2019-07-20 Sat

“Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.” – Bobby Fischer!

The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924.

The idea to celebrate this day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO, and it has been celebrated as such since 1966 after it was established by FIDE. FIDE, which has 181 chess federations as its members, organizes chess events and competitions around the world on this day.

The day is celebrated by many of the 605 million regular chess players around the world. As recently as 2013, the international chess day was celebrated in 178 countries. To commemorate this day Postal Administrations of different countries have issued a number of stamps.

The stamp shown above is a 250 francs denominated airmail stamp depicting a rather whimsical chessboard, designed and engraved by René Quillivic, and issued by Mali on March 25, 1974, to publicize the Chess Olympics, held in Nice, France.

Image Courtesy: https://www.stampboards.com

Visit philamart to view and purchase variety of stamps from all over the world.