Reversed colors

Reversed colors occur when the player assigned White starts with Black and the player assigned Black starts with White. The problem is not the color of a board square; it is that the players have exchanged the sides fixed by the pairing, the event's official assignment of opponents and colors.

The FIDE Laws use a practical threshold. If the error is discovered while both players have made fewer than ten moves, the game is discontinued and a new one is played with the correct colors. After ten moves or more, the game continues with the colors already in use.

This rule avoids replaying a game that has progressed too far while still correcting an early mistake that affects who moved first and which color is recorded for each participant. The arbiter should handle the situation; the players should not swap seats, pieces, or clocks on their own.

This is different from an incorrectly oriented board. When the players have the assigned colors but the board is turned the wrong way, the game continues and the reached position is transferred to a correctly placed board.