Abolition of the One-Time Membership System

We have previously offered two types of memberships: “annual membership” and “one-time membership.” However, we have decided to abolish the one-time membership system and unify it under the annual membership. Instead, even non-members will be allowed to participate in national rated tournaments if the organizer accepts their participation.

Changes for Non-Members Participating in Club-Hosted Tournaments

Participants must apply through a registered club and pay both the “tournament entry fee” and an “additional fee.” The additional fee will be 2,000 yen for national rated tournaments and 3,000 yen for tournaments that are also FIDE rated events. Clubs are required to pay the total amount of the additional fees to the federation after the tournament rating calculations are completed.

Changes for Non-Members Participating in Federation-Hosted Tournaments

For tournaments that allow non-member participation, registration will be completed by purchasing a non-member ticket through Peatix. (Please note that this may not apply to certain tournaments, such as the Japan Team Chess Championship.)

Common Changes for Club-Hosted and Federation-Hosted Tournaments

We will discontinue the previous practices of “one-time membership fee payments” and “providing membership information” from participants to the federation. The federation will no longer issue a “federation ID” or calculate national ratings for non-members’ games. However, if a tournament is also a FIDE rated event, the FIDE rating will be calculated.

Furthermore, whether to accept non-member participation will be decided by the organizer for each tournament and clearly stated in the tournament regulations.

The above changes will apply to club-hosted tournaments held after August 1st, but one-time membership participation will still be permitted until the end of September. For federation-hosted tournaments, the changes will apply to those announced in future regulations.

With these changes, we aim to simplify the tournament participation procedures for “participants,” “clubs,” and the “federation,” thereby encouraging more players to participate in tournaments.