UN Declares July 20 as International Chess Day

The United Nations has officially declared July 20 as International Chess Day. A unanimous resolution was adopted at the UN to recognize this day, authored by Armenia and co-sponsored by 54 other countries.

Armenia is one of the countries with the highest number of chess grandmasters per capita in the world. Since gaining independence, the Armenian men's national chess team has won the European Team Championship (1999), the World Championship (2011), and the Chess Olympiad (2006, 2008, 2012). The women's team won the European Championship in 2003.