Introduction
It’s no secret that chess is one of the most popular board games in the world. Millions of people around the world are avid chess players and would jump at the opportunity to play a chess game. The love of chess is shared around the world but the ability to be able to play other players from around the world has been quite limited up until the latter part of the 21st century. The ability to connect with other people from across the planet with ease has made it possible for chess to grow even more in popularity.
Chess has also made its way onto the big screen further adding to its popularity by way of movies like the recently released the queens gambit and many other prominent movies which highlight the life of a chess champion. The 64 squared strategy game has been able to hold its popularity for thousands of years and with the growing ease of access to chess and as more films highlight the board game and all its wonders its popularity will only continue to increase. Countries like Armenia have seen fit to institutionalise the game and make it mandatory in schools and its possible many more countries around the world will follow suit once the results from such a policy are delivered.
Click Here To Learn How To Play The Most Popular Chess Openings By A Chess Grandmaster
Is National Chess Day A Real Holiday?
In 1966 FIDE the international chess federation the governing body for chess created a national holiday centred on chess in an effort to spread awareness and encourage more people to play chess but also to consecrate the establishment of the organisation.
National chess day is a real holiday indeed it was initially established in 1966 by the international chess federation. The aim of the organisation is to promote chess and provide support for the global chess community. Since 1948 FIDE (the international chess federation) has been the official organising body for the world chess championship. FIDE hosts world chess championship events for the men’s league ,the women’s league and the disabled league. The official date for the celebration of national chess day is July 20th where many individuals find the extraordinary urge to play chess more than usual.
Click Here To Learn How To Play The Most Popular Chess Openings By A Chess Grandmaster
What Is The Theme Of International Chess Day?
The theme of international chess day is not only to celebrate one of the oldest and the world’s most famous board games but to promote chess to a wider audience.
Although chess is already very well known globally there are still pockets of the global population that are unfamiliar with chess and all the benefits it has to offer. National chess day allows the lovers of chess around the world to have a day where they can solely focus on the promotion of chess and all its wonders. With the growing popularity of online chess sites like chess.com and platforms like YouTube the ability to play and spread the word of chess has increased tremendously over the years.
Even though chess is popular and millions of people regularly play chess around the world and benefit from the positive effects chess can provide there are still billions of people without the access to and knowledge of chess. By creating a national day around chess more effort can be put into the promotion of chess by the world wide chess community. Major strides in the promotion of chess have been made since the inception of international chess day and the creation of the holiday has contributed a large part to this success.
Click Here To Learn How To Play The Most Popular Chess Openings By A Chess Grandmaster
What Is American National Chess Day?
Avid chess players in America have created their own national holiday around chess outside of the official date established by FIDE. The date for the celebration of the American National Chess day is September 1st although many celebrate it on October 8th.
Differing only by date the theme of the American national chess day is the same as the international chess day. The celebration of chess takes place by lovers of chess coming together either online or in person to play chess. Many take to the movies to watch chess centred films in order to commemorate the date and contribute to the spreading of the word of chess.
America is home to many of the worlds chess champions and has a long and strong history with chess. Despite the American population not being as chess friendly as countries like Russia this has not stopped the diehard American chess fans from displaying their love for the game. The creation of the American national chess day is a testament to this and there are numerous videos online of celebratory chess games being played from the 6th September to the 8th October to commemorate the national holiday.
Click Here To Learn How To Play The Most Popular Chess Openings By A Chess Grandmaster
How Popular Is Chess?
Chess is one of the worlds most popular board games with millions of active players both old and young ,male and female. There has been a major increase of online chess games with sites like chess.com gaining over 70 million active users since their inception in 2007.
Chess is extremely popular and is growing in popularity as each day goes by. The median age group of the most avid chess players is getting younger and younger as more children are getting introduced to chess. In the United Kingdom ,United States ,India ,Germany and Russia more than half of the adult population have played chess at some point in their lives.
In 2021 chess.com hosted a staggering 4.6 billion online chess games with over 9 million chess players around the world partaking in thousands of chess games throughout the year. On average chess.com hosts a chess game every 4-5 seconds which essentially means that at any given time of the day someone online is playing a game of chess.
International chess day is a testament to the deep rooted popularity chess has had around the world from times immemorial. There has been little to no period of time in history that chess hasn’t been a popular pastime. Since chess’s introduction to the western world in the medieval ages chess has been the most popular board game with no other board game coming close to it in popularity.
Click Here To Learn How To Play The Most Popular Chess Openings By A Chess Grandmaster
Conclusion
There are many reasons why international chess day is celebrated and the growing popularity of the board game continues to add even more credence to the celebration of the world most renowned strategy game. Since the 1960’s international chess day has been an official holiday and the access to more people around the world via the internet has made chess even more accessible. The overall task of FIDE has been made much more achievable with the growth of technology and each year anyone with an internet connection can join in the celebration of international chess day through online chess sites or by simply watching a chess movie at home.
The importance of chess is evident in many countries around the world with many societies embedding the art of playing chess among other strategy games as part of their culture. Having a day where the many benefits of chess can be highlighted for more people around the world is a cause for celebration itself. Having a global populace of strategic thinkers is an honourable goal the international chess federation has and international chess day is a powerful method of accomplishing this hefty goal.
