Governing the Game Play The World Chess Federation
Governing the Game Play - The World Chess Federation In every game there is a governing body aimed at the maintenance and regulation of the rules encompassing the game. In chess, one of the governing bodies is the FIDE or Federation Internationale des Echecs, most commonly known as the World Chess Federation. Organizations, such as the FIDE, were not the first to document the rules of chess. It was as early as 1497, when man named Luis Ramirez de Lucena authored a book regarding chess rules. However, the popularity of chess quickly rose and tournaments and clubs were sprouting everywhere. This event called for the standardization of the rules and that is the main role of the governing body. Founding of the FIDE The World Chess Federation was formed on July 24, 1924 in Paris, France, with the motto �Gens una sumus� meaning �We are one people�. Originally, their first action to form an international federation for chess started in April of 1914 at St. Petersburg. In July of 1914, another try was made in the Mannheim International Chess Tournament. At the Gothenburg Tournament, another attempt for the establishment of an international chess federation was made yet again in 1920. It was not until 1922 when the then chess master Eugene Znosko-Borovsky announced that the French Chess Federation would host an international chess tournament he would be participating at in Paris. Finally, the participants of the Paris chess tournament founded the World Chess Federation or FIDE on July 20, 1924, originally as a union between chess players. Later on, several congresses have been made by the FIDE, which expressed several issues regarding both the federation and chess. The 1925 and 1926 FIDE congresses were aimed in the desire to become involved in the management of world chess championships. During those years, they gladly adapted the London Rules for chess tournaments. During the third congress in 1926, the federation decided to organize a Chess Olympiad. However, since most of the invitations were sent late only four countries participated, including Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania and Germany. By the year 1927, the FIDE had begun organizing the First Chess Olympiad; this was also the fourth congress, which was held in London. Several titles had been considered, such as: the World Team Championship and the Tournament of Nations. However, only the name Chess Olympiad became the most popular title of the tournament. Finally, during the year 1948, the FIDE had specified the procedure as to how challengers for the World Championship would be selected, specifically in a three-year cycle. First, affiliated countries would let players compete at Zonal Tournaments and those that topped the tournament would enter Interzonal events. Players who placed high in those events would qualify for the Candidates Tournament, together with whoever lost the previous match for the title and the second-place competitor. FIDE Today During the 1970s, Max Euwe, then a president of the FIDE, strove to increase in the number of member countries in FIDE. The movement spearheaded by Max Euwe eventually led to the presently 158 member nations of FIDE. It was in the year 1999 when the World Chess Federation was recognized by the IOC or the International Olympic Committee. Two years after that, the federation introduced the committee�s anti-drugs rules to chess as part of their campaign for the game to become a part of the Olympic Games.