World Chess Day
20 July 2026 — Hop, an L-shaped leap! The stars are my board. Your move!
World Chess Day is celebrated every year on 20 July. On that date in 1924, the International Chess Federation, known as FIDE (from the French Fédération Internationale des Échecs), was founded in Paris. The day has been celebrated since 1966 at UNESCO’s suggestion, and in December 2019 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed it an official international day, observed by the UN since 2020. The idea is for chess to bring together people of different countries, cultures and generations. The game is linked with logical thinking, patience, planning and fair play. On this day there are tournaments, open lessons and friendly games in squares, schools and online. Chess traces its roots to an ancient Indian game called chaturanga, which later travelled through Persia and the Arab world to Europe. The knight is the only piece that jumps over others, moving in an L shape. The day has no tie to the lunar calendar or the solstices, but the night sky makes a fine imaginary board with countless squares.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver knight chess piece made of luminous dots and fine connecting lines, like a constellation drifting across the night sky
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