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 sixty countries on four continents. Its major competitions include the Blind Chess Olympiad and the Blind World Chess Championships.
The IX IBCA World Team Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired takes place in Ohrid, North Macedonia, on June 27 – July 08, 2022. The competition follows the “trademark” IBCA format that combines round robin and double knockout, similar to some high-level football tournaments. Sixteen strongest teams according to the results of the 2021 IBCA Olympiad are seeded by Olympiad standings into two groups of eight teams each, where they play a seven-round RR. Then, the semifinal and final brackets are built based on these group play results. ( The complete Regulations document can be found on the FIDE Calendar page https://www.fide.com/calendar/52561 ). Players use specialized Braille chess boards, talking clocks, and voice recording equipment.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected many areas of life, including chess. Tournaments were canceled or postponed; other ones held in the online format. It is great to return to joyful face-to-face meetings after the pandemic. The IX IBCA World Team Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired is expertly organized by the National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia in cooperation with the Chess Federation of the North Macedonia, Chief Organizer Gjorgji Minovski (MKD). Its venue, the Metropol Luxury Resort Ohrid, is a familiar and pleasant location for scores of players from Europe and all over the world who attended prestigious ECU and FIDE events there in the past, This complex event was only made possible due to the strategic vision and imitative displayed by the IBCA, local organizers, Macedonian regional and municipal authorities that made sure players can meet in person while ensuring all the extra accessibility measures (for instance, not just the playing venue but also all common areas of the hotel were equipped by relief floor markers that allow visually impaired people to use canes to direct themselves to various facilities).
The courage and perseverance of the disabled chess players was highlighted by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Mr. Stevo Pendarovski who sent his personal greetings to the participants.
Dear chess players, dear guests, dear friends:
Please accept my sincere apologies that I am unable to be with you at the opening of the IBCA World Team Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired due to previous commitments.
I would like to take this opportunity to greet you in writing wishing you a successful championship and, of course, a pleasant stay in Ohrid. It is a special honour for us to host sixteen chess teams and I am undoubtedly convinced that the upcoming World Championship will contribute to the further promotion of chess in our country and the motivation of all those who are recreationally or professionally dedicated to this game.
Let me express my admiration for the way you have dealt and continue to deal with life’s trials and the passion and dedication you bring to this amazing game.
Once more, let me wish you a successful assembly at the IBCA World Championship and a lot of unforgettable matches between the chess masters.
Stevo Pendarovski
President, Republic of North Macedonia
June 28, 2022
The opening ceremony on June 28th featured Mr. Naum Jamandiev, Mayor of the Ohrid municipality; Dr. Charudatta Jadhav (IND), the IBCA President; Ms. Diana Tsypina (CAN), the IBCA 2nd Vice-President; Mr. Blagoj Mishevski, President, National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia; Mr. Zarko Selkovski, President, Braille Chess Association of North Macedonia; Mr. Agim Shemshiu, Vice-President, Chess Federation of North Macedonia; Mr. Zoran Stojcevski, member of the Board, Chess Federation of North Macedonia.
The ceremony started with an emotional live rendition of the national anthem by the prominent local singers. Then, Mayor Naum Jamandiev welcomed the participants to the Ohrid municipality and reminded that Ohrid has a unique distinction of being one of only 28 locations in the whole world that are classified by UNESCO simultaneously as the Cultural World Heritage Site and the Natural World Heritage Site. He highlighted excellent collaboration between the IBCA, the organizers and local authorities that made it possible for over one hundred participants to meet in Ohrid in person and enjoy chess.
Before declaring the Championship open, the IBCA President Dr. Charudatta Jadhav touched on the important themes of cohesiveness and solidarity of the global Braille community. He asked for a minute of silence in memory of Dr. Ludwig Beutelhoff, the longest-serving past IBCA President (2005-2017) who passed away at the age of 74. As philosopher and promoter of Braille chess, publisher of Marburger Schachzeitung, disability officer of the Deutscher Schachbund, Dr. Beutelhoff enjoyed universal respect and admiration both the Braille fraternity and among the global chess community.
His spirit and his ideals continue to inspire the next generations of Braille players. President Jadhav warmly welcomed players from war-torn Ukraine who faced numerous obstacles to their participation but were able to overcome them all with the help of the worldwide Braille chess family that organized a successful fundraising effort and ensured players’ safe passage. National Braille associations of Sweden, Germany, Canada, North Macedonia, France, Italy, as well as the IBCA itself, generously contributed enough money to make possible both the participation of Team Ukraine in the Championship in Ohrid and the participation of Ukraine’s best female Braille player, Liubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko in the upcoming IBCA World Women’s Championship in France. This is a great example of solidarity that transcends borders! The IBCA President’s speech was frequently interrupted by applause from the audience.
Mr. Blagoj Mishevski, President, National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia, and Mr. Zarko Selkovski, President, Braille Chess Association of North Macedonia, stressed the efforts that the government and local authorities in North Macedonia take to ensure integration and full participation of disabled people into a wider society, and remarked on Braille chess as an excellent way to reach these goals.
Chief Arbiter Mr Vadim Tsypin (CAN) guided the dignitaries to make first symbolic moves in matches for each of the two groups, Romania – France and India – North Macedonia.
Championship titles, medals and board prizes are contested. The schedule features a rest day between the end of group stage play and semifinals, when the organizers kindly offer a free excursion to some of the world’s oldest monasteries.
( Information and photos furnished by the IBCA and the National Sports Federation of the Blind of North Macedonia. )
