International Chess Day: When The Chess World Gets Together

International Chess Day is a day to appreciate a game that transcends social divides. It's also called World Chess Day. The holiday is a time for us chess players to reflect on the joy of our favorite game. We get to appreciate how great minds from around the world have progressed chess theory to what it is today.

In her new book, Rebel Queen, Susan Polgar describes chess as a "great equalizer, as a sport in which one's age, gender wealth, or background has no relevance. All that matters is that one finds the right moves and plays them at the right moment."

The International Chess Federation, FIDE, reflects this idea in its motto: "Gens Una Sumus." The quote, Latin for "we are one people," embodies the universal nature of chess.

But when did we begin celebrating International Chess Day? Here's how it got started and how you can join the world in honoring chess on the holiday for chess players.

The Birth of International Chess Day

In the spirit of its motto, FIDE itself originated as an effort to include chess as an Olympic sport. The Olympics is a showcase when countries from around the world come together to show the capabilities of their strongest athletes. So it makes sense that governing bodies weighed chess as a potential Olympic sport.

On July 20th, 1924, organizers and chess players formed FIDE during the 8th Olympic games in Paris, France. It was one of the first international sports federations, next to football, cricket, swimming, and auto racing. The acronym is based on the French name: Fédération Internationale des Échecs.

They also held the first unofficial Chess Olympiads. The first to spearhead the federation were officials from France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. A group of Russian emigrant chess players, spearheaded by Alexander Alekhine, were also among the first to be involved.

Ultimately, for various reasons, chess was never adopted as an Olympic sport. Still, the Olympiads provide countries with an opportunity to support their strongest intellectual athletes.

FIDE now has over 200 National Chess Federation affiliate members. In 1966, it began observing International Chess Day on July 20th to celebrate it's formation.

World Chess Day Declared by UNESCO

By 2019, International Chess Day had already been endorsed by the leading chess organization in the world, and we had celebrated it dozens of times.

But UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, saw the potential for chess to be a part of something bigger. It saw chess as an opportunity to contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The goals are outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

For instance, chess can help strengthen education, promote gender equality and empower women and girls. It also fosters inclusion, tolerance, and respect.

On December 12, 2019, the General Assembly proclaimed July 20th as World Chess Day to mark the establishment of FIDE in Paris.

FIDE100: A Chess Event 100 Years in the Making

International Chess Day 2024 was especially special because it marked 100 years since FIDE's inception. To celebrate, it launched the Chess Torch Relay, starting in the Indian subcontinent. The torch then moved through Africa, Europe, and North America.

The federation also celebrated with an art contest with two categories: AI-generated and traditional artwork. The works of art needed to respond to one of two prompts:

• Promote participation in FIDE's Guinness World Record attempt (more on that later).
• Commemorate key moments in chess history over the past century.

You can find the winning artworks here. 

FIDE100 Awards Celebrates a Century of Chess Pioneers

FIDE also announced a series of awards, the FIDE100 Awards, for the 2024 holiday. The FIDE100 awards recognized individuals who have significantly contributed to the chess community over the past hundred years. Players, arbiters, journalists, and educators, were all considered for various awards.

In total, there were 19 categories. Some winners were decided by a private panel, while others went to a public vote. Here are the winners for some categories:

• Best Trainer – Man: Vladimir Tukmakov
• Best Trainer – Woman: Susan Polgar
• Best Social Media Influencer: Hikaru Nakamura
• Best Chess Journalist: Leonard Barden
• Advocate for Women in Chess: Jean Michel Rapaire

One unique recognition was the Chess Social Impact Award. Chess for Freedom won the award. FIDE collaborated with Cook County Sheriff's Office to launch Chess for Freedom in 2021. Its goal was to reintegrate incarcerated individuals. It began with an online conference and an exhibition tournament that featured four participating countries. It has grown into a global initiative. Today, it now has more than 120 participating teams and includes training programs in institutions around the world.

You can see more about each winner's contributions to chess here.

Chess Players Set World Record for 2024 Chess Holiday

For it's 100 birthday on International Chess Day in 2024, FIDE also organized a Guinness World Record attempt for most games played in 24 hours. Games needed to be played with a time control of five minutes per game with no increment or three minutes per game with a two-second increment. Qualifying games could be online or over the board. They needed to have a minimum of 15 moves per player.

Chess.com participated in the International Chess Day 2024 world record event. It invited and encouraged chess players to take part in their 24-hour International Chess Day Arena. Lichess, FIDE Online Arena, Simple Chess, and Chess Alliance also participated. 

Over the board games that fell within the time control requirements and had a licensed FIDE arbiter.

In the end, 7,284,970 chess players participated, successfully setting the world record for most chess games played.

Other Fun Chess World Records

But that's far from the only world record set in the chess world.

At the time of writing, here are some lesser-known world records in chess, acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records:

• The oldest chess pieces date back to around 900 AD and were discovered in Nashipur in 1900.
• The largest chess piece is a wooden king standing at 20 ft by 9 ft., 53 times the size of your tournament chess piece. It is located at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri. It debuted in 2018 at an event celebrating the St. Louis Chess Club's 10-year anniversary.  
• The slowest chess game before time controls took 15 hours in 1857. Before the 1860s, chess players could take as long as they wanted to decide their next move. Paul Morphy and Louis Paulsen spend 15 hours to play 56 moves. Paulsen was responsible for the delay and took as long as 1 hour and 15 minutes for a single move.
• The smallest chess computer program has 354 bytes in total and earned the achievement in September 2022. Alejandro Garcia from Spain used an assembly language program for a personal achievement.
• The longest chess marathon was 64 hours and was between Tunde Onakaya and Shawn Martinez in New York City in April 2025. The pair played 473 chess games.

Maybe you can try to break a world record this International Chess Day.

Chess Players are Everywhere, and That's Worth Celebrating

International Chess Day is a time to remember that chess players are just about everywhere. Chess players can come from from every grade level in school. They might be getting chess lessons or even playing in tournaments while incarcerated in jails and prisons. They could be partly or totally blind. 

Chess is a game for you, regardless of who you are, where you're from, what gender you are, or what disabilities you might have. No matter what, there's someone out there who has faced similar experiences in their lives. They've overcome the same obstacles as you. And they love chess, just like you do.

In a world filled with conflict, environmental catastrophes, and division, it's hard to remember to have fun. Remember that chess is a place where we turn conflict into a game. We fight harshly, but we fight fair. At the end of the fight, we shake hands with our opponent. We tell them it was a good game. And we both emerge from the battlegrounds with a lesson we can carry into our complicated lives.

On average, chess players participate in more than 60 million chess games online, at chess events, or in casual settings every day. So celebrate International Chess Day by driving that number even higher. Check the USCF chess tournaments page to see if there's any formal chess event you can join near you. Try finding a chess club nearby. Or grab a travel chess set and play in the park with a friend.

Happy International Chess Day!

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