SCF Arbiters Commission Updates (July 2024)

The SCF Arbiters Commission (SCF ARB) would like to announce two updates.

First, we have a major update to the SCF National Arbiter (NA) requirements. With effect from 1 January 2025, all NA title applications shall contain at least one NA norm from a SCF Mass Age Group event: The National School Individuals, National Schools Team, National Age Groups, and any other event which SCF ARB designates and announces in advance.

The requirement shall replace the existing requirement where at least one NA norm must be from a SCF organised event.

As SCF scales up our events, the need to work with a large team of arbiters in mass age group tournaments becomes more important. On top of technical competency in Laws of Chess, our National Arbiters must pick up essential skills such as communication, situational awareness and being able to work in a team. They must also be proficient in arbitrating disputes among players from various age groups.

For full details of the SCF Arbiter Policy, please refer to: https://tinyurl.com/SCFArbiterGuidelines

Second, SCF ARB has set up several committees to cope with the expanding work of the Commission. The committees are led by SCF ARB members, and comprises arbiters / organisers from various walks of the chess community. The scope of each committee includes but is not limited to: Organising the next NA seminar, reviewing our refresher curriculum, and improving our engagement with the local arbiters community.

We hope to announce the composition and scope of these committees on our upcoming SCF Arbiters Portal, a one-stop arbiters webpage on the SCF website which is currently being planned.