Chess Organization Philosophy 1 of 3

Why do we have chess communities?
[as blogged originally on playchess.de Jan 11, 2004]

When two people play a game of chess with each other, at that moment when they are making moves that is their whole universe. No one may interfere with their play, it is just them, and the chess position.

When the game is done, there is a result. A win/loss/draw. At this point, the completed game must be seen in a larger context. Have you played this opponent before? What is your record so far? Is there a defined group of opponents that you play against? Is there a ranking system? Who maintains rankings? Who maintains the rules? What about titles, awards?

So then, what is a chess community? Why do they exist? What is the minimal description of chess community, and why would people want something more?

Let's assume for the moment that a minimal chess community is a small group of players who play each other for fun, and perhaps informally keep track of wins/losses. You still need the rule book. So at a minimum you need some "institution" that everyone agrees will maintain the rules, and possibly ratings.

So far this is obvious, but think about how these communities have evolved so far. They have evolved along country boundaries, and countries themselves have sponsored the creation of international organizations, such as FIDE for over-the-board, and ICCF for correspondence chess. FIDE and ICCF each have their rulebook, and mercifully ICCF defers to FIDE for the basics, only adding the bits about correspondence play.

Within a country, the country org generally keeps game result records and their own rulebook (usually specifics that override FIDE rules); and clubs and other organizations abide by the country rules, and rating requirements. Thus, when you play rated chess (over-the-board) it is generally at a tournament, operated by an affiliate of the country org (or FIDE).

We should examine the dynamics of why these affiliates are created, and grow and die (regional organizers, clubs, etc.), but first, lets consider the impact of globalization, and the internet.

Globalization and the internet has allowed us (all the people that like to play chess) to ignore country boundaries. We form groups (such as PlayChess, IECC, IECG) that are independent of country boundaries. Why are these organizations created? What is the relationship between these trans-national orgs and country orgs? Why are some free, and others fee-based?

Why create any chess communities or organizations at all?