International Championship Chess by Bozidar M. Kazic –

The activities of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) started in 1924 at Paris, and since then have been extended regularly. Since the second world war they have increased in such a way that it becomes difficult to keep control of everything . . .

At Paris in 1924 a team tournament was held between more than ten countries and at the same time a tournament for the amateur world championship took place. This last-mentioned event was only repeated in 1928 and after that FIDE rightly abandoned this kind of competition, as it became clear that in chess the line between amateur and professional could not be drawn in a fair and proper way.

In the years between the two world wars the team tournaments were held at intervals of one or two years, depending upon circumstances, such as the organization of other activities in the chess world. The number of participating teams was gradually growing, and in Buenos Aires, 1939, a record of 27 was reached.

After the war FIDE took over the regulation of the individual world championship - the highest honour in chess - and then continually developed new activities. To mention a few: the ladies' world championship, ladies' team world championship, junior world championship, students' team world championship, etc., and the end is still not in sight.

A complete documentation of all these events and much much more (273 selected games and positions from all FIDE competitions and details about related fields such as correspondence chess and chess competitions) >is found in International Championship Chess. Moreover lists of grandmasters, masters, presidents, vicepresidents, etc.

List of Illustrations iv

Foreword by the President of FIDE, Dr M. Euwe v

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction vii

List of abbreviations viii

1 The World Chess Federation - Champion of

Co-operation and Friendship 1

2 The Chess Olympiads 3

3 The Women's Chess Olympiads 125

4 The World Student Team Championship 134

5 Marathon Interzonal Tournaments 160

6 Candidates Tournaments and Matches 180

7 World Champions and their Challengers 203

8 Botvinnik on his Meetings with World Champions 244

9 The Women's World Championship 251

10 Women World Chess Champions 259

11 The World Junior Championships 269

12 The Regional Competitions 288

13 International Correspondence Chess Federation 292

14 The Permanent FIDE Commission for Chess Compositions 300

15 International Braille Chess Association 304

16 International Chess Title-holders 307

17 The World Chess Federation (Address List) 336

Index of Games and Positions 357