Arbiting a Freestyle Event | ChessBase

Experience as arbiter in a Freestyle Chess event

By Gerhard Bertagnolli, Italy

Naming Conventions

The name people use for this kind of chess can change:

• Chess960 is the official name in the FIDE Laws of Chess. It refers to the 960 distinct possible starting positions.
• Fischer Random Chess is a more descriptive name, often used in the media and by the general public. It also reminds us of Bobby Fischer, the 11th World Chess Champion.
• Freestyle Chess is a more recent and increasingly popular term. It emphasizes the creativity and openness resulting from randomized starting setups.

Will a starting position be excluded?

As all of you know, the starting position we use in classical chess is also one of the 960 possibilities in Freestyle Chess: it is exactly position number 518! A very similar setup, with only the king and queen swapped, is position 534. One of the first questions in the Freestyle tournament is: Which positions are excluded?

While all 960 positions are legal, tournament regulations may exclude certain ones, such as 518 or even 534. These exclusions must be clearly stated before the tournament begins. Imagine if no such rule was declared, and position 518 was drawn – what then?

Another essential point is the method of selecting the starting position. All simultaneous games should be played with the same starting position. The ideal approach is to draw a number between 0 and 959 (excluding any prohibited positions) using a transparent and reliable method. One example might be drawing from a box of numbered balls – but seriously, who has that many balls lying around?

If such a complete set is not available, a practical alternative is to use three separate boxes: All boxes include numbers from 0 to 9 – drawing one number from each box and combining them generates a number from 000 to 959 (surely if first drawn number is a “9”, then the second drawn number must be between 0 and 5).

Additionally, it should be clearly stated whether a starting position can be reused during the tournament or not. Personally, I recommend avoiding positions that have already been used in the tournament.

Announcement of the drawn position

A critical moment before the round is the announcement of the drawn position. At this point, all players must be physically present in the tournament hall. Absolute isolation from external sources of information is essential – this includes other players, coaches, electronic devices, and written materials.

Why is this important?

The idea is simple: Some initial positions offer White a significant advantage – if optimal move sequences are known (some well-known engines even announce an advantage of up to +0,8). With the emergence of opening literature dedicated to Freestyle Chess (akin to the opening encyclopedias of the 1980s and 90s), pre-game seclusion becomes a key measure to ensure fairness.

You can surely imagine the advantage a player would have, knowing what exactly is/are the best initial moves/s for the selected starting position…

During the tournaments where I served as Chief Arbiter -featuring all top players with ratings of 2700+ – we introduced a special feature: players were allowed to take a 10-minute consultation break before the start of the game. During this break, they could seek advice from other participants who were playing in the same round and with the same color. Of course, such a rule must be clearly stated in the tournament regulations beforehand. I found it particularly interesting to observe how differently players made use of this opportunity: most gathered to discuss the position and exchange ideas, while a few chose instead to spend the 10 minutes alone at their board, focusing solely on their own thoughts (possibly related to opening ideas) and strategies.

Technical setup and position preparation

Once a position is drawn:

• Verify the position using a reliable tool or website. For instance, https://www.freestyle-chess.com/ provides a configurator where the position number can be entered to display the setup.
• Display the position on a large screen visible to all participants simultaneously. This minimizes information lag and prevents any single player from analyzing the position ahead of others.
• Pre-game preparation time – yes or no? Consider displaying the position several minutes (e.g., 5–10 minutes) before the actual round starts. This allows players time to formulate basic strategies. In Freestyle Chess, a weak first move can immediately compromise the game.
• Set up each board manually, based on the selected position. Double-checking is essential; mistakes at this stage could compromise the entire game’s integrity.

Practical observations during the game

Freestyle chess retains all rules of classical chess with only one twist: the “new” starting position. The arbiter should try to:

• Start all games simultaneously.
• Monitor castling closely, as it’s frequently misunderstood in unfamiliar starting layouts. Try to apply the standard rule for castling: first touch the king, after move the rook (if necessary), and … all by one hand! In some starting positions, the king or rook (but not both) do not move during castling. In some starting positions, castling can take place as early as the first move.

An easy rule to remember: after castling is completed, the king and the involved rook must end up on the same squares as they would in a standard game.

• Be patient if some players delay their first move. This is often a calculated pause, especially among top players who aim to intuit the underlying ideas behind the unorthodox starting position.
• Understand that some players will wait to see what others play first – this is common.

Don’t forget: If live broadcasting is used, make sure that the DGT boards are correctly configured for the drawn position. Even if this isn’t formally the arbiter’s duty, in practice it often becomes one – a false starting position on screen can spark confusion or rumors among the audience. And at that point, it’s definitely the arbiter’s responsibility to fix the rumors – so it’s better to prevent the issue in the first place!

Final notes

Beyond the initial complexities, a round of Freestyle Chess proceeds much like a classical one. However, the arbiter’s responsibilities before the first move are considerably more demanding.