Playing Chess Without Seeing the Chessboard

Players travel to several venues just to participate in chess tournaments.  While the prize money is not that big and in most cases the traveling expenses and cost of accommodation outweigh the prize, many still join chess tournaments.

In one tournament I attended, there was a blind participant who played competitive chess. Despite his disability, he competed in a chess tournament not exclusively for the differently-abled. The chessboard the blind player uses has holes where the pieces are placed.  The black pieces are differentiated from the white ones by wires or dots at the top of each chess piece. If you want to know more about how a blind person plays chess, you can watch this video.

  

Blind chess players are definitely at a disadvantage in chess. Clear eyesight is an important weapon in demolishing your opponent in chess. With very good eyesight a player can see those hidden combinations and tactics. 

Imagine playing chess without actually seeing the chessboard and the pieces. With almost a million positions that are possible in chess, a blind player would have a very difficult time analyzing and executing tactical and strategic plans.  It takes a different kind of talent and skill to see a particular situation on the chessboard without the use of eyesight.

When I was looking at the blind player, I can really see his desire to win or play the best move. He had repeatedly touched the pieces to get a clear idea of the existing situation on the chessboard. With the use of his sense of touch, the blind player who was competing against an opponent without any disability desperately tried his best to win. After realizing that the position of his pieces is bad, the pain from the possibility of losing cannot be denied from the looks of his face.  But the blind chess player continued to play and tried his very best to salvage the game.

Magnus Carlsen, today’s top-rated chess player in the world has demonstrated how to play blind against several opponents simultaneously - and no one can explain “how he does what he does.” Just like Carlsen, blind chess players seem to “come from another world.”