Can Blind People Play Chess?

The playing of chess has become a favorite passion and pastime of many blind persons around the world. For me, it has helped to deal with my loss of vision. Three years ago, I started to learn how to play chess and quickly realized that if I really wanted to learn the game properly, I would have to be taught by those who really knew how to teach blind persons.

When I first started, I was fortunate enough to receive coaching from a wonderful Russian teacher who had taught chess to blind persons in her native Russia, but when I tried to join various mainstream clubs in my area and to have mainstream teachers teach me, it turned into experiences of great frustration and disappointment. Then I learned about the Hadley School for the Blind, an institution that offers courses at no charge to Americans and Canadians.

The courses range from high school courses in math, history, geography, law, and foreign languages, to so many other types of courses, including chess. I took the chess course and today am delighted to report that I am playing against other blind players around the world. I am making friends all the time and recently came across a young man who lost his sight due to an injury that he sustained while in the U.S. Army. I am presently engaged in a tournament that puts a North American team against a team from South Africa.

So how do I play chess? With a board that consists of squares that are raised and sunken to represent the difference between black and white squares. The white chess pieces have been made distinguishable from the black pieces through extra dots on their tops. Chess sets are readily available for purchase, but if you would like to learn more about how blind and visually impaired persons go about playing chess then please visit www.hadley.edu.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and tell others that, yes!, blind and visually-impaired persons can and do play chess and they can even play against sighted players.