FIDE Album instructions

The FIDE Albums: Duties of Directors and Judges

Efficient and smooth conduct of the evaluation phase depends on accurate and punctual work by all concerned, to ensure that each album is ready for publication at the appropriate time.

Please note that no deviation from the instructions below should take place. Exceptions (in rare or extreme cases) should not be implemented without consulting the president of the WFCC or the spokesman of the album committee and getting their approval.

Initial work by the director

In each section composers send via e-mail one PDF file with their entries with one composition per page, in accordance with the instructions published in chess composition magazines and on the WFCC website. In section D (endgame studies) composers may alternatively submit PGN files and in section E1 (helpmates in 2 moves) they may alternatively submit their entries online to the server http://www.ankona.ch. The director has to confirm to the composers the safe receipt of their entries. The director must check if the composers have followed the criteria established in the announcement, in terms of proper presentation of their works and maximum number of submitted entries.

The director does not have to print the PDF files he received. He numbers all the entries by marking the composers’ PDF files and he lists them in a spreadsheet. The director should indicate in it any duplicate entries, any which appeared in an earlier album, and any which, to his knowledge, were not published within the relevant 3-year period. For informal tourneys the date of publication of the issue containing the composition is decisive; for formal tourneys the date of appearance of the award is decisive (NB: not the closing date of the tourney). Later corrections should normally be accepted. If the date of publication is in doubt, the director should ask the composer for evidence.

The director will send via e-mail the composers’ PDF files and the spreadsheet to each of the three nominated judges. He should also send the spreadsheet to the spokesman of the album committee and to the WFCC site webmaster advising the date of the distribution of the entries to the judges.

Judging and selection

Using a scale of 0 to 4 including half-points, each judge will allocate points to the entries, in accordance with the guidelines shown in Annex 1. The whole scale should be used, but the very highest scores should not occur often. The normal score for a composition good enough for publication in a magazine but without any point of real interest is 1 or 1.5 points. A composition known by the judge to be totally anticipated will attract a score of 0. A composition believed to be unsound but not computer-testable should be given a score nonetheless, since it may turn out to be sound after all. A judge who considers a composition to be incorrect should send his claim and analysis to the director together with his score.

According to decisions reached at Rhodes 2007, (a) judges in section D (endgame studies) are requested to allocate points to the studies as if they had been composed in the traditional manner before the advent of the computer into compositional chess & (b) studies are not to be regarded as anticipated by any position appearing in a computer-generated database.

The judges are not required to print the PDF files. They have to input their scores (and any comments) on the spreadsheet they received. They do not have to mark their comments and scores on the PDF files. Nevertheless they may do so, if they wish.

The director acts as a substitute judge in the case of a composition by one of the judges. If more than one replacement judge is required, the director should consult the spokesman of the album committee or the president of the WFCC, and a suitable judge will be nominated.

WCCT section-winners qualify automatically for the album. Any such composition entered by the composer is judged in the normal way but is included anyway even if the points score falls below the threshold. No points score is shown in the published album in the case of a WCCT section-winner not submitted by the composer.

Attention! Compositions currently participating in the 2012-13 9th WCCT should be submitted to the 2013-15 album.

According to decisions reached at Kobe 2012, the entries to the 2010-12 WCCI with a score of 8 or higher will automatically qualify for the 2010-12 album, however they must also be submitted by the composers to the album in order to be published in it and count for points. The WCCI director will advise the director of each album section and the album directors will inform the judges accordingly, who should not give marks to these compositions. Of course, the judges may study and enjoy these compositions for their own pleasure if they wish.

After completing his work, each judge will return the spreadsheet with his scores to the director, along with comments regarding errors, anticipations, thematic flaws, etc. The director should distribute these comments to the other judges together with his own notes on anticipations, cooks, duals, etc.

It is highly desirable for the director to arrange for an exchange of opinions to take place among the judges, so as to allow for reconsideration of scores by individual judges, particularly in cases where there is a wide disparity (e.g. more than 1.5 points) between the scores allocated to a given composition, or where a single judge’s score disproportionately affects the total in comparison with those of the other two judges (e.g. 4+2+2, 1.5+3+3, etc.). In addition, compositions whose total score would place them just below the threshold for inclusion should be reconsidered. Such discussion may take place in person at a meeting, by post, by e-mail, by means of tele-conferencing, or by any other available method.

Judges may wish to change some of their scores as a result of discussion with their colleagues, but their individual scores should always reflect the true value of the compositions in the view of each judge.

If the average score of any one judge is much higher or much lower than that of the other two, the director may suggest that the judge in question should adjust his scores accordingly. However, each judge alone decides on his final scores.

It is suggested that the director, in agreement with the judges, should draft a time schedule to be followed during the evaluation phase, and that there should be periodical monitoring of the progress achieved. If a judge does not complete his work by the date prescribed in the schedule, the director should ask the president of the WFCC or the spokesman of the album committee to find a substitute. In the case of any other great difficulties or irregularities in the judging process, the director should also consult the president or the spokesman.

Once the director has received the final scores from all judges, he will sum the points for each composition. Normally all compositions with a total score of 8 points or more are selected for the album. If the number of selected entries in a section is less than 14% of the entries with a total score of 4.5 points or more, the threshold is lowered so that all compositions with 7.5 points or more are selected for the album. (This rule has been modified and applies from the 2004-06 album onwards).

The director should arrange for computer testing of the selected entries where possible. If a dual or similar flaw is found, the judges must be asked to reconsider their scores. The director may contact the composer of an unsound composition in the hope that a quick correction may be possible.

If the director is unsure about the eligibility of a certain composition for the album, he should consult the spokesman of the album committee.

Final work by the director

The director is not required to mark any scores on the PDF-pages of the selected compositions, as the points are already listed in the spreadsheet. The director will extract from the composers’ PDF files the pages with the selected compositions and then he will merge them in a single PDF file. The director will send the PDF file with the selected compositions to the editor of the album and to the spokesman of the album committee (cf. Annex 2 for the e-mail addresses), as well as the relevant list including judges’ scores. The PDF file with the selected compositions is not allowed to be presented in public (e.g. on the Internet) before the publication of the album.

For sections D (endgame studies) and H (retros), the list should ideally be accompanied by a computer-file or document with the solutions in album format (see the most recent album for details), but it is recognised that some directors will be unable to produce this. In section G (fairies), definitions of unusual fairy pieces and conditions should also be sent.

In parallel, the director will send to the spokesmen of the album and qualifications committees, as well as to the webmaster of the WFCC site, a list of the selected entries, including the points thereby earned for each composer (1 point for a problem, 1.67 points for an endgame study), the points for joint compositions being divided equally between the composers.

Indexes

The editor of the album, in consultation with the president of the WFCC, will appoint persons to compile the indexes. If the director or one of the judges is willing to undertake one of these tasks, he should make his offer known to the editor or to the president.

Questions

Questions concerning these instructions or any related matter should be addressed to the spokesman of the album committee or to the president of the WFCC.

Questions concerning the publication of the selected compositions in the album (e.g. about the layout of solutions, definitions of fairy forms, indexing, etc.) should be addressed to the editor.

Suggestions

Anyone with suggestions for ways in which the production of the albums might be improved should get in touch with the editor in the first instance.

Conclusion

It is recognised that the album requires a great deal of work by all the people involved. But the result will be worth it: a fine collection of wonderful chess compositions. Thank you for all your efforts.

ANNEX 1: MEANING OF THE POINT-SCALE

4 Outstanding: must be in the Album
3.5  
3 Very good: ought to be in the Album
2.5  
2 Good: could be in the Album
1.5  
1 Mediocre: ought not to be in the Album
0.5  
0 Worthless or completely anticipated: must not be in the Album

ANNEX 2: E-MAIL ADDRESSES

Editor

Peter Gvozdják, peter.gvozdjak@gmail.com

President of the WFCC and spokesman of the album committee

Harry Fougiaxis, harryfou@ath.forthnet.gr or loyaldragon@gmail.com

Spokesman of the qualifications committee

Georgy Evseev, evseev.georgy@sea.sojitz.com

Webmaster

Julia Vysotska, julia.vysotska@gmail.com

ANNEX 3: TIMETABLE OF THE 2010-2012 ALBUM

Closing date: June 1st, 2013

Submission of entries to the judges: September 1st, 2013

Reports by the directors and announcement of results: April 1st, 2015

Submission of selected entries to the editor: June 1st, 2015

Indexing, typesetting & printing: December 1st, 2016

 

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