From 23 to 25 February 2018 a FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar was organized in Tokyo, Japan, by the Japanese Chess Association, in cooperation with the Asian Chess Federation and under the auspices of FIDE.
It was the first Arbiters’ Seminar organized ever in Japan. The venue of the Seminar was the Ota Kumin Centre in Tokyo.
The lecturer was IA Takis Nikolopoulos (GRE), FIDE Arbiters’ Commission Chairman and FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer was FA Yumiko Hiebert (JPN).
![The first ever FIDE Arbiters' Seminar in Japan]()
All lectures were in English language. The participants had no problems of communication and understanding.
The lectures were given in 3 sessions and lasted in total for 17 hours. After the end of the lectures there was an examination test which lasted for 3 hours.
During the sessions the following subjects were discussed:
1. The Laws of Chess (including Rapid, Blitz and Quickplay finish)
2. The FIDE Competition Rules, the system of games and the tie-breaks.
3. Round-Robin system, Swiss system and pairing rules.
4. The FIDE Titles and Ratings Regulations.
5. The Regulations for the Titles of the Arbiters.
6. The Anti cheating guidelines for Arbiters
7. The role of the Arbiters and their duties.
![IA Takis Nikolopoulos]()
IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Twenty five (25) people from Japan and Macau participated in the Seminar.
All participants were very enthusiastic and showed a great interest during all sessions and were asking questions concerning the subjects. Many cases for Arbiters from various tournaments were discussed during the lectures.
Twenty four (24) of them participated in the examination test, held after the end of the lectures and the following succeeded in the test and will be awarded a norm for the title of the FIDE Arbiter title after the approval of the next FIDE Presidential Board:
NAME FIDE ID FED:
Rafael Caetano dos Santos 7002866 JPN
Akihiro Yamada 7002874 JPN
Shinran Muto 7002939 JPN
Tsukasa Oka 3229157 JPN
Hua Chen 7002947 JPN
Jorge Shinozaki 7002912 JPN
Naoki Yasuno 7002920 JPN
Herman Hou-Meng, Ho 16300190 MAC
Yuki Arai 7002190 JPN
Yosuke Kawanaka 7000340 JPN
Misaki Shibata 7001134 JPN
Azumi Sakai 7001800 JPN
Ryosuke Nanjo 7000634 JPN
![thumbnail 1]()
FA Yumiko Hiebert did an excellent work as the Assistant Lecturer and organized the Seminar in the best way, providing everything that was necessary.
The report and the results of the Seminar will be presented in the FIDE Presidential Board, for approval and awarding norms of FIDE Arbiter, according to the regulations.
The Lecturer:
IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters’ Commission
![thumbnail 3]()
It was the first ever arbiter’s seminar held in Japan and I can say that it was a successful event. I would like to thank Casto Abundo from Asian Chess Federation for his help and also a huge thank you to IA Takis Nikolopoulos who came all the way from Greece to be the lecturer for 26 enthusiastic participants.
Roles of the arbiters and their duties have been very loose in Japan but after this seminar and with so many people with great understanding of how arbiters should be, I am optimistic that the quality of tournaments in Japan will get better and better.
Congratulations to the participants who successfully passed the exam! I am thrilled to have more skilled arbiters in Japan in the near future!
FA Yumiko Hiebert
Assistant Lecturer
![thumbnail]()
It was the first Arbiters’ Seminar organized ever in Japan. The venue of the Seminar was the Ota Kumin Centre in Tokyo.
The lecturer was IA Takis Nikolopoulos (GRE), FIDE Arbiters’ Commission Chairman and FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer was FA Yumiko Hiebert (JPN).
All lectures were in English language. The participants had no problems of communication and understanding.
The lectures were given in 3 sessions and lasted in total for 17 hours. After the end of the lectures there was an examination test which lasted for 3 hours.
During the sessions the following subjects were discussed:
1. The Laws of Chess (including Rapid, Blitz and Quickplay finish)
2. The FIDE Competition Rules, the system of games and the tie-breaks.
3. Round-Robin system, Swiss system and pairing rules.
4. The FIDE Titles and Ratings Regulations.
5. The Regulations for the Titles of the Arbiters.
6. The Anti cheating guidelines for Arbiters
7. The role of the Arbiters and their duties.
IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Twenty five (25) people from Japan and Macau participated in the Seminar.
All participants were very enthusiastic and showed a great interest during all sessions and were asking questions concerning the subjects. Many cases for Arbiters from various tournaments were discussed during the lectures.
Twenty four (24) of them participated in the examination test, held after the end of the lectures and the following succeeded in the test and will be awarded a norm for the title of the FIDE Arbiter title after the approval of the next FIDE Presidential Board:
NAME FIDE ID FED:
Rafael Caetano dos Santos 7002866 JPN
Akihiro Yamada 7002874 JPN
Shinran Muto 7002939 JPN
Tsukasa Oka 3229157 JPN
Hua Chen 7002947 JPN
Jorge Shinozaki 7002912 JPN
Naoki Yasuno 7002920 JPN
Herman Hou-Meng, Ho 16300190 MAC
Yuki Arai 7002190 JPN
Yosuke Kawanaka 7000340 JPN
Misaki Shibata 7001134 JPN
Azumi Sakai 7001800 JPN
Ryosuke Nanjo 7000634 JPN
FA Yumiko Hiebert did an excellent work as the Assistant Lecturer and organized the Seminar in the best way, providing everything that was necessary.
The report and the results of the Seminar will be presented in the FIDE Presidential Board, for approval and awarding norms of FIDE Arbiter, according to the regulations.
The Lecturer:
IA Takis Nikolopoulos
Chairman
FIDE Arbiters’ Commission
It was the first ever arbiter’s seminar held in Japan and I can say that it was a successful event. I would like to thank Casto Abundo from Asian Chess Federation for his help and also a huge thank you to IA Takis Nikolopoulos who came all the way from Greece to be the lecturer for 26 enthusiastic participants.
Roles of the arbiters and their duties have been very loose in Japan but after this seminar and with so many people with great understanding of how arbiters should be, I am optimistic that the quality of tournaments in Japan will get better and better.
Congratulations to the participants who successfully passed the exam! I am thrilled to have more skilled arbiters in Japan in the near future!
FA Yumiko Hiebert
Assistant Lecturer
