The creation of FIDE in Paris in 1924

In the first lecture, Dominique Thimognier, who runs the highly recommended website Héritage des échecs français, reported on the creation of FIDE in 1924 with many new insights. He revealed that, on the one hand, famous players (such as Lasker) and officials (such as the Secretary-General of the British Chess Federation) had already supported the idea to establish a world chess federation before the first World War. On the other hand, the act of establishment at the margins of the 1924 Paris Olympiad was also the result of a spontaneous action of those, who were present at the end of the team championships. Some delegates appear to have acted without a clear mandate from their federation, and some federations (such as the Spanish Federation) had not even been founded yet. The question discussed at the conference as to whether the Finnish participant was present at the founding meeting or was added later still seems unresolved. It should also be noted that the long-simmering controversy between a players' association or a federation of nations was decided in favour of the second option, which was particularly favoured by England.