The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) is organization for blind and

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

players. The IBCA is a

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

-affiliated chess organization as well as a part of the

International Blind Sports Federation The International Blind Sports Federation () is a non-profit organisation founded 1981 in Paris, France. It was formerly known as the International Blind Sports Association. IBSA's mission is to promote the full integration of blind and parti ...

. The International Braille Chess Association originated informally in 1951 with the organization (by Reginald Walter Bonham) of the first international correspondence chess tournament for blind players; the tournament included 20 players representing 10 countries. It first organized an over-the-board tournament in 1958, with representatives from seven countries. Today, it has grown to encompass over 50 member nations around the world.History of the IBCA
Retrieved January 30, 2016 The IBCA hosts two major competitions: the

Blind Chess Olympiad The Blind Chess Olympiad is an international chess competition for the blind in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event takes place every four years, and is sponsored by the International Braille Chess Associati ...

and the Blind World Chess Championship.

Rule modifications

Although most of the rules in blind chess are consistent with normal chess, there are a few modifications to the equipment to aid blind and visually impaired players:Rules of Chess
Retrieved September 12, 2018Chess - Eyeway.org
Retrieved September 9, 2014 # Either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a standard board, the visually impaired player using a board that is specially constructed as follows: # All the black squares are raised about 3–4 mm above the white squares on the

chessboard A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the bo ...

. By feeling the squares, the player is able to determine whether the square is a black or a white one. # Each of the squares on the board has a hole in the center so that the

chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn. Chess sets generally come with ...

s can be fixed in these holes. # Each of the pieces has a downward projection (nail) at the base, which fits into the hole in the squares on the board, thereby fixing the piece securely on the board. # All the black pieces have a pin fixed on their heads helping the player distinguish between a white and a black piece. After making every move, each player is required to announce their move aloud to their opponent. Instead of writing the moves on a chess score sheet, the visually impaired player writes the moves in

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displ ...

or records the moves on a

voice recorder A dictation machine is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for playback or to be typed into print. It includes digital voice recorders and tape recorder. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark of the company of the sa ...

References

External links

*
British Braille Chess Association official website
Chess organizations Parasports organizations Blindness organisations in Germany International organisations based in Germany Sports organizations established in 1958 Blind sports {{Parasport-org-stub