Editorial standards
Editorial, Sources and Corrections Policy
Published Updated
LibreChess publishes practical chess instruction and reference material under the responsibility of the project. This policy explains what readers can expect, what the checks can and cannot prove, and how an error is corrected.
On this page
Responsibility and authorship
A LibreChess byline means the project accepts responsibility for the page. It does not imply review by a titled player or another specialist. If a named reviewer contributes, the credit describes the part they actually checked.
The important evidence remains visible: a legal position, a replayable move sequence, a dated regulation or a traceable game record. A credential never replaces that evidence.
Source order
- Rules and competition procedure: the current FIDE Laws of Chess, the FIDE Handbook and the stated event regulations. Casual and platform conventions are labelled separately.
- Ratings and titles: current FIDE regulations or the first-party documentation of the platform being discussed. Cross-pool conversion claims are avoided unless a dated method and sample are supplied.
- Games: a traceable PGN or primary game record where available. Historical anecdotes require a source; if provenance is uncertain, the page should say so.
- Openings and puzzles: the identified lichess CC0 datasets for names and positions. Dataset labels are not treated as proof of a strategic explanation.
- Strategy and endgames: legal analysis, established theory, tablebase evidence where applicable, and clearly marked engine analysis. A slogan never overrides a concrete position.
How claims are checked
- Authored FENs must load in the rules library, and every supplied continuation must remain legal.
- Rule, rating and title claims are checked against the current first-party regulation linked on the page.
- Game records are replayed from their starting position, and uncertain provenance is described as uncertain.
- Engine-backed conclusions state the engine and search limit when the distinction matters.
House style
- Use British English in editorial prose while preserving official names, notation and quoted terminology.
- Prefer a concrete position, move or exception to a sweeping maxim.
- Avoid guarantees, fake precision, unsupported superlatives and promises of effortless rating gain.
- State whose perspective an evaluation uses, which side is to move and whether a conclusion depends on best play.
- Give the opponent a serious reply. An example that works only against cooperation is not an explanation.
- Use a question-and-answer block only when it resolves a real ambiguity; do not append one as a page template.
Articles and reference records
LibreChess distinguishes between an article and a reference record. A reference record can be useful because it gives an exact position, move order or complete game score. An article must do more: explain the decision, show meaningful exceptions and help the reader apply the idea elsewhere. A large catalogue is not treated as a substitute for useful instruction.
Corrections
A useful correction identifies the page, the exact claim, why it is wrong and the strongest available evidence. A FEN or reproducible line is especially helpful for a chess position.
Material errors are corrected in the maintained article rather than buried in a note. The modification date changes when the main content changes. If a claim cannot be verified, it is qualified or removed.
Use the public correction route for the current submission instructions. It displays a monitored email or issue form only after the project owner has configured a real destination; until then it states that reports cannot yet be received.