NEW DELHI: Getting an official rating from FIDE (the main governing body of chess) has never been easy. A player must participate in FIDE-rated tournaments, which are organized according to strict regulations and often require travel, tickets and consistent preparation. In order to receive a rating, a player must face already rated opponents and achieve the required performance in rated games.That tradition, however, could soon change.In a sweeping policy change that has sparked deep existential debate, FIDE and World Chess, the governing body’s official commercial partner, recently unveiled the “First Rating Experiment”. The two-year pilot program will allow casual enthusiasts to earn their first official over-the-board (OTB) blitz and quick ratings entirely through online play at worldchess.com. It’s a bold attempt to democratize a historically isolated sport, as the governing body aims to expand the current global pool of 500,000 ranked players into millions so that every Tom, Dick and Harry will then have the chance to earn their first FIDE rating.To manage this new digital frontier, FIDE plans to use an AI-driven fair-play verification framework and a specialized technical coefficient designed to match online performance to physical standards. To protect the upper echelons of the sport, the governing body has also installed a regulatory firewall, where these online incubated ratings will be strictly limited to 1800 Elo.Although FIDE intends to launch the program this July, after a period of community review, Indian grandmasters, the vanguard of the modern chess renaissance, are caught in a fierce cerebral tug-of-war over the decision.For some, it represents a visionary removal of economic barriers; for others, however, it’s a dangerous compromise of the game’s ultimate currency, which lies in the integrity of the rating system.
‘Unnecessary move’ by FIDE?
According to several Indian grandmasters, the line between online and offline chess must remain completely sacred. In an exclusive interaction with TimesofIndia.com, Grand Master (GM) SL Narayanan was blunt in his disapproval.“I think it was an unnecessary move by FIDE. You cannot combine online tournaments and then translate the rating into an off-board rating because the rules are different for online and offline chess,” he said. “For recreational players, this would be a welcome move, but the real problem is (that) it could affect the credibility of the rating system.”This sentiment was vehemently echoed on Xu (formerly Twitter) by prominent coach GM Srinath Narayanan, who expressed deep reservations about internet security. He wrote: “Highly skeptical of the effectiveness of fair play checks. Online game ratings and off-board ratings should not be confused.”GM SP Sethuraman also took over “The introduction of official online grades that can be converted into OTB grades may create even more noise and uncertainty. Although the intention is to make chess more accessible, I hope that FIDE will proceed very carefully.”Offering a more relaxed but equally cautious approach, GM Abhimanyu Puranik told this website, “In general, it (isn’t) great to link online and OTB play, but the rating itself starts so low that it doesn’t change that much.”‘It is a very difficult decision to doubt players based only on moves’Speaking to TimesofIndia.com, one of Chennai’s most respected coaches, GM Shyam Sundar M, admitted he was very surprised by the news, weighing the massive operational change against the dark cloud of digital cheating:“The good thing is that FIDE is trying some new initiatives… But, I’m not sure about combining online chess with off-board scoring. I mean, even playing without a physical board. Like, a hybrid system, I get it. That makes sense too.”Shyam Sundar suggested that a hybrid system, where players gather in physical regional halls under the supervision of local referees and 24-hour Zoom supervision, would be far safer and just as economical for organizers.Expressing his fundamental concerns about anti-cheating algorithms, he added: “I strongly believe that not even one innocent person should be punished. It’s not easy and it’s a very difficult decision to doubt players just based on moves, based on the quality of play in two, three or four games.”However, he remains open to the future, adding: “Maybe AI-based or even server-based. Maybe something like that AI browser, maybe possible. If it happens, maybe it’s good.”
grandmaster Pravin Thipsay welcomes the initiative
In stark contrast, Arjuna Award winner and veteran GM Pravin Thipsay hailed the initiative as a visionary leap as he noted that less than 1% of the world’s chess enthusiasts actually have the means to play in physical, ranked tournaments.“I think FIDE has taken a brave step… There are millions of players… who play chess online, and they play quite regularly as Karpov established that one third of the Western world plays chess almost every day, but they play with a computer, and then they stay away from the mainstream. And somewhere the barricade between online chess players and chess players off the board had to be removed, and this is a good step towards that,” he said. TimesofIndia.com.Thipsay admitted that the system could face serious problems if cheating is left unchecked or if the rating coefficient is calculated incorrectly, noting that FIDE’s previous changes to the coefficients for under-18 players had “boomeranged and failed”. Still, he believes the 1,800 ceiling is an excellent filter.“If someone goes past 1,700 or 1,750, there’s a reasonable chance that that particular player will try to play chess more seriously, to be an overboard player,” he added. “So I think it’s a good initiative, we will have a large number of players who will come to chess off the board.”With FIDE currently collecting feedback before the final presentation, the world of chess is at an unprecedented crossroads. What do you think about this proposal? Let’s say in the comments.
