Regulations

1. Scope

1.1 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the governing body of the second FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship 2025 (hereinafter referred to as FWCCC).

1.2 The FIDE Council is responsible for adopting and amending these regulations.

1.3 Any unforeseen situations not covered by these regulations shall be referred to the FIDE President for a final decision.

2. Format

2.1 FWCCC is open to teams representing any legally recognized company (“team”). A corporate legal entity is defined as a profit-oriented company created by individuals or shareholders.

2.2 The Organiser may decline entries that do not meet these requirements or grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

2.3 Chess Federations or Associations cannot be represented in FWCCC.

2.4 Corporations with over 25% income from chess-related businesses are ineligible.

2.5 All players must be employees or board members since at least March 1, 2025. Business owners owning more than 10% of the company can participate.

2.6 Following the Fide Council decision published on March 16th 2022 FIDE reserves the rights to deny corporate teams of Russia and Belarus from participation.

2.7 Each corporate legal entity may enter more than one team into the competition.

2.8 No player can play for more than one team in the competition, except under Article 7.4.

2.9 The competition is organized in three stages:

• • Online Qualifiers (played on Lichess)
  • Online Knockout (played on Lichess)
  • Finals

2.10 Each team must have four players during any playing date and one captain, who may or may not be a player.

2.11 Teams may have different compositions for each stage of the competition.

2.12 Teams should play all online matches from their company headquarters unless otherwise arranged with the Organiser.

3. Online Qualifiers (October 11th-12th)

3.1 Played as Team Swiss System tournaments.

3.2 Registration deadline: 48 hours prior to the qualifier’s start time.

3.3 Format: Rapid, with 7 rounds at 10 minutes + 3 seconds increment per move.

3.4 Qualifiers are organized over 1 weekend:

• Four events on October 11th and 12th
  • Saturday October 11th at 9:00 AM UTC
  • Saturday October 11th at 4:00 PM UTC
  • Sunday October 12th at 12:00 AM UTC
  • Sunday October 12th at 6:00 PM UTC

3.5 Each team can participate in only one qualifying tournament. The team must specify their priorities for participation time during registration.

3.6 The organizers reserve the right to move teams between days and groups if necessary to even up the groups.

3.7 Pairings are determined using the Swiss-Manager engine. Player ratings are prioritized as Rapid, then Standard, with an assumed rating of 1400 if unrated.

3.8 A match consists of a 4-game match per round. Winning a match awards 2 matchpoints, drawing awards 1 matchpoint and losing awards 0 matchpoints.

3.9 Scoring: Byes award 2 game points. Winning a game awards 1 gamepoint, drawing it awards 0.5 gamepoints and losing it awards 0 points

3.10 The top 8 teams (if 32 teams in total qualify) or 16 teams (if 64 teams in total qualify) from each qualification session, advance to the Online Knockout Stage. See 3.11.

3.11 32 or 64 teams can qualify to the Online Knockout stages, depending on the number of registered teams. If more than 128 teams are registered to the FWCCC, 64 teams qualify, otherwise 32.

3.12 In tie scenarios, the following tie-breaks will be used:

• • Matchpoints
  • Game points
  • Sonneborn-Berger (EGGSB)
  • Buchholz
  • Drawing of Lots

4. Online Knockout (October 18th)

4.1 Registration deadline: 48 hours before the knockout.

4.2 Format: 10 minutes + 3 seconds increment per move. The 8 winners qualify for the OTB Finals.

4.3 Knockouts will be held on October 18th between 2 PM – 6 PM UTC.

4.4 32 or 64 teams qualified from Online qualifications shall play a knock-out tournament. The pairings system shall be published along with the pools system.

4.5 The time control shall be 10 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 3 seconds per move starting from move 1.

4.6 Each duel consists of two matches. In the first match, the first-named team in a duel has white on the odd-numbered boards and black on the even-numbered boards in the first match; and white on the even-numbered boards and black on the odd-numbered boards in the second match.

4.7 In the event of a drawn duel (each team wins one of the two matches with the same game points result, or both matches are drawn). The tie shall be broken as follows:

– One sudden death game shall be played between a pair of players. This pair
shall be determined by drawing of lots.

The sudden death game shall be the following:

– White: 6 minutes for the entire game

– Black: 5 minutes for the entire game

Starting from move 61, both players shall receive an increment of 1 second per move.

A draw counts as a win for Black.

5. Finals Stage (November 14th -16rd )

5.1 The Finals will feature:

• • The 8 winners from the Knockout Stage.
  • Additional qualifiers via OTB and wild card invitations. Maximum 16 teams.

5.2 Team registration deadline: October 22nd. Player registration deadline: October 26th.

5.3 The Finals will be played over two stages:

• • Group Stage: Two groups draw of 6-8 teams each. Dividing the groups will be done at a technical meeting on November 13th at 11:00 AM (venue’s location time). Organizers reserve the right to keep the group as equal as possible.
  • Knockout Stage: The top two teams from each group will play semi-finals, followed by a final.

5.4 The knock-out stage will be determined after the number of participating teams has been specified. The rules outlined in 4.7 shall apply.

6. Prizes

6.1 The winning team will be crowned FIDE World Corporate Champion 2025 and
titled The Smartest Company in the World.

6.2 Each registered team will:

• • Participate to compete among the smartest companies in the world as one of the smartest companies in the world.
  • Receive a digital FIDE certificate of participation in the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship.
  • Access to a dedicated online community to facilitate global networking among participants.
  • Obtain an invitation to participate in an online training session, a masterclass with a well-known GM/streamers.
  • Obtain an invitation to participate in an online training session with an international arbiter explaining the rules of the competition and answering questions

6.3 All teams that qualify for the knockout stage will:

• • Receive a digital certificate of participation to the knockout stage of the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship.
  • Earn one seat per team for online simultaneous chess against a participant in the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026.

6.4 The teams that qualify for the finals from the knockout stage will receive:

• • Invitation to Over the Board Finals to Goa, India, with hotel and flight costs covered.
  • Certiticate of the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship finalist.
  • VIP tickets to FIDE World Cup.
  • An invitation to the Gala Dinner during the OTB event.
  • Corporate exposure during the live finals and in official communications.
  • Exclusive photos, autographs and Q&A sessions with top chess players at the World Cup.

6.5 Additional prizes will be listed on the official competition website.

7. Registration and Fees

7.1 Company teams must complete the full registration process at least 2 days before the first qualifier they wish to participate in.

7.2 Entry fee: €500 per team.

7.3 Multiple teams from the same company are allowed, either from the same or from different countries.

7.4 Teams may differ at each stage, and players may participate in multiple teams within a company in different stages

8. Fair Play Measures

8.1 Online Fair Play is governed by the Chief arbiter and the online host (LiChess) according to FIDE’s Fair Play Regulations.

9. Technical Issues

9.1 The Chief Arbiter will arrange Technical Meetings one day prior to the first tournament in each stage. During the online stages, these will be held via a Video Conference System (VCS).

9.2 Team captains must attend the Technical Meeting of the tournament for which
they are due to play.

9.3 The technical notice describing the mode of communication between the players, the Chief Arbiter, and the HIP technical support, as well as other technical issues, may be developed by the HIP in consultation with the Organiser.

9.4 During a game, if a player disconnects from the playing zone, their clock shall continue running.

9.5 Games must not be played on a tablet or mobile device due to their incompatibility with the VCS. A laptop or desktop computer should be used.

9.6 The Chief Arbiter will provide technical instructions for joining a VCS in the Online Stages of FWCCC:

• • Online Knockout Stage (Article 4): It is mandatory for all players to connect to a VCS.
  • Online Qualifier Stage (Article 3): FPP may require players to join the VCS on a “random check” basis.

9.7 A player who fails to join the VCS, or having disconnected from the VCS continues to play their game without reconnecting, may face the following sanctions by the Chief Arbiter:

• • Warning
  • Loss of the game

9.8 The Chief Arbiter’s sanction will be based on technical factors (e.g., length of disconnection, repeated incidents) and whether the player followed HIP or arbiter instructions. This decision does not constitute a judgment on Fair Play merits. However, the FPP may make an additional judgment on the disconnection and apply any sanctions listed in Article 9.7.

9.9 Neither FIDE nor the HIP claims that the determination of a suspected Fair Play violation is proof of actual cheating or an admission of guilt. Such a determination shall not affect the player’s status for over-the-board competitions unless the FPP refers the matter to the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission, which may exclude the player from all official chess participation for up to 15 years in cases of clear or repeated violations.

10. Appeals Committee

10.1 Appeals will be heard in accordance with the FIDE Appeals Committee Procedural Rules (see Annex 1).

10.2 All appeals must be accompanied by a deposit fee of €300 or the equivalent in local currency.

11. Travel and Accommodation

11.1 Organisers will pay for flights and accommodation for up to 5 people per team for the Finals up to the amount of 1500eur if flying from another continent, 1000eur if flying from the same continent (per person). (see Article 5).

12. Ceremonies

12.1 The Opening Ceremony takes place the day prior to the first round of the Finals. All players and officials are invited to attend.

12.2 The program of the Opening Ceremony shall be approved by the Organiser. A cultural program and speeches up to 60 minutes are usually welcome. The venue will be decorated with the FIDE flag and the flag of the hosting nation. The FIDE Anthem and the anthem of the hosting nation will be played.

12.3 The Closing Ceremony takes place on the day of the last round. The FIDE Anthem and the anthem of the hosting nation will be played.

13. Rights Issues

13.1 All activities of both FIDE and the Organiser identify FIDE as the Governing Body of FWCCC.

13.2 All broadcasting and publishing rights belong to FIDE.

13.3 No proposed sponsor must conflict with the regulations of FIDE or the IOC.

13.4 The FIDE logo is displayed in a dark blue color on a white background. The text describing any event must not be larger than twice the size of the word “FIDE” in the logo.