The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) is the supreme body responsible for chess for the blind and visually impaired. The IBCA is part of the International Blind Sports Federation and an Affiliated Member of FIDE. Founded in 1958, the IBCA has grown to more
than fifty countries on four continents. Its two major competitions are the Blind Chess Olympiad and the Blind World Chess Championship. The 16th IBCA Olympiad for the Blind and Visually Impaired takes place in Rhodes, Greece, on October 16-27, 2021, as part of the 2021 Rhodes Chess Festival. After five rounds, Team Russia is leading with 10 match points, followed by Team Poland and Team India with 8 match points each. Friday, October 22 featured a free excursion to the Old City of Rhodes for all participants, followed by a quadrennial IBCA Congress.
Despite the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 IBCA Congress was well- attended and featured delegates from 28 countries. In his report, the IBCA President Dr.Charudatta Jadhav (India) highlighted the following achievements during the past four years:
– registering the IBCA as a charitable organization in France;
– admission of six new countries from Asia and the Americas as the IBCA members;
– excellent cooperation with FIDE, especially via the Commission for the Disabled (DIS);
– development of accessible mobile chess software.
Dr. Jadhav thanked the FIDE President Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich for his attention to the needs of handicapped players and for many new initiatives, such as the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad for the Disabled and the 2020 FIDE Olympiad for the Disabled. The Congress adopted a new Constitution that improves its governance making the organization more democratic and transparent. The Congress elected the new IBCA governing bodies for 2021-2025. Following the lead of other international sports organizations, including FIDE, for the first time in its history the IBCA expanded the representation of women in its highest body, the Presidential Board, to forty percent, and now counts there representatives from the three continents. The following candidates were elected:
President: Dr. Charudatta Jadhav (India)
Presidential Board members:
- First Vice-President: Mr. Nikolaos Kalesis (Greece)
- Second Vice-President: Ms. Diana Tsypina (Canada)
- Secretary: Mr. Olivier Deville (France)
- Treasurer: Ms. Natasha Dalle (Belgium)
- Executive Board members: Mr. Sasa Bozic (Serbia), Mr. Fernando Daza (Colombia), Mr. Sergio Harnandan (Netherlands).
The Congress approved the official IBCA event calendar for 2022-2025. The 17 th IBCA Olympiad for the Blind and Visually Impaired will take place in Serbia in 2025.