Thursday 3 January 2013

I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Over the last few years I have made blog posts concerning the shortage of Arbiters for Australian events, and possible causes for this. A couple of example posts are here and here. So when FIDE released the list of Licensed FIDE Arbiters, I was somewhat surprised at the length of the Australian section. Under the new National Arbiter classification, there were 40 names listed. As a comparison, England only has 11 NA's, although to be fair, Denmark has about 80.
Of course the most obvious reason for the size of the list is that FIDE rated events require a NA (at a minimum) to be the Chief Arbiter. Also, there is no formal qualification method, so it is pretty simple to become one.
Given the sudden upsurge in the interest in arbiting, I hope to see 2 things. Firstly, everyone on the list goes through a formal training course, both to upgrade their qualifications to FIDE Arbiter, at a minimum, and secondly, every one on that list directs at least one FIDE rated event in 2013.

1 comment:

Kevin Bonham said...

It's unrealistic to hope for everyone on that list to be an arbiter for, much less direct, a FIDE-rated event in 2013. For instance, some clubs/organisations have nominated and paid for multiple FIDE NAs, not with the expectation that all of them will be active as arbiters, but just so that they have plenty of reserves available who might act as arbiters if needed for any given event.

Note that the ACF has not paid for any NA applications; all were paid for by individuals, clubs or state associations.