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.[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

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
#YearCityWinner
11961Meschede, Germany Yugoslavia
21964Kühlungsborn, Germany Yugoslavia
31968Weymouth, United Kingdom Soviet Union
41972Pula, Croatia Soviet Union
51976Kuortane, Finland Soviet Union
61980Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands Soviet Union
71985Benidorm, Spain Soviet Union
81988Zalaegerszeg, Hungary Soviet Union
91992Majorca, Spain Russia
101996Laguna, Brazil Russia
112000Zakopane, Poland Russia
122004Tarragona, Spain Poland
132008Heraklion, Greece Russia
142012Chennai, India Russia
152017TBD, North Macedonia

See also

References
  1. Blind Chess Olympiads History Retrieved September 7, 2009
  2. 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. 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
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