National Chess Day

Did you know the U.S. has an official National Chess Day? The observance first began in South Carolina as a state event. In 1976, President Gerald Ford (the 38th President of the United States) declared October 9th to be National Chess Day. This year marked the 32rd annual observance of this occasion since that Presidential declaration.

In celebration of National Chess Day, many chess clubs offer tournaments, expositions, public events and educational programs in their communities to raise awareness of the game of chess. The 2009 US Womens Chess Championship in St Louis, however, observed chess day as a day of rest from the competition to interact with some community activities. You may watch the video recap of the closing rounds of the US Womens Championship at http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9755/556/

Here at the Chess Right Chess Shop, we believe that nothing raises chess awareness more than a Megachess(R) game in a public setting, such as a park, shopping mall, public library or community center. Our best selling Megachess(R) set is our “School Special” with the 25 inch king (direct link: School Special). If your chess club would be interested in buying one of these eye-catching chess sets, please contact us! We have a number of fund raising tools and techniques and we can often negotiate discounts with the supplier for qualified nonprofit organizations.

OUR CHALLENGE: Take your club s Megachess(R) set to the busiest neighborhood park in your area and just play a game. Put up an easel with your club’s name and the words “Open Game” and “Membership Drive.” If you don t get at least one new member, you can return your Megachess(R) package for a refund. No one has ever returned their package because this works better than anything your club has ever tried.

More recently, our Megachess(R) supplier has partnered with Operation Interdependence to send these oversized chess sets to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you or your group would be interested in sponsoring a Megachess(R) set for a deployed unit, please let us know and we will get you set up with their “signature chess program.”