FIDE, Federation Internationale des Échec, also known as the International Chess Federation, is the world governing and regulatory body for chess. It is responsible for regulating all international chess competitions, and every chess player is affiliated to the body.
It was established in Paris, France, in 1924, and its current headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. FIDE has a motto, “Gens una Sumus,” a Latin phrase that means “We are one Family.” It is also not affiliated with any government, and it is one of the first sporting or gaming association to be established in the world alongside Cricket, Football, Auto Racing, and Swimming.
In 1999, FIDE was adopted into the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization. The International Chess Federation has 190 member countries under its umbrella with millions of chess players across all continents. The current president of FIDE is Arkady Dvorkovich.
The FIDE plays a highly significant role in the Chess world, the most notable of its role being the World Chess Championship, which had its first edition in 1948.
FIDE organizes chess competitions for women, juniors and seniors, the disabled, and men. Another notable event that the FIDE organizes is the Chess Olympiad, which is a competition for national chess teams.
It takes place once in two years and has held since 1924. There is also the World Team Championship, where the best teams from the Olympiad compete against one another.
To complete the World Chess Championship Cycle, there is the Candidates Tournament, which is the tournament that determines which Chess team will challenge the current World Champion.
Other chess competitions include the FIDE Grand Prix, the Chess World Cup, and the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament. The International Chess Federation is a recognized body in the International Olympic Committee, and chess is one of the games at the Olympics.
Apart from organizing all of the chess tournaments and games in the world, FIDE is responsible for the creation and definition of chess rules across board. Both the rules of moves and board, and the conduct of players at international competitions are defined by FIDE.
All the rules that FIDE has laid down for international competitions are the basis for local competitions, too, although local bodies can tweak these rules to an extent.
There are also some organizational titles that only FIDE can award, such as International Arbiter, which is awarded to people who have proven to be competent and trustworthy enough to oversee world-class chess competitions.
Every month, FIDE publishes the names of its top 100 players, which covers categories like Top 100 Players, Top 100 Female Players, Top 100 Girls, Top 100 Junior and Top Countries.
FIDE also developed an online internet chess server dedicated to chess playing. It is named FIDE Online Arena, and it was officially launched in 2014. Interested chess players have to sign up on the server, pay the subscription fee, and play against players from all over the world.
