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The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation.
International organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world.
Acts as the governing body of international chess competition.
Usually known as FIDE from its French acronym.
Its motto is Gens una sumus, meaning "We are one people".
FIDE controls the International Chess Elo Ratings list.
FIDE History:
FIDE was founded in Paris, France on July 20, 1924, as a kind of players' union.
Alekhine, the reigning world champion in 1928, agreed to place future matches for the world title under the auspices of FIDE.
Max Euwe, whilst negotiating his 1937 World Championship re-match with Alexander Alekhine, proposed that if he retained the title FIDE should manage both nomination of future challengers and also conduct the championship matches.
Chess Politics:
FIDE was involved in a number of controversies with the late Bobby Fischer regarding candidates matches, & subsequent defense of his world title.
During Max Euwe's period as president of FIDE (1970-1978) he strove to increase the number of member countries.
The next president, Florencio Campomanes (president 1982-1995) of the Philippines, continued the policy started by Euwe.
As a result of there now being alot more weak chess playing nations, it has been commented that FIDE decisions could be easily manipulated.
Further controversy erupted in 1992 when Kasparov & Nigel Short concluded that FIDE had failed to get them the best financial deal available & so announced that they would "play under a new body, the "Professional Chess Association" (PCA).
The 2 separate World Championships (FIDE & PCA) were not rejoined until 2006 when a re-unification match was played between Vladimir Kramnik & Veselin Topalov, which Kramnik won.
The current FIDE president is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is also president of Kalmykia, an autonomous Republic in Russia.
FIDE has also become recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.
There has, however, been considerable controversy regarding the introduction of the IOC's anti-drugs rules to chess competition.
The implementation of IOC anti-drugs rules relates to FIDE's attempts at becoming part of the Olympic Games movement.
The Pest House is on the uninhabited island of St. Helens (Isles of Scilly).
It is the ruins of a 3 roomed granite & brick building which was built in the 18th Century (1764) for the isolation of people from passing ships who were suspected of carrying the plague.
St Helens Pest House replaced Old Grimsby (on Tresco Island) in 1764 as the plague quarantine station.
In the 1760s an Act of Parliament decreed that any ship approaching the British isles via Scilly would have to abandon any of its passengers or crew who showed signs of any contagion.
These people had to stay in this stone quarantine station until they either died or recovered.
Few people recovered because the sufferers of even harmless disorders (such as rosacea, acne) had to share bedstraw with seriously contagious patients (i.e. bubonic plague or cholera).
The associated graveyard includes passengers from africa and asia who died at the station.
There is also a grave of a 27 year old naval surgeon who was sent to treat the sick and died within a week himself.
St Helens Geography:
Tiny uninhabited island in the Isles of Scilly.
The Isles of Scilly, is an archipelago of mostly unpopulated islands 30 miles off the coast of Cornwall.
