In 1966, 20 July was extablished as World Chess Day by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). From 2020, the day became designated as such by the United Nations. Other lesser sports, such as football, had to wait for their UN world day (25 May 2024).
Unfortunately, 20 July does not always fall at the weekend. When it does, ColCHESSter likes to celebrate chess. In 2024, which was also the 100th anniversary of FIDE, much fun was had with a two-part Saturday event called ‘100 Handshakes’. Social media at the time gave more details, such as this tweet.
A chess game normally begins and ends with a handshake, so yes we did make the 100 handshakes on the day – 28 in the morning at the ‘Castle early CHESS’ meetup and ‘more than 72’ in the 2pm to 8pm session at the Jonathan Penrose Chess Park.
For 2025, the Sunday event went country-wide in the hopes of energising those chess players who never venture outside their club to spread the benefits of chess. The poster looked suspiciously like one for a tournament. The prizes werer substantial and an early commitment to entry was essential for players if they wanted the right outcome on a score sheet.
ECF = English Chess Federation
As a trial run for World Chess Day, on Saturday 5 July, chess appeared at the (loud) official opening of the redeveloped St Nicholas Square. In her speech, Pam Cox even found time to mention chess as one of the good things that can happen in this revitalised public space. Here ColCHESSter is pictured playing against a post box, but the Facebook coverage also shows some human games.
In case you are wondering, the board position in the game against the post box looks suspiciously like one between Penrose and Tal, 1960 – Leipzig (https://colchesster.org.uk/2024/03/04/jonathan-penrose-chess-park/ ).
Yuu can play through it by clicking on any of the moves below. The position after Tal’s 18. …axb5 is worth thinking about – would you find Penrose’s decisive next move?