International Braille Chess Association

International Braille Chess Association
	IBCA logo
Abbreviation	IBCA
Formation	1958
Type	INGO
Headquarters	Homberg, Germany
President	Jörgen Magnusson
Affiliations	FIDE, IBSA
Website	www.ibca-info.org

Last updated March 27, 2025

The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) is an organization for blind and visually impaired chess players. The IBCA is a FIDE-affiliated chess organization as well as a part of the International Blind Sports Federation. The International Braille Chess Association originated informally in 1951 with the organization (by Reginald Walter Bonham) of the first international correspondence chess tournament for blind players; the tournament included 20 players representing 10 countries. It first organized an over-the-board tournament in 1958, with representatives from seven countries. Today, it has grown to encompass over 75 member nations around the world.^[1] The IBCA hosts two major competitions: the Blind Chess Olympiad and the Blind World Chess Championship.

Rule modifications

Chessboard for blind players Blindenschachbrett.jpg — Chessboard for blind players

Although most of the rules in blind chess are consistent with normal chess, there are a few modifications to the equipment to aid blind and visually impaired players:^[3]^[4]^[5]

Either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a standard board, the visually impaired player using a board that is specially constructed as follows:
All the black squares are raised about 3–4 mm above the white squares on the chessboard. By feeling the squares, the player is able to determine whether the square is a black or a white one.
Each of the squares on the board has a hole in the center so that the chess pieces can be fixed in these holes.
Each of the pieces has a downward projection (nail) at the base, which fits into the hole in the squares on the board, thereby fixing the piece securely on the board.
All the black pieces have a pin fixed on their heads helping the player distinguish between a white and a black piece.

After making every move, each player is required to announce their move aloud to their opponent. Instead of writing the moves on a chess score sheet, the visually impaired player writes the moves in braille or records the moves on a voice recorder.^[3]

IBCA Member Countries

Nr.	Country	National member federation recognized by the IBCA	President	IBCA Delegate
1	Argentina	ACUA (Ajedrecistas Ciegos Unidos de Argentina)	José Maria Saponara	José Maria Saponara
2	Austria	Österreichischen Blindenschachbund	Mahendra Galani	Mahendra Galani
3	Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan Braille Chess and Draughts Federation	Jabbarov Jamal	Boris Mushailov
4	Bangladesh	Association For Blind Chess (AFBC)	Ijaz Husain	Ijaz Husain
5	Belarus	National Paralympic Committee of Belarus
6	Belgium	BSFVG (Belgische Schaak Federatie voor Visueel Gehandicapten)	Herman Jennen	Herman Jennen
7	Bolivia	Federación boliviana de deportes para ciegos (FEBODEC)	Germán Espada Lezcano	Juan Antonio Loayza Velasco
8	Brazil	Federação Brasileira de Xadrez para Deficientes Visuais	Márcia Maria Dias Lopes	Januário Pereira do Couto
9	Bulgaria	Bulgarian Sports Federation for the Visually Impaired	Ivan Yanev	Ivan Yanev
10	Canada	Braille Chess Canada / Échecs Braille Canada	Diana Tsypina	Diana Tsypina
11	Chile	Consorcio ajedrez para ciegos de Chile	Alberto Paredes Ortiz
12	Colombia	Federación deportes limitados visuales de Colombia (FEDELIV)	José Domingo Bernal	José Domingo Bernal
13	Costa Rica	Asociación Deportiva de Ajedrecistas Especiales (ADAES)	Jorge Hernández Hernández	Jorge Hernández Hernández
14	Croatia	Croatian Blind Sport Association	Villiam Jelušić	Blažimir Kovačević
15	Czech Republic
16	Denmark	Danmarks blindeskak skak forenings kontakt	Dennis Bonet Aabank	Ernst Bindzus
17	Dominican Republic
18	El Salvador
19	Ecuador	Federación Ecuatoriana de deportes para personas con discapacidad visual (FEDEDIV)	Luis Edison ugenio llbay
20	Finland		Seppo Pukkinen
21	France	AEPA (Association Echiquéenne pour les Aveugles)	Bernard Duthoit	Olivier Deville
22	Germany	Deutscher Blinden-und Sehbehinderten Schachverband e.V. (DBSB)	Thorsten Mueller	Thorsten Mueller
23	Greece	Hellenic Sport Federation for persons with disabilities	Ioanna Kariofili	Nikos Kalesis
24	Guatemala	Comité pro ciegos y sordos de Guatemala	Maria de los Angeles	Jorge Mario Cifuentes
25	Honduras	Federación Nacional de deportes para ciegos de Honduras (FENADECI)	Rony Kahun Chavarria Funez	Marco Tulio Lopez
26	Hungary	FODISZ	Gabor Toponary
27	Iceland
28	India	All India Chess Federation For The Blind	Charudatta Jadhav	Charudatta Jadhav
29	Indonesia	National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Indonesia
30	Iran	I.R. Iran Sports Federation for the Blind and Visually Impaired	Mohammadreza Mazlomi
31	Ireland
32	Israel	Israeli Chess Association for the Blind & Visually Handicapped	Michael Knafo	Alexey Streltsov
33	Italy	ASCId (Associazione Scacchisti Ciechi Italiani dilettantistica)	Bersan Vrioni	Bersan Vrioni
34	Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan Chess Federation of Athletes with Disabilities	Oleg Ivanovich Burlutsky	Zinyatkyz Nussipbayeva
35	Kenya	Chess Kenya Federation	Benard Wanjala	Harrison Nyaga
36	Kosovo	ër të Verbër e Kosovës
37	Kyrgyz Republic	Kyrgyz Republic Public Association “Chess and Draughts union of the Kyrgyz Republic among disabled people”	Ermek Mukashev	Darika Mamytova
38	Latvia
39	Lithuania	Lietuvos aklųjų sporto federacijos	Arnoldas Januškevičius	Neringa Paraščiuk Balčiūnienė
40	North Macedonia	National Union of the Blind of North Macedonie	Zarko Selkovski	Zarko Selkovski
41	Mexico	Asociación Mexicana de Deportes Adaptados Para Ciegos y Débiles Visuales A.C.	Benito Enrique Hernandez Lopez	Benito Enrique Hernandez Lopez
42	Moldova	Moldova Blind Sport Federation	Gheorghe Staver	Stefan Oprea
43	Mongolia		Nomin Erdenebat	Nomin Erdenebat
44	Montenegro	Union of the Blind of Montenegro	Zana Djacic
45	Netherlands	NSVG (Nederlandse schaakvereniging voor visueel gehndicapte)	Jan Boer	Sergio Harnandan
46	Nicaragua	Asociación Nicaragüense de Deportes para Ciegos (ANDECI)	Jairo Oswaldo Leyton Calderón.	Jairo Oswaldo Leyton Calderón.
47	Norway		Arild Oyan
48	Pakistan	Pakistan Blind Sports Federation	Muhammad Waqas Waraich	Muhammad Waqas Waraich
49	Panama	Asociación nacional de deportes para ciegos de Panamá (ANADEPC)
50	Paraguay
51	Peru
52	Philippines	Philippines Para Chess Association	James Infiesto	James Infiesto
53	Poland	CROSS	Miroslaw Mirynowski	Piotr Dukaczewski
54	Portugal	Liga Portuguesa de Desporto para Surdos	Susana Lourenço
55	Puerto Rico	Federación puertorriqueño de deportistas ciegos	Felipe Flores	Vladimir Ortiz
56	Romania	Romanian Association of the Blind	Tudorel Tupidusi	Sorin Lapadatu
57	Russia	All-Russian Society of the Blind	Vladimir Vasilievich Sipkin	Dmitry Andreev
58	Serbia	National sports organisation of blind and visually impaired	Petar Vranjkovic	Saša Božić
59	Slovakia	Slovenská asociácia zrakovo postihnutých športovcov	Pavol Valent
60	Slovenia	National Paralympic Committee of Slovenia	Damijan Lazar	Emil Muri
61	South Africa	South African Braille Chess Association	Joan Rossouw	Johan Grové
62	Spain	Federación Española de Deportes para Ciegos (FEDC)	Ángel Luis Gómez Blázquez	Pablo Martínez Rodríguez
63	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Council for the Blind	Tuan Rushdi	Tuan Rushdi
64	Sweden	The Swedish chessfederation for visually impaired	Jorgen Magnusson	Jorgen Magnusson
65	Switzerland		Bernhard Süess	Bernhard Süess
66	Thailand	Thailand Boardgame Club for the Blind	Krisada Kietkongtawee
67	Turkey	Turkish Blind Sports Federation
68	Turkmenistan	Chess Center for the Blind of Turkmenistan	Amanov Kulmuhammet	Batyr Orazov
69	Ukraine	Sports Federation of the Blind of Ukraine	Lubov Ziltzova	Vladislav Kolpakov
70	United Kingdom	Braille Chess Association of the United Kingdom	Norman Wragg
71	United States of America	USBCA	James thoune
72	Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan Blind sport federation	Abror Abdullayev	Abror Abdullayev
73	Venezuela	Federación Polideportiva de ciegos de Venezuela (FEPOCIVE)	Juan Blanco
74	Viet Nam	Vietnam Chess Federation	Pham Van Tien	Hoang Thien
75	Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe Braille Chess Association	Kudzai Shava

IBCA Executive Board

Mr. Jörgen Magnusson	President
Mr. Piotr Dukaczewski	1st Vice President
Mr. Nikos Kalesis	2nd Vice President
Mr. Olivier Deville	Secretary General
Mr. Thorsten Müller	Treasurer

References

1 2 "Die Geschichte der International Braille Chess Association (IBCA)". Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
1 2 International Braille Chess Association at FIDE.com
1 2 Rules of Chess Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 12, 2018
↑ How Visually Impaired Play Chess Archived 2021-01-10 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 24, 2020
↑ Chess - Eyeway.org Archived 2017-07-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 9, 2014

External links

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[ibcahist-1] 1 2 "Die Geschichte der International Braille Chess Association (IBCA)". Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2016.

[FIDE-2] 1 2 International Braille Chess Association at FIDE.com

[rules-3] 1 2 Rules of Chess Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 12, 2018

[4] How Visually Impaired Play Chess Archived 2021-01-10 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 24, 2020

[5] Chess - Eyeway.org Archived 2017-07-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 9, 2014

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