Editing Max Euwe (section)

==FIDE President==
[[File:Max Euwe, wife, grandchildren 1966.jpg|thumb|Euwe and wife celebrating the 40th anniversary of their marriage on 3 August 1966, surrounded by their grandchildren]]
[[File:Max Euwe, wife and Karpov 1976.jpg|thumb|Euwe and wife meet Karpov in 1976]]
[[File:Max Euwebeeld.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of Euwe in Amsterdam by artist José Fijnaut]]

From 1970 (at age 69) until 1978, Euwe was president of [[Fédération Internationale des Échecs|FIDE]]. As president, he usually did what he considered morally right rather than what was politically expedient. On several occasions this brought him into conflict with the [[USSR Chess Federation]], which thought it had the right to dominate matters because it contributed a very large share of FIDE's budget and Soviet players dominated the world rankings&nbsp;– in effect, they treated chess as an extension of the [[Cold War]]. These conflicts included:<ref name="Sosonko2001RememberingEuwePart1" />
* The events leading up to [[Bobby Fischer]]'s participation in the [[World Chess Championship 1972]] match against [[Boris Spassky]], which led to Fischer's becoming the first non-Soviet champion since World War II. <!--Fischer had boycotted the early stages of the qualifying cycle and [[Pal Benko]] offered to give Fischer the place he (Benko) had earned in the 1970 [[Interzonal]].--> Euwe thought it important for the game's health and reputation that Fischer have the opportunity to challenge for the title as soon as possible, and interpreted the rules very flexibly to enable Fischer to play in the 1970 Interzonal Tournament, which he won by a commanding score.
* The defection of [[Gennadi Sosonko]] in 1972. The Soviets demanded that Sosonko should be treated as an "[[unperson]]", excluded from competitive chess, television or any other event that might be evidence of his defection. When Euwe refused, Soviet players boycotted the 1974 [[Wijk aan Zee]] tournament in the Netherlands because Sosonko competed.
* In 1976, world championship contender [[Viktor Korchnoi]] sought [[political asylum]] in the Netherlands. In a discussion a few days earlier, Euwe told Korchnoi: "...&nbsp;of course you will retain all your rights&nbsp;..." and opposed Soviet efforts to prevent Korchnoi from challenging [[Anatoly Karpov]]'s title in 1978.
* Later in 1976, Euwe supported FIDE's decision to hold the 1976 [[Chess Olympiad]] in [[Israel]], which the Soviet Union did not [[Diplomatic recognition|recognize]] as a country,<ref>the USSR severed the diplomatic relations with Israel after the 1967 Six Day War.</ref> although the Soviets had won the 1964 Olympiad which had also been held in Israel. The [[Central Committee]] of [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] then started plotting to depose Euwe as president of FIDE.

Euwe lost some of his battles with the Soviets. According to Sosonko, in 1973, he accepted the Soviets' demand that [[Bent Larsen]] and [[Robert Hübner]], the two strongest non-Soviet contenders (Fischer was now champion), should play in the Leningrad [[Interzonal]] tournament rather than the weaker one in [[Petrópolis]]. Larsen and Hübner were eliminated from the competition for the World Championship because Korchnoi and Karpov took the first two places at Leningrad.<ref name="Sosonko2001RememberingEuwePart1" />

Some commentators have also questioned whether Euwe did as much as he could have to prevent Fischer from forfeiting his world title in 1975.<ref name="Sosonko2001RememberingEuwePart1" />

It is also notable that in 1977, when [[Rohini Khadilkar]] became the first female player to compete in the [[Indian Chess Championship]], some players objected to her being in the tournament because she was female; her father wrote to Euwe, and Euwe ruled that female players could not be barred from open chess events.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20201118095131/https://www.espn.com/chess/story/_/id/30265331/gender-trenders-queens-gambit-how-india-women-chess-pioneers-fought-patriarchal-system-won</ref>

Despite the turbulence of the period, most assessments of Euwe's performance as president of FIDE are sympathetic:<ref name="Sosonko2001RememberingEuwePart1" />
* Spassky, who had nominated Euwe for the job: "He should certainly not have disqualified Fischer, and he should have been a little tougher with the Soviets&nbsp;... you get a pile of complicated problems. But Euwe, of course, was the man for the job."
* Karpov said Euwe was a very good FIDE President, although he did commit one very serious error, rapidly extending the membership of FIDE to many small [[third-world]] countries. "But neither he nor I could have foreseen what this would lead to.&nbsp;... This led not only to the inflation of the grandmaster title, but also to the leadership vacuum at the head of the world of chess."
* [[Garry Kasparov]] was blunter: "...&nbsp;unfortunately, he could not foresee the dangers flowing from a FIDE practically under Soviet dominance."
* Korchnoi regarded Euwe as the last honorable president of FIDE.
* [[Yuri Averbakh]], who was a Soviet chess official as well as a grandmaster: "...&nbsp;he always sought to understand the opposing point of view&nbsp;... Such behavior was in sharp contrast to the behavior of the Soviet delegation leaders&nbsp;... Max Euwe was, without a doubt, the best President FIDE ever had."

Euwe died in 1981, age 80, of a heart attack. Revered around the chess world for his many contributions, he had travelled extensively while FIDE President, bringing many new members into the organisation.