National Chess Day celebrated in the United States

Chess News and Chess Trivia Blog (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2010

Hello Everyone,

Thousands of chess players, chess lovers and tournament organizers celebrated National Chess Day in the United States on October 9.

Some of the chess events that marked the day included celebrations in Michigan, Alabama Illinois, Utah, etc. The United States Chess Federation has a special report on the celebrations here. There's also a US Armed Forces Chess Championship beginning on October 9 apart from a fun-format chess team event organized by St. Louis Chess Center.

Actually, National Chess Day has been around as a concept since 1976. President Ford issued a letter in support of National Chess Day but it slowly faded away over the years. It became a half-remembered celebration because it wasn't official. It became "more official" on September 29, 2010 when the US Senate, in S Res #672, proclaimed Oct 9, 2010 as National Chess Day to, "encourage the people of the United States to observe `National Chess Day' with appropriate programs and activities."

You can find more on the history of the National Chess Day here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com