International Chess Day♞

Category: Sports
International Chess Day around the world in 2025
Image by Ylanite Koppens , from Pixabay. CC0

About International Chess Day

How long until International Chess Day?
International Chess Day .
Dates of International Chess Day
2026 InternationalJul 20
International Mon, Jul 20Observances Holiday
2025 InternationalJul 20
International Sun, Jul 20Observances Holiday
2024 InternationalJul 20
International Sat, Jul 20Observances Holiday
2023 InternationalJul 20
International Thu, Jul 20Observances Holiday
2022 InternationalJul 20
International Wed, Jul 20Observances Holiday
Summary
Played by millions of people worldwide, chess is believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga sometime before the 7th century.

International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20th, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924. The idea to celebrate this day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO, and it has been celebrated as such since 1966.

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  • Did you know? Chess is banned in Russian Antarctic stations, as one 1959 chess match became so heated one player attacked the other with an ice axe.
  • Did you know? The first time a computer defeated a human opponent at a variant of chess was in 1956 at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. The human player had learned how to play chess one week before the game.

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