20/07/2011 12:00
International Chess Day
Today is the International day of Chess.
On July 20, 1924 was founded the World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs, known as FIDE from its French acronym) in Paris. In 1966 FIDE announced July 20 as the international day of chess.
162 countries are included in the FIDE list and it has around 90 000 chess players. The chess is thought to be originated in India, where its early form in the 6th century was chaturanga, which translates as "four divisions of the military" – infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots, represented respectively by pawn, knight, bishop, and rook.