Letter calling chess federations to take part in the meeting to create an international organization and the proceedings of that meeting

Before FIDE was founded in 1924, there were other attempts to organize chess life at the international level. In April 1914, an initiative was taken in St. Petersburg, Russia, to form an international chess federation. In July 1914 during the Mannheim International Chess Tournament, a group of Russian and German masters, including World Champion Emanuel Lasker, followed the Saint Petersburg initiative and made concrete plans for an International Chess Federation. However, further efforts temporarily came to an end as a result of the outbreak of World War I.