We are excited to announce the first and only official certification program for the Tornelo platform.

Individuals that earn a certification will set themselves apart as uniquely qualified to run events at scale with Tornelo and be able to display the certification logo on resumes and social media profiles. 

Certification also confers benefits such as an authorization to provide training and award Tornelo badges, and to verify player identities or organizations.

Be among the first to earn the Tornelo Certified credential and gain recognition for your tournament management skills.

National Federations wanting to run an officially endorsed training seminar may be eligible for up to a 50% discount on fees. Contact us to find out more.

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Tornelo Certification gives you:

• Skills
• Credibility
• Confidence

Attain instant credibility with your clients, differentiate yourself from the competition, showcase your expertise, and demonstrate you are on the cutting edge of chess tournament management by earning a Tornelo Certified credential. 

Individuals earn their credential by proving they embody the founding principles, have the requisite experience, adhere to the Tornelo Code of Ethics and comprehend the entire body of knowledge required to pass the Certification examination.

Earning a certification shows you are keeping pace with technical roles and requirements and latest best practice thinking surrounding online, hybrid and OTB chess tournament management.

Each of these certifications consists of theoretical and practical training, followed by passing a series of exams to earn certification.

Tornelo issues digital badges for earning certifications or completing training. A Tornelo digital badge is an online representation of an outcome or achievement. It’s a secure, shareable credential which represents verifiable evidence that the holder:

• Has the required Knowledge
• Has demonstrated required Skills 
• Is Trusted by Tornelo
• Acts Professionally at all times
• Delivers a high-quality, consistent event experience

Tornelo awards 4 official badges and recognises 3 certifications:

LEVEL	Tornelo Arbiter Badge	Tornelo Certified Arbiter	Tornelo Certified Professional	Tornelo Certified Expert
DESCRIPTION	Verifies that you understand Tornelo core functionality and that you can configure key settings, perform basic troubleshooting, and support users.	Validates proficiency on the Tornelo platform and foundational event management skills.	Validates advanced, professional capability on the Tornelo platform and excellent event management skills.	Validates comprehensive, expert level capability on the Tornelo platform and exceptional event management skills.
ELIGIBILITY	Starting point for individuals interested in running a chess tournament.	Must have an Arbiter or Organizer certification; Tornelo Badge, FIDE, US Chess or any recognized chess federation.	Must be a Tornelo Certified Arbiter Recommended to have at least one year of hands-on experience using Tornelo Platform activity requirements may apply	Must be a Tornelo Certified Professional Recommended to have at least two years of hands-on experience managing events Platform activity requirements may apply
BENEFITS	- Digital Badge to prove your skills - PDF Certificate for download - Recognition on Tornelo	- Digital Badge - Certificate - Recognition - Listed in our Certification Directory - Rights to train and award the Tornelo Arbiter badge - Authority to Verify a player’s true identity	- Digital Badge - Certificate - Recognition - Training rights - Player ID verification - Authority to Verify an Organization as trusted and provide upgraded feature capabilities	- Digital Badge - Certificate - Recognition - Training rights - Player ID verification - Verify an Organization - Access discounted pricing for a Private Dedicated Server

The certificate is a lifetime achievement, but will have an active or inactive status attached. Ongoing practice, professional development or training is required to maintain an active certification. Activity requirements may be updated from time to time.

Authorised Training Partners

Any active Certified Arbiter, Professional or Expert may run training programs. Upon verification, to the satisfaction of the Trainer, that the participant has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of Tornelo, the Trainer may provide each participant with a Tornelo Arbiter badge and certificate.

These training programs may be provided free of charge, or the trainer may charge a fee for the training.

Training programs presented by an appropriately certified individual may be promoted as official Tornelo training programs.

Rights to use Tornelo trademarks

A qualified individual is entitled to display the Certification badge with the textual expression of the credential achieved (e.g. “Tornelo Certified Expert”), in association with the name of the certified person on:

• personal business cards;
• personal e-mail or letters signatures;
• organizational staff sections of web sites;
• marketing or sales material;
• offers, answers to tenders;
• Presentations
• Promotional material for Tornelo Arbiter Training and awarding of the Tornelo Arbiter Badge

The Tornelo identity is a seal of approval and a promise of excellence. 

When you are certified in your area of expertise, you also represent Tornelo. By following these guidelines, you reap the benefits of the Tornelo identity and contribute to its strength.

A Tornelo digital badge is an online representation of an outcome or achievement. It’s a secure, shareable credential. Tornelo badges adhere to the Open Badges Specification, which is managed by the IMS Global Learning Consortium for recognizing and validating learning.

The Tornelo Community values people, respect, inclusion, collaboration and opportunity – for us as individuals and together as a whole. 

Our Code of Conduct guides all interactions, both online and IRL.

Tornelo Certified Professionals Registry

We will maintain, on the Tornelo platform, a registry of Certified users.

Tornelo reserves the right to withdraw access to all benefits and cancel the Certification of any individual that breaches our code of conduct or brings Tornelo or the game of chess into disrepute in any way. All decisions in this matter are final.

Verification Policy

1. When verifying identities I will do what is reasonably required to reach comfortable satisfaction that the player is representing their true self and using their real name, or a commonly accepted variation of their name in a professional context.
2. When verifying organizations I will do what is reasonably required to reach comfortable satisfaction that the organization is genuine in its intentions and will uphold the Tornelo Code of Conduct.

Policy on Verified Player Names

Players must use their real names to take part in an event on Tornelo. 

This does not mean a player must use their full legal name. This does not mean the player name must match exactly their FIDE profile, USCF profile or other National Federation database.

Players should be permitted to describe what they would be “commonly known as”, in a professional environment. Social nicknames and monikers are not acceptable. All naming must be a known and commonly accepted, inoffensive, variation of a real name.

Legal Name on Government issued ID	Commonly known as	Acceptable name variations on Tornelo
Garry Paul Keller	Paul Keller	Paul Keller (Garry) Paul Keller G. Paul Keller
Apostolos Papadopolous	Paul Papas	Paul Papas Paul Papadopolous
John Francis Meddow	Frank Meddow	Frank Meddow Francis Meddow NOT - JF Meddow
Michael Adamson	Mick “The Dogger”	Mick Adamson Michael Adamson NOT - Dogger Adamson
Rebecca Abrams	Becky Abrams	Becky Abrams NOT - Beckster Adams NOT - Bekky-boo Adams NOT - Sally Wishbone

Once a name is verified we will strongly encourage players and arbiters NOT to change the name.  If a player wishes to change their name it will immediately be displayed as “unverified” and an arbiter will need to verify the new name.

An arbiter may change, and re-verify, a verified name if the original name verification was done by an arbiter with the same, or lower, certification level. For example; a Tornelo Certified Arbiter cannot change the name of a player that was verified by a Tornelo Certified Expert.

Each year Tornelo will host an awards ceremony with recognition and prizes in the following popular choice categories:

Merit categories 

1. Arbiter of the Year
2. Most Active
3. Young Arbiter of the Year (U25)