Arbiter norm

An arbiter norm is an official certificate showing that a person performed an arbitral role satisfactorily in an activity accepted by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. A tournament norm must be issued immediately after the event by the Chief Arbiter, who leads the arbitral team. It records one qualifying experience; it does not award a title by itself.

FIDE uses norms in applications for its two arbiter titles. FIDE Arbiter, abbreviated FA, is the entry level. International Arbiter, abbreviated IA, is the advanced level. A seminar norm records approved training and assessment; a tournament norm records performance at an event. Eligible events, competition systems, round counts, participant numbers, and the applicant's actual role are regulated, so not every arbitral assignment produces a norm.

How norms are accumulated

• An FA application requires one FA seminar norm and three tournament FA norm certificates.
• An IA application requires successful attendance at an IA seminar and four tournament IA norm certificates.
• IA norms must be earned after the FA title and cannot reuse norms submitted for that earlier title.
• For an application, tournament norms expire after six years and seminar norms after four years.

The applicant's federation submits the complete application to FIDE. Age, experience, knowledge, event diversity, and further conditions also apply. Counting certificates is therefore only one part of qualification.