percent will be drawn from Russia.

Ideally, we would like the training to begin before the Olympiad and to prioritize Federations with lower chess developmental standing as guided by PDC criteria, and similar economic standing.

We also support the proposal of WOM to a extend this program to have 20-30 percent women teams.

3.2. FIDE Chessable Academy

This three-year program saw as many as 250 young players from 100 Federations between 8-16 years of age, equally divided between boys and girls, train for six months from July 2022 for two  hours a week.

The main groups were in English, Spanish, and Russian and the level ranged from 2600 to unrated.

A year end camp saw 12 attendees given the opportunity to train with Viswanathan Anand and watch the FIDE World Championship Match in Dubai. 

In 2022, significant improvements have been proposed, including having more focused groups with a smaller core group of trainers, a yearly schedule of six months training and six months of tournaments, and to have clearly measurable outcomes.

Most certainly to also expand the opportunity for participation beyond Federation nominations while prioritizing the program for young players with limited or no trainer support.

3.3. Cooperation & Interfaces with Relevant Commissions

With WOM, to hold a FIDE Trainer Seminar where lecturers and participants all female.

To organize with DIS with MED, a Special Trainer Workshop during the Olympiad for People with Disabilities. 

Cooperation with EDU for the teaching of Chess in Schools where TRG focuses on trainers teaching chess and creating new chess players.

Joint preparation of a Captaincy Orientation Course with EVE for use by organisers of FIDE Events

3.4. Specific Projects

To date we have prepared a Teacher course for use for FIDE Chess for Protection and implemented at the Kakuma Refugee Camp FIDE Chess for Protection.

In 2022 we will support chess development in Zones jointly identified with FIDE Management with the preparation of courses for young talent 1600-2000 and to also train locally nominated trainers having National Instructor and FIDE Instructor titles in this work.

4 FIDE Trainer Awards 2020/2021

  • Men – Mikhail Botvinnk – Rustam Kasimdzhanov
  • Women – Vakhtang Karseladze – Ni Hua
  • Juniors – Mark Dvoretsky – Sergey Zagrebelny
  • Prodigy U-14 – Samuel Reshevsky – Jakov Geller
  • First Coach – Liu Wenzhe Award – Melik Khachiyan
  • Grassroots/Social Impact – Yuri Razuvaev – Xie Jun
  • Trainer Education – Tigran Petrosian Award – Ye Jiangchuan
  • Academy/Chess School -Vassily Smyslov Award – Asia Chess Academy (Jordan)
  • Delivery/Innovation – Online Chess Training Award – AB Chess

The FIDE Book Awards have now evolved beyond just an award for a book on training.

We will therefore want to continue to review the FIDE Trainer Awards for 2022 with FIDE Management and other stakeholders to ensure its continued relevance.

We thank all for attending our meeting

TRG wishes to also acknowledge the leadership of the FIDE President, the guidance of FIDE Management and the support of the FIDE Council with ongoing approvals of trainer titles, and especially for our regulations effective 1 July 2021

We also thank our FIDE colleagues in IT, Accounts and Titles, of course FIDE Office for enormous hard work and always great cooperation.