The 1948 Interzonal tournament was a major qualification event for the 1951 World Chess Championship, held in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden from 16 July to 14 August in 1948. It was the first Interzonal tournament organised by FIDE, which was at the time emerging as the game's international governing body. The 20 player round robin tournament was won by David Bronstein, who along with seven other players advanced to the 1950 Candidates Tournament. Organization Following the death of World Champion Alexander Alekhine in March 1946, FIDE endeavoured to take over administration of the World Chess Championship. Previously, all world championship matches had been privately organized with no formal qualification process. The process of organizing the new World Championship cycle ran into numerous problems in the chaotic post-war environment. In a 1946 meeting in The Hague, in addition to making plans for a multi-player World Championship tournament, FIDE formulated the plan to hold eight Zonal tournaments, with the winners of these events advancing to a new tournament, dubbed the "Interzonal". The top five players from the Interzonal were to advance to the Candidates Tournament alongside the five unsuccessful participants of the upcoming World Championship tournament. The United States were invited to send two players to the World Championship; it was assumed at the time that Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine, leading grandmasters and participants in the 1938 AVRO tournament, would be chosen. However, there was a feeling within the United States Chess Federation that they should have the right to determine their own selection process, and they decided to send the top two players from the 1946 U.S. Championship. Fine was unable to participate in this event due to his studies, and Reshevsky won the tournament by a 2½ point margin from Isaac Kashdan. It was later decided that Fine would be allowed to play in the World Championship after all, and Kashdan would be treated as the qualifier from the United States Zonal. The first Zonal event, covering most of Europe, was held in Hilversum, Netherlands in July 1947. The Belgian champion Albéric O'Kelly was the surprise winner, ahead of more fancied players such as Petar Trifunović, Luděk Pachman and László Szabó. The 1947 Nordic Chess Championship in Helsinki was treated as a Zonal event for World Championship qualification purposes. This event finished in a tie for first place between Eero Böök and Gösta Stoltz. The two played an eight-game play-off match,