FIDE International Organizer

FIDE International Organizer, abbreviated IO, is a title of FIDE, the International Chess Federation, for people with successful multi-year experience organizing official international tournaments. The role concerns the event's complete planning and operation: personnel, finances, playing conditions, accommodation, communication, game transmission, promotion, and regulatory compliance.

Under the current regulations, the ordinary application is open only to a holder of the FIDE Associate Organizer title. Beyond the events used for that earlier level, the candidate must document at least three additional rated tournaments, meaning events whose results count toward numerical estimates of playing strength, with players from at least three national federations.

The set must include at least one Swiss tournament, where players with similar scores are usually paired each round and not everyone meets, and one round robin, where every participant plays every other participant. Both must use standard, or long, time control. The candidate also attends a seminar administered by the FIDE Events Commission and passes its examination. Training covers team management, tournament finances, event standards, and ethics. Functional English is required because an international event needs a shared means of communication among people from different countries.

After the title is awarded, its holder may direct official competitions under the specified FIDE commissions, serve as an authorized lecturer, and sign bids for certain events. The higher level in the same ladder is FIDE Premier Organizer.