Chess, being one of the most popular games in the world, naturally attracts a large number of fans and dedicated players. These people often organize events where they compete against each other for thrill, glory, and sometimes even money. These Chess Tournaments can grow into large events, attracting a lot of international attention as they are largely considered to host some of the most brilliant minds in the world. The competition to get into one of these highly selective Chess Tournaments can be tough, often requiring a player to win other tournaments to qualify.



Many different tournaments have a complete set of rules which they strictly follow. All of the traditional rules of Chess are always followed with this new set of rules, but often there are little variations present. One of the common rules that famous Chess tournaments apply is in regards to the player's hands. Often, the first piece that a player touches is the one that must be moved, players are usually not allowed to touch multiple pieces when planning their next move. Another variation that sometimes happens is that all pieces must actually be moved with the same hand. This traps the players into always acting a certain way in regard to the board and forces them to always be alert.

A number of different professional Chess Tournaments also impose time limits. Often, players must either make a certain move within a specified time limit, or a certain number of total moves must be made between players within a larger time frame. This keeps both players under strict rules, not allowing them to take hours to deliberate over a certain move, which has caused problems with different tournaments in the past. By keeping all of the players within a certain set of rules, tournaments can weed out the players who crack the easiest under pressure and help to determine any of the single best Chess players within a given year.

Different Chess tournaments have grown to certain amounts of notoriety. The World Chess Championship is one of the highest ranked Chess tournaments, as it considers players from all over the world. For a long period of time, the championship title was considered between what were considered the two best Chess players of the world in the set year. The new contender would have to face the Champion of the year before to gain the title. The tournament was taken over by the international Chess organization, FIDE, in 1948. The tournament remained under their control until 1993, when the Champion of the year broke away from the organization, forming a separate Championship title. Later, in 2006, the title was unified under the World Chess Championship.

Tournaments are also held for a number of different competitors. Women have their own professional Chess tournaments, as do juniors, seniors, and even computers. Any of the Champions in these categories are also able to compete for the world title, with the exception of the computers. All World Champions must be human. Other than this, though, the world of Chess Tournaments is wide open for any number or types of competitors, making it one of the highest staked games in the world!