Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. They were a stage in the World Chess Championship cycle. Basically, the plan was that the cycle would last three years. In the first year, every FIDE member nation would hold a national championship. The top players would qualify to the Zonal tournament. The world was divided into zones. Large countries such as the USSR and the United States had their own zone. Smaller countries would be bunched into a zone with many countries. For example, all of South and Central America combined was originally just one zone. There were originally no Asian or African zones, because there were no countries in those continents that were members of FIDE. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... The World Chess Federation, Inc. ... The 1984 World Chess Championship was between Anatoly Karpov (right) and Garry Kasparov (left). ... Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. ...

The top players in each Zonal tournament would come together and play in the Interzonal tournament. Typically, the Interzonal tournament would have about 24 players. Then, the top six would qualify to the Candidates Tournament, that would take place the following year. Those six would join with the top two from the previous candates tournament from three years earlier. These eight players would play mini-matches against each other. The winner of those matches would play a 24 game match with the World Champion the following year. The Candidates Tournament was an annual chess tournament in which various chess players play against each other. ...

To illustrate, in 1957 the US Championship was held. The top three, Bobby Fischer, Samuel Reshevsky, and James Sherwin qualified to the Interzonal Tournament that was held in Portoroz in 1958. The top six at Portoroz, which included Mikhail Tal, Pal Benko, Fridrik Olafsson and Bobby Fischer qualified to the Candidates tournament. They were joined by Vasily Smyslov and Paul Keres who had been the top two at the 1956 Candidates tournament. Those eight played four games each against each other in 1959. The winner was Mikhail Tal, who then played Mikhail Botvinnik a match for the world chess championship in 1960. Also in 1960, a new three-year cycle, with Bobby Fischer, William Lombardy and Raymond Weinstein qualifying from the US Chess Championship, started. Bobby Fischer. ... Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born November 26, 1911, Ozorkow, Poland - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster. ... James Sherwin is a chess International Master recognized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. ... Portorož (Portorose in Italian, literally Port of Roses) is a coastal town in Slovenia and one of the countrys largest tourist areas. ... Portorož (Portorose in Italian, literally Port of Roses) is a coastal town in Slovenia and one of the countrys largest tourist areas. ... Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls, Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль) (November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, who was born July 15, 1928 in France, but was raised in Hungary. ... Fridrik Olafsson (born January 26, 1935) is a chess Grandmaster. ... Bobby Fischer. ... The contents of this page have been moved to http://en. ... Image:Smyslov. ... Paul Keres Paul Keres (January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) (approximate pronunciation CARE-ess) was an Estonian chess grandmaster (born in Narva), one of the strongest chess players of all time, apart from the World chess champions. ... The contents of this page have been moved to http://en. ... Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls, Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль) (November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... Bobby Fischer. ... William James Lombardy (born December 4, 1937) is an American Grandmaster of chess. ... Raymond A. Weinstein was born on April 25, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. ... Winner list: 2005 Hikaru Nakamura 2004 Alexander Shabalov 2003 Alexander Shabalov 2002 Larry Christiansen 2000 Joel Benjamin / Alexander Shabalov / Yasser Seirawan 1999 Boris Gulko 1998 Nick de Firmian 1997 Joel Benjamin 1996 Alex Yermolinsky 1995 Nick de Firmian / Patrick Wolff / Alexander Ivanov 1994 Boris Gulko 1993 Alexander Shabalov / Alex Yermolinsky...

Thus, Interzonal tournaments which were generally the strongest tournaments in the world, were held every three years from 1948 until about 1987. The first Interzonal was held in 1948 in Stockholm. However, by 1987, the system had become unwieldy. There were far too many top level players and the cost of staging these events had become too greeat. Also, new countries were joining, especially in Asia. China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines started producing top level grandmasters where there had been none before. Even Africa was demanding two zones. Finally, the Interzonal tournaments were dropped and replaced with individual matches.   Stockholm? is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. ...

The most famous Interzonal tournaments were Stockholm 1948 won by David Bronstein, Saltsjobaden 1952 won by Alexander Kotov, Portoroz 1958 won by Mikhail Tal, Stockholm 1962 won by Bobby Fischer and Sousse 1967 won by Bent Larsen. (Note: the 1962 Interzonal was supposed to have been held in 1961 under the three-year schedule, but had to be postponed one year because of lack of funds.)   Stockholm? is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... David Ionovich Bronstein (born February 19, 1924) is renowned as a leading chess grandmaster and writer. ... Saltsjöbaden is a suburb of Stockholm, located on the coast of the Baltic Sea and part of Nacka Municipality. ... Alexander Kotov (August 12, 1913 - January 8, 1981) was a chess player and author. ... Portorož (Portorose in Italian, literally Port of Roses) is a coastal town in Slovenia and one of the countrys largest tourist areas. ... Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls, Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль) (November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion. ...   Stockholm? is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... Bobby Fischer. ... Sousse (Arabic سوسة Susa; (140 km south of Tunis), is situated on the east coast of Tunisia and is the most important junction for overland communications in Tunisia. ... Bent Larsen Bent Larsen (born March 4, 1935) is a Danish chess player. ...

The last FIDE Interzonal was Biel 1993 won by Boris Gelfand. The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... Place du Ring in Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne is a town in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... Boris Gelfand (born 24 June 1968) is a chess grandmaster. ...