World Chess Day

BadLuckKing

Known
Messages
373
Reaction score
578
Points
93
Chess day is celebrated on 20th July every year to mark adoption of modern rules in chess on 20th July 1883.This day was suggested by UNESCO to in 1966 for marking the milestone. Later FIDE( which organisation came into being on 24th July 1942 in Paris with a purpose to promote chess globally under uniform rules) also considered this as World Chess Day.

A glance on the origin of Chess:

Chess is one of the oldest played games in countries like India, China, Russia, US and Brazil. It is said to have originated from india during the Gupta Empire in the 6th century AD called Chaturanga and the game was based on pieces that presented four branches of Indian Army-infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots.
This later travelled to Persia(modern day Iran) through the silk route with more inclusions. Chess kept spreading in the Arab world by the 8th century and by the 11th century it reached Europe through Islamic World. Hence, by the end of the 19th century the game went through major changes including rules and pieces movement.
Chess has travelled borders and cultures and maintained its authenticity and today about 600-700million players across the globe.
Chess and different eras:

Chess before Fide:
Chess has always been a popular game especially in the subcontinent where chess tournaments were organized in palaces of kings. But there was not a single body to uniform rules for the game and everyone organized tournaments as per their local rules of the game.

FIDE forming era:
1924_the year of the chess revolution:
In 1924, the Chess had weathered through different changes and travelled through different continents of the world reaching the fine chess enthusiast led by a Dutch lawyer sir Alexander Rueb who felt the need to form a federation to promote chess globally under uniform laws.
In July, the same year a founding meeting between representatives of 15 European countries including Germany , England, France and several others took place in Paris forming the FIDE and sir Alexander Rueb was elected as President of the Federation.

Post FIDE era:
FIDE proved to become a well-functioning federation for the growth of Chess across the globe. It had clear objectives that included:
1: Forming uniform rules for chess.
2: Promote Chess on a global scale.
3: Arrange Chess tournament.
FIDE had a rapid growth starting from 15 members in 1924 raised to 29 and 44 member counties in years 1928 and 1939 respectively. And in 1945 it became a recognized member of the IOC(International Olympics Committee).
Presently, FIDE has 181 member countries and is largest Chess organisation.

How to plan Chess day this year:
On an ending note, and as a person who loves playing chess, I would love to arrange a game especially for this day with my friends and here are my ways how you can plan for this day and make it worthwhile:
1: Plan a chess date:
You can invite your friends for a chess date to any nearby restaurant or park and play chess along with enjoying their companies and good food.
2: Plan a chess movie night:
Buy yourself a chess themed movie like Chess Fever and watch with your family to celebrate this Day.
3:Teach Chess
As a chess lover, let this love grow. On this chess day teach someone about chess grow your community for a chess tournament next year.
 
Top