FIDE

The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, or FIDE is the world chess 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 in Paris, France. However, it had little influence until the end of World 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 strong Soviet Chess Federation only joined FIDE in 1946. It had a great influence, with resources and many young strong players.

 After WW II 
In 1948 a tournament was organized to determine which of the world top players was entitled to call himself World Champion. The death of Alekhine had left a vacuum. Two previous champions, Emanuel Lasker and José 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:
 Mikhail Botvinnik, Paul Keres and Vassily Smyslov from the Soviet Union.
 Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine from the United States.
 Max Euwe from the Netherlands.
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.

 FIDE World Champions  (1948 - 1993)  FIDE World Champions

 1948 - 1957 : Mikhail Botvinnik 
 1957 - 1958 : Vasily Smyslov 
 1958 - 1960 : Mikhail Botvinnik 
 1960 - 1961 : Mikhail Tal 
 1961 - 1963 : Mikhail Botvinnik 
 1963 - 1969 : Tigran Petrosian 
 1969 - 1972 : Boris Spassky   
 1972 - 1975 : Robert Fischer 
 1975 - 1985 : Anatoly Karpov 
 1985 - 1993 : Garry Kasparov 

In 1950 the FIDE awarded its first IM (International Master) and GM (International Grandmaster) 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.

 Later years 
With the collapse of the Soviet Union FIDE lost a powerful partner. This resulted in a long period of trouble. In 1993 worldchampion Gary Kasparov and his challenger Nigel Short left FIDE. They founded their own organisation for professional top players, the PCA (Professional Chess Association). So now there were two worldchampions: one from FIDE and one from the PCA. 
It was not until 2006 that the dust settled down and a re-unification match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov took place.

 FIDE World Champions (1993 to present) 
 1993 - 1999 : Anatoly Karpov 
 1999 - 2000 : Alexander Khalifman 
 2000 - 2002 : Viswanathan Anand 
 2002 - 2004 : Ruslan Ponomariov 
 2004 - 2005 : Rustam Kasimdzhanov 
 2005 - 2006 : Veselin Topalov 
 2006 - 2007 : Vladimir Kramnik 
 2007 - 2013 : Viswanathan Anand 
 2013 - 2023 : Magnus Carlsen 
 2023 - 2024 : Ding Liren 
 2024 - .......Dommaraju Gukesh 

 In 1999 FIDE was recognised by the International Olympic Committee. In 2001 FIDE played by anti-doping rules, trying to make chess for like a candidate for the Olympic Games.

 Women's World Chess Championship  Women's World Chess Championship 
 Years  Name  1927 - 1944  Vera Menchik   -  -  1950 - 1953  Lyudmila Rudenko   1953 - 1956  Elisaveta Bykova   1956 - 1958  Olga Rubtsova   1958 - 1962  Elisaveta Bykova   1962 - 1978  Nona Gaprindashvili   1978 - 1991  Maia Chiburdanidze   1991 - 1996  Xie Jun   1996 - 1999  Susan Polgar   1999 - 2001  Xie Jun   2001 - 2004  Zhu Chen    2004 - 2006  Antoaneta Stefanova   2006 - 2008  Xu Yuhua   2008 - 2010  Alexandra Kosteniuk   2010 - 2012  Hou Yifan   2012 - 2013  Anna Ushenina   2013 - 2015  Hou Yifan   2015 - 2016  Mariya Muzychuk   2016 - 2017  Hou Yifan   2017 - 2018  Tan Zhongyi   2018 - ....... Ju Wenjun  

 List of FIDE presidents  List of FIDE presidents
 1924-1939 Alexander Rueb, 
 1939-1946 Augusto de Muro, 
 1946-1949 Alexander Rueb, 
 1949-1970 Folke Rogard, 
 1970-1978 Max Euwe, 
 1978-1982 Friðrik Ólafsson  
 1982-1995 Florencio Campomanes, 
 1995-2018 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Kalmykia, 
 2018-.......Arkady Dvorkovich, 

References

Category:1924 establishments in France
Category:Chess
Category:Organizations based in France