TheInternational Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, or[1]FIDE is the worldchess organisation. All national federations are members. It decides matters like World Championships and changes in rules of the game.
FIDE was founded on 20 July 1924 inParis,France. However, it had little influence until the end ofWorld War II. The reigning world champion at that time,Alexander Alekhine, did not want to have anything to do with it. He regarded the world title as his personal property. This only changed when he died with the title, in 1946 (no other champion has ever died while holding the title). It was obvious that some method was needed to find a new champion. FIDE stepped in and, with Russian backing, put forward a solution. The strongSoviet Chess Federation only joined FIDE in 1946. It had a great influence, with resources and many young strong players.
In 1948 a tournament was organized to determine which of the world top players was entitled to call himself World Champion. The death ofAlekhine had left a vacuum. Two previous champions,Emanuel Lasker andJosé Raúl Capablanca had died in the late 1930s. It was clear that a new champion would come from the younger players.
The six players chosen by FIDE were:
In the end, Reuben Fine dropped out, and the other five contested the event. Mikhail Botvinnik won the tournament and became the new world champion.
In 1950 the FIDE awarded its first IM (InternationalMaster) and GM (InternationalGrandmaster) titles. However it was not until 1957 that FIDE formulated clear criteria to award these titles. In 1970 a new ranking system, the Elo-rating, was introduced.
