FIDE Album

The FIDE Album is an official collection devoted to chess composition. FIDE stands for the International Chess Federation. In chess composition, a person deliberately constructs a position to present a specific task, idea, or solution; the position does not have to come from an actual played game. The albums collect selected works published during defined periods, traditionally spanning three years.

What kinds of compositions it contains

• Mating problems: constructed positions requiring checkmate in a stated number of moves.
• Studies: positions, usually resembling endgames, in which White must demonstrate a win or draw through a precise solution.
• Helpmates: compositions in which both sides cooperate to reach checkmate under the problem's conditions.
• Selfmates: compositions in which White forces Black to checkmate the white king.
• Fairy chess: problems that may introduce pieces, rules, or conditions different from standard chess.
• Retrograde compositions: problems in which part of the task is to deduce which earlier moves or events could have produced the position.

Selection is carried out by specialist judges. Under the procedure described by the World Federation for Chess Composition, each section has three judges who score the works; compositions reaching at least eight points are selected. Points earned through appearances in FIDE Albums also count toward international titles recognizing a composer's achievements.