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

visually impaired Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

players. The IBCA is a

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

-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 75 member nations around the world. The IBCA hosts two major competitions: the Blind Chess Olympiad 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 game board 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 p ...

. 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 and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (ches ...

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 ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

or records the moves on a voice recorder.

IBCA Member Countries

IBCA Executive Board

References

External links

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