World Chess Day 2025: All You Need to Know
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Chess is one of the most ancient, intellectual and cultural games, with a combination of sport, scientific thinking, and elements of art. Chess is also a global game, which promotes fairness and mutual respect. Each year, we are encouraged to take a day to honor and learn this remarkable game that unites cultures and has rich historical significance. So, we had to ask: What is the most important information you need to know about this year’s World Chess Day?
👉 Official Name: World Chess Day
💚 Cause: Celebrate and promote the game of chess globally
📅 Next Date: July 20, 2025
🌐 Official Website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-chess-day
🐦 Hashtag: #InternationalChessDay, #WorldChessDay
Keep reading to find out all the important information about World Chess Day at a glance: its big picture, why it’s important, and how you can get involved. We’ll then share its brief history, three interesting facts about it, its future dates, and how you’ll never miss any important awareness event again.
The Most Important Information About World Chess Day at a Glance
1️⃣ The big picture: World Chess Day is an opportunity for chess lovers worldwide to unite to play and promote this game in their communities. As an affordable and inclusive activity, it can be played anywhere and by all, across the barriers of language, age, gender, or physical ability. Therefore, this event brings people across cultures to learn chess together and discover its journey throughout history.
2️⃣ Why it is important: World Chess Day isn’t just about squares and pawns – it is a celebration of chess as a powerful educational and cultural force. The game is recognized for its ability to sharpen minds and hone cognitive skills like problem-solving, strategic planning, and critical thinking. As a result, it can unlock academic success and intellectual growth in youth worldwide. In addition, it transcends borders and cultures, being played globally after it emerged in India in the 6th century. As a language-neutral game, it fosters international participation and understanding, and is woven into the fabric of many cultures, inspiring future generations.
3️⃣ How you can get involved: You can participate in World Chess Day by learning chess online, playing with your loved ones, or teaching the game to others:
- Learn to play: What better way to celebrate this Day than by learning to play chess? Thankfully, there are many online educational websites where you can learn rules and tactical approaches, access advanced courses, and compete against others for free.
- Play with others: Nothing beats a fun game of chess with our loved ones! Challenge them to learn chess with you, get a chess board if you don’t have one, and start playing. Or, if you can, organize a unique chess tournament with your friends or community.
- Teach: If you have already mastered the game, why not take this day to share your skills with someone who wishes to learn? For instance, you can teach chess to youth to support the development of their cognitive skills.
A Brief History of World Chess Day
When was this event established: World Chess Day was established by the International Chess Federation in 1966, choosing the day of July 20 as it also marks the founding date of the organization – July 20, 1924, in Paris. Their aim was to celebrate the unity of this game while promoting and showing appreciation to it throughout the world. Later on, in 2019, the UN General Assembly proclaimed July 20 to be World Chess Day to catalyze even more attention and interest in the game and raise awareness of its cultural significance for humanity.
How has it developed since then: Each year, on World Chess Day, the International Chess Federation, which has 181 chess members organizations, runs chess events and competitions worldwide. For example, in 2013, the event was celebrated in 178 countries, according to the FIDE President. Moreover, in 2018, Chess.com held a 24-hour arena tournament with special guests to celebrate and honor the game. And, in 2019, the hashtag #InternationalChessDay was used in 4,000 tweets, reaching an audience of more than 18 million people.
3 Interesting Facts About World Chess Day
- We Love Chess: Nowadays, about 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point in their lives, and over 600 million adults play chess regularly. Thankfully, chess can never get boring, as mathematically, there are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe. It’s no wonder that chess tournaments have been going strong since the 1850s.
- A Game of Names: After emerging in India as “chaturanga”, chess moved west toward Europe, first passing through the Persian and Arab cultural filters and maintaining its board, pieces, and most of its rules. Interestingly though, across multiple translations, all the pieces changed and morphed their names, influenced by local cultures, with the “King” – the game’s central piece – being the only one that kept its original title.
- Moving Pieces: The longest official game of chess took place in 1989: it went on for 20 hours and included 269 moves, but it ended in a draw. Moreover, in a single game of chess, there are 400 possible moves after each move played. For example, from the starting position, there are eight different ways to Checkmate in two moves and 355 different ways to Mate in three moves. And it is even possible to checkmate your opponent in just two moves!
Upcoming Dates of World Chess Day
World Chess Day is observed every year on July 20.
| Year | Date | Day(s) |
| 2025 | July 20 | Sunday |
| 2026 | July 20 | Monday |
| 2027 | July 20 | Tuesday |
| 2028 | July 20 | Thursday |
Never Miss an Awareness Event Again
Sources
- GoodGames: THE OLDEST GAMES IN THE WORLD
- United Nations: World Chess Day 20 July
- GM ELSHAN MORADIABADI: Chess Is About More Than Winning
- Chess.com: The Impact of Chess on Cognitive Skills
- Chess.com: History of Chess | From Early Stages to Magnus
- Knovva Academy: Checkmate: Teaching Chess to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
- Kaabil Kids: 9 Benefits Of Playing Chess For Kids
- Big Think: How did chess pieces get their names?
- Medium: The Cultural Impact of Chess: A Historical Perspective
- Chess Teacher: home page
- Chess.com: learn
- Learning Chess: chess courses
- Chess.com: play chess online for free
- Amazon: Classic Chess Board search
- Chess Manager: How to organize a small chess tournament?
- Chess.com: How To Teach Your Kids Chess (And Why It’s A Great Idea)
- International Chess Federation: home page
- Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 12 December 2019
- Wikipedia: International Chess Day
- Chess.com: home page
- Chess.com: International chess day
- FactMyth: There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe
- Wikipedia: Chess tournament
- Chess Wizard: Chess 101
- Chess.com: 40 Facts About Chess Most People Don’t Know
- Square Off Now: How to Win Chess in 2 Moves?
