20 July, every year
International Chess Day
Why 20 July, the UN's World Chess Day, FIDE's themes since 2019, India on the day, and ideas for schools and clubs.
International Chess Day is on 20 July every year, and the next one falls on Tuesday, 20 July 2027. The United Nations calls it World Chess Day. The date is the founding day of FIDE, the world chess federation, set up in Paris on 20 July 1924. Chess players have marked it since 1966, and the UN General Assembly made it an official UN day in December 2019.
When is International Chess Day?
- Date
- 20 July, every year
- Next
- Tuesday, 20 July 2027
- Other name
- World Chess Day, the United Nations name
- It marks
- The founding of FIDE in Paris on 20 July 1924
- Observed since
- 1966; a UN day since 12 December 2019
- 2026 title
- Celebrate, create and make a difference (FIDE)
The date never moves, so only the day of the week changes from year to year. Federations, clubs and schools hold their events on the day or in the days around it: in 2025, FIDE invited players to set up their Creative Chess games at any time from 10 to 20 July.
| Year | Date | Day of the week |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 20 July 2027 | Tuesday |
| 2028 | 20 July 2028 | Thursday |
| 2029 | 20 July 2029 | Friday |
| 2030 | 20 July 2030 | Saturday |
| 2031 | 20 July 2031 | Sunday |
FIDE announces its plans in the weeks before the day. It published them on 12 July in 2020, on 26 June in 2025 and on 1 July in 2026. For its 100th birthday in 2024, FIDE announced its world record attempt on 11 April. This page will add the 2027 plans when FIDE publishes them.
Why is International Chess Day celebrated on 20 July?
Because FIDE was founded on that day. FIDE's own account says that on 20 July 1924, during the first unofficial Chess Olympiad in Paris, 15 delegates signed the act that founded it at the town hall of the city's ninth arrondissement. Its first president was Alexander Rueb of the Netherlands, who led FIDE from 1924 to 1939 and again from 1946 to 1949, according to FIDE's Historical Committee. FIDE was founded under the motto "Gens una sumus", Latin for "We are one family".
Chess players have marked 20 July as International Chess Day since 1966. The United Nations says the day began on FIDE's initiative, while FIDE's report on the UN decision says the idea came from UNESCO. The two sources agree on the year, but not on who first proposed the day.
World Chess Day: the United Nations day
On 12 December 2019 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 20 July as World Chess Day, in resolution 74/22. Armenia tabled the resolution and 52 other countries co-sponsored it, FIDE reported, and UN News says the Assembly adopted it unanimously. Since then the day has had two names: FIDE calls it International Chess Day, and the UN calls it World Chess Day.
The UN's page for the day gives its reasons. It calls chess "a global game, which promotes fairness, inclusion and mutual respect", and "an affordable and inclusive activity" that people can play across barriers of age, language, gender, physical ability and status. It calls the day a platform for dialogue, solidarity and a culture of peace. The same page says that 605 million adults play chess regularly, but it does not name the survey or its year.
The page also gives one theory of where chess began: an early game called chaturanga, in the north of the Indian subcontinent during the Gupta period, about 319 to 543 CE. Our guide to what chess is follows the game from its early forms to today.
The first UN World Chess Day was 20 July 2020. At the UN event that day, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said he wanted to make chess "a tool to improve the world", and Viswanathan Anand spoke of chess as a "game of strategy".
International Chess Day themes by year
FIDE gives the day a theme or a call to action each year. From 2020 to 2023 it asked players to teach someone how to play chess. Since 2024 it has run larger events around the day.
| Year | Theme or call | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | A hashtag campaign | 3,842 tweets from 2,342 contributors; on 12 December the UN proclaimed 20 July as World Chess Day |
| 2020 | Teach someone how to play chess | Players taught someone on 17 to 19 July and shared it on 20 July: 13,633 tweets from 2,829 contributors |
| 2021 | Teach someone how to play chess | The same campaign, extended to 24 and 25 July |
| 2022 | Teach someone how to play chess | FIDE said it wanted to make the campaign a permanent tradition |
| 2023 | Teach someone how to play chess | FIDE turned 99 and asked players to teach a neighbour, a relative or a colleague |
| 2024 | 100 years of FIDE | A Guinness World Record: 7,284,970 games in 24 hours, from 109 federations |
| 2025 | Every Move Counts | A 24-hour blitz marathon on Lichess: 20,078 players, 85,252 games, over 5.5 million moves |
| 2026 | Celebrate, create and make a difference | Creative Chess games in unusual places and an online panel on chess as a social value |
The teaching campaign asked each player to pass the game on. In 2020 FIDE asked players to teach someone how to play from 17 to 19 July and to share it on 20 July with #InternationalChessDay. It ran the same call in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and in 2022 said it wanted to turn it into a permanent tradition.
The biggest year so far was 2024, FIDE's 100th birthday. FIDE asked federations, clubs and players to reach at least one million games in 24 hours on 20 July. Games counted online and over the board at a time control of at least 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move, so bullet games did not count. The final count was 7,284,970 games from more than 350 events in 109 federations, and Guinness World Records lists it as the most games of chess played in 24 hours. A Guinness adjudicator followed the attempt from the Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland. Only 75,132 of the games, just over 1%, were played over the board; Chess.com, with its ChessKid site, supplied more than six million.
In 2025 the theme was "Every Move Counts", which FIDE tied to its Year of Social Chess: on the board and in life, it said, "every decision shapes our journey". FIDE and Lichess ran a 24-hour blitz tournament at 5 minutes plus 3 seconds, from midnight to midnight CEST on 20 July. In it, 20,078 players played 85,252 games and made over 5.5 million moves. FIDE then drew prizes among the players, including five trips to the Chess Olympiad with lodging and ten FIDE vouchers of 100 euros.
International Chess Day 2026
FIDE published its 2026 plans on 1 July under the title "Celebrate, create and make a difference". It asked for three things:
- 1.Creative Chess: set up a game "in the most unusual, meaningful or symbolic place you can think of", then share photos or videos with #InternationalChessDay and tag FIDE. FIDE said it might feature the most original ones on its own channels. The challenge first ran in 2025.
- 2.Inclusive events: FIDE's Women's Chess Commission asked organisers to hold events open to everyone, to use #InternationalChessDayWOM and to send a short report with two or three photos.
- 3.A panel: "Chess as Social Value: From the Chessboard to Society", a one-hour online discussion on 20 July at 15:00 CEST (6:30 PM IST), with nine speakers on chess in rehabilitation, protection, inclusion and development.
FIDE's report on the day named events on several continents. Chess players of different ages met at Sükhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and the Sligo Chess and Culture Festival brought chess and culture to Queen Maeve Square in Sligo, Ireland. In Spain, people played inside the Romanesque Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Duratón, and in Pakistan at the Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh in Multan. Rugby, in the United Kingdom, brought together school champions from across the Midlands and put on a chess boxing display.
In South Africa, the teacher Thato Lempe used chess at Kagisono Combined School in Soutpan to teach focus, discipline and resilience. In Sri Lanka, Navod Nethsara made a photo story called "Chess Has No Age", of children and an elderly woman playing in a village. The report gives no total of players or games. Its Indian events are in the next section.
International Chess Day in India
India plays a large part in the day. In 2024, when FIDE set its world record, India registered 9,397 games, second only to Sri Lanka with 9,848. India and Sri Lanka also registered the most tournaments, 78 each.
In 2025 the All India Chess Federation reported that Gujarat's chief minister played a short game with Tejas Bakre, Gujarat's first grandmaster, and greeted the chess community on the day. In 2026, FIDE's report named three Indian events. Lucknow Metro held a speed chess tournament on a train between Munshipulia and Hazratganj stations. In West Bengal, the Filix School of Education and the Purulia Chess Association launched the Filix Chess Club, and EuroKids Balurghat School held chess activities for its youngest children.
Is there a National Chess Day in India? We found none. The All India Chess Federation marks 20 July as International Chess Day, like the rest of the world.
Indian players have given schools a lot to celebrate. India won both the Open and the Women's sections of the 2024 Chess Olympiad. D Gukesh won the world title in Singapore in December 2024, and our World Chess Championship 2026 page covers his match against Javokhir Sindarov in Geneva. Divya Deshmukh won the Women's World Cup on 28 July 2025, which also made her a grandmaster. Our Chess World Cup page covers the Women's World Cup as well.
How to celebrate International Chess Day
You do not need an official event to take part. These ideas come from FIDE's calls of past years and from the schools that mark the day:
- 1.Teach someone how to play. It was FIDE's call for the day every year from 2020 to 2023, and FIDE asked for it again in 2025. Our beginner's guide covers the rules and the moves.
- 2.Hold a short tournament. A school or a club can run a rapid or blitz event in one afternoon, and our chess clock works on any phone when there are not enough real clocks.
- 3.Play in an online event. In 2025 FIDE and Lichess ran a 24-hour blitz marathon for the day, with prizes drawn among the players. In the last two years, FIDE published its plans in late June or early July.
- 4.Set up a Creative Chess game: play in the most unusual or meaningful place you can find, take a photo and share it with #InternationalChessDay, as FIDE asked in 2025 and 2026.
- 5.Run a chess quiz. The Indian Express made a World Chess Day quiz in 2023, with 15 questions and six best-move positions.
- 6.Replay a famous game together, or study a position from a recent game on the analysis board.
- 7.Play a quick game with a friend, a parent or a classmate. A game on Zapp takes about 2 minutes.
International Chess Day drawing and poster ideas
Many schools ask students for a drawing, a poster or a chart for 20 July. These subjects fit the day, and each one rests on a fact from this page:
- 1.The date and both names: "20 July: International Chess Day and World Chess Day".
- 2.The FIDE motto, "Gens una sumus: We are one family", with players from different countries at one board.
- 3.A timeline: FIDE founded in Paris on 20 July 1924, the day first marked in 1966, and the UN's World Chess Day from 2019.
- 4.Chess and India: chaturanga, the early game that the UN places in the north of the Indian subcontinent in the Gupta period.
- 5.The year's theme: "Every Move Counts" in 2025, "Celebrate, create and make a difference" in 2026, or the 2027 theme once FIDE announces it.
- 6.India's champions: the double gold at the 2024 Olympiad, D Gukesh's world title and Divya Deshmukh's World Cup.
- 7.For younger classes, a chart of the six pieces and how each one moves; our chess rules page has every move.
Happy International Chess Day: wishes and quotes
Short wishes for a message, a card or a class board:
- 1.Happy International Chess Day. Play one game today, and teach one person the moves.
- 2.Happy World Chess Day to everyone who has ever sat at a board. Gens una sumus: we are one family.
- 3.On 20 July, chess players all over the world celebrate the same game. Happy International Chess Day.
- 4.Every move counts, on the board and off it. Happy International Chess Day.
Quotes, with their sources:
- 1."Chess is a global game, which promotes fairness, inclusion and mutual respect." The United Nations, on its World Chess Day page.
- 2."We are one family, we are working together and we are connected around chess." FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, on International Chess Day 2020.
- 3."Gens una sumus", Latin for "We are one family". The motto under which FIDE was founded in 1924.
- 4.Chess as "a tool to improve the world". The goal that Dvorkovich gave at the UN's first World Chess Day event in 2020.
National Chess Day in the US
The United States has its own chess day. US Chess, the national federation, says National Chess Day falls on the second Saturday of October: 11 October in 2025 and 10 October in 2026. By the same rule it falls on 9 October in 2027. For the day, US Chess offered organisers free rating fees and an email announcement for qualifying events in both 2025 and 2026.
US Chess traces the day to 9 October 1976. Many websites say that President Gerald Ford proclaimed it, but the US Chess article on its origins found that none of them cited a source, and its own search found no record of a proclamation.
| Day | Date | Who marks it |
|---|---|---|
| International Chess Day, or World Chess Day | 20 July every year | FIDE and its member federations; a UN day since 2019 |
| National Chess Day (United States) | Second Saturday of October: 10 October 2026, 9 October 2027 | US Chess |
International Chess Day FAQ
When is International Chess Day?
International Chess Day is on 20 July every year. The next one is on Tuesday, 20 July 2027. The date is FIDE's founding day: the world chess federation was set up in Paris on 20 July 1924. The United Nations marks the same day as World Chess Day.
Is World Chess Day the same as International Chess Day?
Yes. Both names mean 20 July. Chess players have called it International Chess Day since 1966, and FIDE still uses that name. The UN General Assembly proclaimed the same date World Chess Day on 12 December 2019, in resolution 74/22.
Why is International Chess Day celebrated on 20 July?
Because FIDE was founded on that day. On 20 July 1924, during the first unofficial Chess Olympiad in Paris, 15 delegates signed FIDE's founding act. The day celebrates the game and the world federation that has governed it since then.
When was International Chess Day started?
In 1966. The United Nations says players have marked 20 July since 1966 on FIDE's initiative, while a FIDE report of 2019 says the idea came from UNESCO. The UN made it an official UN day in December 2019, on a resolution tabled by Armenia.
What is the theme of International Chess Day 2026?
FIDE published its 2026 plans on 1 July under the title "Celebrate, create and make a difference". It asked players to set up games in unusual places for Creative Chess, hold inclusive events and follow a panel on chess as a social value. The 2025 theme was "Every Move Counts".
What record was set on International Chess Day?
On 20 July 2024, FIDE's 100th birthday, players from 109 federations played 7,284,970 games in 24 hours. Guinness World Records lists it as the most games of chess played in 24 hours. All but 75,132 of the games were played online.
How is International Chess Day celebrated in India?
With tournaments, school events and new clubs. In 2024 India registered 9,397 games for FIDE's world record. In 2025 Gujarat's chief minister played a game with grandmaster Tejas Bakre, and in 2026 Lucknow Metro held a speed chess tournament on a moving train.
Is there a National Chess Day in India?
We found none. The All India Chess Federation marks 20 July as International Chess Day, the same day as the rest of the world, and we found no Indian federation or government source for a separate national chess day.
When is National Chess Day in the US?
On the second Saturday of October. US Chess gave the dates as 11 October 2025 and 10 October 2026, and by the same rule the 2027 date is 9 October. US Chess traces the day back to 9 October 1976.
How can schools celebrate International Chess Day?
Hold a short tournament, pair older students with beginners to teach them the moves, run a chess quiz, replay a famous game, or make posters and drawings. From 2020 to 2023, FIDE's call for the day was to teach someone how to play chess.
How many people play chess?
The UN's World Chess Day page says 605 million adults play chess regularly, and that about 70% of adults in the US, the UK, Germany, Russia and India have played at some point. The page does not name the survey or its year.
What is the FIDE motto?
"Gens una sumus", Latin for "We are one family". FIDE says it was founded in Paris in 1924 under this motto. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich used the same words on International Chess Day in 2020.
For the tournaments of the year, with dates and where to watch, see the chess events calendar.
Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026 against the United Nations World Chess Day page, FIDE news reports from 2019 to 2026, the Guinness World Records entry, the All India Chess Federation and US Chess. The day-of-the-week table is our own calculation.
