There are various reports that FIDE has backed off on the licensing point at least. It would at least indicate that if you are playing or organising an event after 1st July 2013, your plans can go ahead without immediate fear of disruption.

Girkassa wrote on 01/25/13 at 13:46:37:


That appears to be the intention as worded. When a similar proposal was announced about eighteen months ago, the Dutch Federation made a public statement of objection. In the event the proposal was withdrawn without debate. This time round, the changes have been smuggled through and aren't even headlined on the FIDE site as major decisions.

The passport issue does show a lack of thought. Certainly in the USA and possibly in Shengen Europe, not everyone holds a passport. FIDE officials are self important, but it really ought not to be necessary to have FIDE identity cards to play rated chess.

So... if I understand the regulations correctly, every player who wishes to participate in a FIDE rated event must first register to their national federation with, among other information, a photo and their passport number? Wow. This will probably reduce the number of rated tournaments. And I wonder if this means that every player participating in FIDE rated tournaments must have a passport?

In Norway, an increasing number of weekend tournaments (even club tournaments, I have heard) are FIDE rated, and there are plans to remove the Norwegian rating system altogether and only use FIDE rating. Combined with these new regulations, I suspect that many tournaments in Norway will be unrated.