International Chess Day

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Chess, as we know, is a battle between two "armies" lined up on opposite sides of a board comprised of 64 squares. The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. Checkmate is achieved when the defender is unable to get his king out of check through moving to a safe square, blocking the line of attack, or capturing the attacking piece.

No one knows for certain who invented the game chess, but it began as the Indian board game "chaturanga," a word created by joining the Sanskrit words "chatur" which means four, and "anga" which means arms or branches. In ancient times, the Indian Army was made up of four arms: chariots, elephants, cavalry, and infantry. In those days, a king would personally lead his army into the battle. The pieces on the chessboard represented the forces on the battlefield

The International Chess Day is celebrated yearly on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation was formed, in 1924. The intention to rejoice this day as the international chess day was recommended by UNESCO, and it has been celebrated as such since 1966 after it was ascertained by FIDE. FIDE, which has 181 chess federations as its members, organizes chess events and tournaments around the world on this day. As recently as 2013, the international chess day was celebrated in 178 countries, according to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. On December 12, 2019, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution recognizing the day.

The day is celebrated by many of the 605 million regular chess players around the world. A 2012 YouGov poll showed that "a surprisingly stable 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point during their lives". This number holds at approximately the same level in countries as diverse as the US, UK, Germany, Russia, and India.

Playing the game of Chess on a regular basis right from the childhood improves the learning, thinking, logical power, and decision-making ability of the child. Chess makes the child learn how to strategize aspects of the game and life. In addition, a child can also learn the importance of foresight and planning.

Here's what goan chess players got to say about International Chess Day.






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