Following the death of World Champion Alexander Alekhine in March 1946, FIDE endeavoured to take over administration of the World Chess Championship. Previously, all world championship matches had been privately organized with no formal qualification process. The process of organizing the new World Championship cycle ran into numerous problems in the chaotic post-war environment. In a 1946 meeting in The Hague, in addition to making plans for a multi-player World Championship tournament, FIDE formulated the plan to hold eight Zonal tournaments, with the winners of these events advancing to a new tournament, dubbed the "Interzonal". The top five players from the Interzonal were to advance to the Candidates Tournament alongside the five unsuccessful participants of the upcoming World Championship tournament.