The Blind Chess Olympiad is an international chess competition for the blind in which teams from all over the world compete against each other.[1] The event takes place every four years, and is sponsored by the International Braille Chess Association.[1] The Blind Chess Olympiad is the largest sporting event in the international field of chess for the visually impaired.[2]

History

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The forerunner to the Blind Chess Olympiads was a blind chess tournament held in Rheinbreitbach, Germany, in 1958. The winner of the event was Reginald Walter Bonham, who would found the International Braille Chess Association.[3] The first official Blind Chess Olympiad was held in 1961 in Meschede, Germany. Eight teams competed to play 122 games in round-robin format with Team Yugoslavia as the resulting winner.[1][4] For the third Blind Chess Olympiad in 1968, held in Weymouth, England, 20 teams competed. Russia won the event with Yugoslavia in second place. The Polish team arrived by train in the early hours of the morning bringing with them the body of their sighted translator who had died en route (Reference: Organizer, John Graham). By the 2008 13th Blind Chess Olympiad in Heraklion, Crete, 34 teams participated, making the Blind Chess Olympiad the most significant sporting event in the international field of chess for the blind to date.[2][5][6]

Results

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# Year City Winner Ref
1 1961 Meschede, Germany   Yugoslavia [4]
2 1964 Kühlungsborn, Germany   Yugoslavia
3 1968 Weymouth, United Kingdom   Soviet Union
4 1972 Pula, Croatia   Soviet Union
5 1976 Kuortane, Finland   Soviet Union
6 1980 Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands   Soviet Union
7 1985 Benidorm, Spain   Soviet Union
8 1988 Zalaegerszeg, Hungary   Soviet Union
9 1992 Majorca, Spain   Russia
10 1996 Laguna, Brazil   Russia
11 2000 Zakopane, Poland   Russia
12 2004 Tarragona, Spain   Poland
13 2008 Heraklion, Greece   Russia
14 2012 Chennai, India   Russia
15 2017 Ohrid, North Macedonia   Russia
16 2021 Rhodes, Greece   Russia [7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Blind Chess Olympiads History Retrieved September 7, 2009
  2. ^ a b XIII Olympiad for Blind and Visually Impaired Chess Players Archived August 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 7, 2009
  3. ^ Reginald Walter Bonham at ChessGames.com Retrieved September 7, 2009
  4. ^ a b 1st Blind Chess Olympiad: Meschede 1961 Retrieved September 7, 2009
  5. ^ 13th Blind Chess Olympiad: Heraklion 2008 Retrieved September 7, 2009
  6. ^ 13th Blind Chess Olympiad at the Merseyside Chess Association Archived August 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 7, 2009
  7. ^ "IBCA Chess Olympiad for Blind and Visually Impaired: Russia carries the day". FIDE. October 29, 2021. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
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