The World Chess Federation, known as FIDE from its French initials
(Federation Internationale des Eschecs)
was founded in 1924. South Africa was expelled from FIDE in 1977 because of apartheid,
and was readmitted to the world body in 1992, the year that CHESSA was formed.
The FIDE laws apply to all chess events held in South Africa. Here is a copy of the FIDE
laws of chess as at 1 January 2018 but it is preferable
to refer to the FIDE website for the latest rules.
Here is an extract of the standard Berger tables
for round-robin events with between 3 and 14 players.
CHESSA is the national organising body of chess in South Africa.
The reader is referred to the
CHESSA Home Page
for news and information on forthcoming events.
The Durban Chess Club was founded in 1893, making it one of the oldest chess
clubs in South Africa. Here is an article written
by Mervyn Millar that appeared in March 1974.
It is interesting to consider which Durban champions also became South African
champions. Harry Duhan was club champion in 1907 and SA champion in 1910,
but he moved about a lot, so we probably shouldn't count him. Then in 1935 we
had Jack Archer, who was mentioned by Mervyn in the article above. In 1977 the
SA champion was Durban born and bred David Walker, who was living at the time
in Cape Town. Finally, in 1987, the SA title was won by Charles de Villiers, then
resident in Durban. Charles did not compete for the Durban title in 1987, and
shortly afterwards he returned home to Cape Town.
I have been unable to find a complete list of club presidents since the club was founded.
Here is a more detailed article, with a list starting from
1952 and some background information on our first president. You may be surprised to learn
that he has his own statue near the City Hall!