#ChessForImpaired – International Chess Federation

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities: List of teams announced

editor_d — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:23:57 +0000

FIDE is pleased to announce the official list of participating teams for the 2nd Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, to be held from October 19–26, 2025, in Astana, Kazakhstan. Following the success of the inaugural edition in Belgrade in 2023, the event once again brings together players from all over the world to celebrate inclusivity, fair play, and the unifying power of chess.

A total of 35 teams will compete in Astana, with participation from all four continents, the three international associations of players with disabilities, and additional nominations from the FIDE President and the host federation.

Participating teams

Europe – 9 teams

Poland, Hungary, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Croatia, Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Serbia

Asia – 7 teams

FIDE, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates

Americas – 7 teams

Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, USA, Chile, Panama

Africa – 5 teams

Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya

International Associations of Players with Disabilities – 3 teams

International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), International Chess Committee of the Deaf (ICCD), International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA)

Nominations of the FIDE President – 2 teams

Kazakhstan ICCD, FIDE 2

Host Federation – 2 teams

Kazakhstan 1, Kazakhstan 2

With 2025 declared the Social Chess Year, this Olympiad highlights FIDE’s continuing commitment to making chess accessible to everyone, regardless of physical abilities. With strong representation across continents and organizations, Astana is set to welcome a truly global competition that embodies the spirit of inclusion and the universal language of chess.

List of teams qualified for 2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities

editor_d — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 16:27:24 +0000

The 2nd Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities will take place from October 19 to 26, 2025, in Astana, Kazakhstan. Organized by FIDE and hosted by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, this major international event highlights FIDE’s ongoing commitment to inclusion and accessibility in the global chess community.

The Olympiad will bring together up to 34 teams from across the world, composed of players with visual, hearing, and physical impairments. Each team will consist of four players (with at least one from each gender), one captain/reserve, and one accompanying person. The competition will be held at the Paralympic Training Centre in Astana, a venue specially adapted to accommodate the needs of all participants.

So far, 32 teams have qualified for the event, with two teams to be nominated by the FIDE President.

Continental qualification

Europe – 9 teams

Poland
Hungary
Israel
Ukraine
Germany
Croatia
Czech Republic
North Macedonia
Serbia

Asia – 7 teams

FIDE
Philippines
India
Iran
Bangladesh
Myanmar
Uzbekistan

Americas – 6 teams

Cuba
Venezuela
Argentina
Colombia
USA
Chile

Africa – 5 teams

Egypt
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Tunisia
Uganda

Teams from the FIDE affiliated organizations – International Associations of Players with Disabilities – 3 teams

International Braille Chess Association (IBCA)
International Chess Committee of the Deaf (ICCD)
International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA)

Nominations of the FIDE President – 2 teams

Teams from the hosting federation – 2 teams

Kazakhstan 1
Kazakhstan 2

The first edition of the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities was held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2023, marking a historic milestone for accessible chess. The event drew global attention for its inclusive spirit and high-level organization, laying the foundation for a growing tradition.

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities Regulations (PDF)

For registration and queries, federations are encouraged to contact: dis@fide.com.

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities set for October 2025 in Astana

editor_d — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 08:03:41 +0000

FIDE is proud to announce that the 2nd Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities will take place from October 19 to 26, 2025, in Astana, Kazakhstan. Organized by FIDE and hosted by the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, this major international event underscores FIDE’s ongoing commitment to inclusion and accessibility in the global chess community.

“We are proud that our capital will host such a significant event, where each participant can showcase their intellect, resilience, and passion for chess. This Olympiad is more than just a competition; it is a powerful symbol of inclusion, equal opportunity, and respect for every individual. For us, it is also an important marker that Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan Chess Federation are consistently working to create an environment where everyone has the chance to realize their full potential. We are confident that the tournament will leave a lasting impression on all participants and guests – and we, in turn, will do our best to ensure its successful and meaningful execution. We are also deeply grateful to the Mayor of Astana, Zhenis Kassymbek, for his invaluable support of this tournament,” — Timur Turlov, President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation

“The Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities is a celebration of human potential and the spirit of competition. We are deeply grateful to the Kazakhstan Chess Federation for their dedication and hospitality. Their efforts will help us deliver an unforgettable experience for all participants. As 2025 marks the Year of Social Chess in FIDE, this event perfectly embodies our mission to promote chess as a game for everyone, regardless of physical ability,” — Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President

The competition will follow a 6-round Swiss system, with games played under classical time control. In addition to team medals and trophies, individual board prizes and special awards—including recognitions for youngest and oldest players in various categories—will be presented.

The first edition of the Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities was held in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2023, and marked a historic milestone for accessible chess events. It attracted global attention for its inclusive spirit and high-level organization, setting the stage for a growing tradition.

2nd FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities Regulations (PDF)

For registration and queries, federations are encouraged to contact: dis@fide.com.

FIDE World Championships 2026: Call for bids

KN — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 12:07:59 +0000

FIDE Events Commission announces “Call for Bids FIDE World Championships 2026” and invites FIDE member federations to participate.

The bid deadline is September 15, 2024, 15:00 CET.

There are eight competitions on the list:

World Youth U14, U16, U18 Championships
World Junior U20 Chess Championships
World Cadet & Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships
World Schools Team Chess Championships
World Senior Chess Championships (50+, 65+ Individual)
World Senior Team Chess Championships (50+, 65+)
World Amateur Chess Championships
World Disabled Chess Championships

Dear bidders, you can find more details about the procedure including the Bid, Bid Form, Bid Form Annex, and Deposit Fees, HERE.

Winners crowned at ICCD World Deaf Chess Championship 2024

KN — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 14:54:07 +0000

ICCD World Deaf Chess Championship 2024 recently concluded in Belgrade, Serbia.

Founded in 1949 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the International Chess Committee of the Deaf (ICCD) sees its main goal in popularizing chess playing among deaf people of all nations, upgrading their cultural level and chess proficiency, and achieving close international cooperation between deaf chess players in their game pursuant to the chess rules and in any other sports events.

The championship, which ran from June 25 to July 6, brought together hearing-impaired players representing 26 national federations. The program included six main competitions in open, women, junior, and senior categories, as well as several side events.

The 18th ICCD World Individual Deaf Chess Championship, a nine-round Swiss tournament, was a fiercely competitive event. The rating favorites Yehuda Gruenfeld (Israel) and Pawel Piekielny (Poland) dominated the field, both scoring 7/9 and tying for first place. The Israeli GM secured the victory on a superior Buchholz tiebreak, with the 25th seed Sultan Kozhakhmetov of Kazakhstan taking bronze.

18th ICCD World Individual Deaf Championship final standings

WIM Tatiana Baklanova and WCM Natalya Myronenko (both from Ukraine) were in a league of their own in the 8th ICCD World Individual Deaf Ladies Chess Championship. The Ukrainians netted an impressive 8/9 and shared the top position, with Tatiana capturing the title thanks to just a 0.5 Bucholz difference. Zuzanna Lukasik of Poland finished third.

8th ICCD World Individual Deaf Ladies Championship final standings

The champions, Yehuda Gruenfeld and Tatiana Baklanova, confirmed their class, winning blitz events. Tatiana earned a triple crown, also taking the women’s rapid event, while Pawel Piekielny triumphed in the open rapid tournament.

In the 4th ICCD World Deaf Individual Senior Championship, just 0.25 Sonneborn Berger points separated the champion, Sergej Salov (Germany), from the runner-up Berik Nurymov (Kazakhstan). Both scored 5/7 and tied for first place. Abdigappar Adilbaev (Uzbekistan) completed the podium thanks to a better tiebreaker over Jaroslav Schmid.

The top seeds, Marsel Shayusupov (Uzbekistan) and Bruno Glas (Slovenia) reigned supreme in the junior event and tied for the top position with 8/9. Thanks to a slightly better Sonneborn Berger, the title goes to Marcel, while his countryman Sardor Turgunboev won bronze.

ICCD official website: chessdeaf.org/

Call for Bids: FIDE World Championships 2025

KN — Tue, 28 May 2024 15:59:41 +0000

FIDE Events Commission announces the procedure “Call for Bids FIDE World Championships 2025” and invites FIDE member Federations to participate.

The deadline for submitting bids is July 1, 2024, 15:00 CET.

There are competitions on the list:

World Junior U20 Chess Championships
World Youth U16 Olympiad
World Schools Team Chess Championships
World Disabled Chess Championships

Dear bidders,

You can find more details about the procedure, including the Bid Form and Its Annex and bid and Deposit Fees, HERE.

Marcin Tazbir triumphs at IBCA World Championship

KN — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:06:57 +0000

Marcin Tazbir is the new IBCA World Champion. The Polish GM completed the World Championship for Blind and Visually Impaired undefeated with an excellent score of 8 points in 9 games. Congratulations!

The defending champion, IM Predrag Nikac (Montenegro), took second place with 7.5 points, while bronze went to FM Alexey Streltsov (Israel) after a six-person tiebreak.

The nine-round Swiss tournament featured 82 players from 29 countries. Among them were one GM, five IMs and three FMs, making it one of the strongest IBCA World Championships ever.

Final standings:

1	GM	Tazbir, Marcin	POL	2499	8
2	IM	Nikac, Predrag	MNE	2283	7½
3	FM	Streltsov, Alexey	ISR	2343	6½
4		Djakashov, Kuralbay	UZB	2133	6½
5		Kolpakov, Vladyslav	UKR	2238	6½
6	CM	Jandric, Damjan	SRB	2090	6½
7		Bibikov, Yuriy	KAZ	2050	6½
8		Adiyaman, Rene	GER	2122	6½
9	IM	Stachanczyk, Jacek	POL	2066	6
10	IM	Dukaczewski, Piotr	POL	2088	6

Complete results

The closing ceremony of the event turned into a great night with the prize awards to the winners and a spectacular show of traditional Greek music with local singers and dancers.

The cups and medals to the winners were presented by the Deputy Mayor of Rhodes, Konstantinos Taraslias, the President of the Aegean Consumers Association, Georgios Avgerinos and the newly elected President of IBCA, Jörgen Magnusson.

Everyone is already looking forward to the next IBCA World Championship in 2025!

Photo highlights of the event:
facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=chessingreece&set=a.802210368367921

IBCA official website: ibca-info.org

2023 IBCA World Championship: Tazbir leads, Magnusson elected as new President

KN — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 13:20:08 +0000

After seven rounds played at the The 2023 IBCA World Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Rhodes, GM Marcin Tazbir of Poland is leading the race with 6.5 points. IM Predrag Nikac (Montenegro) is following closely with 6.0 points while FM Alexey Streltsov (Israel) and Yuriy Bibikov (Kazakhstan) are tied for third place on 5.5/7.

Top 10 after seven rounds:

1	GM	Tazbir, Marcin	POL	2499	6½
2	IM	Nikac, Predrag	MNE	2283	6
3	FM	Streltsov, Alexey	ISR	2343	5½
4		Bibikov, Yuriy	KAZ	2050	5½
5	IM	Dukaczewski, Piotr	POL	2088	5
6		Kolpakov, Vladyslav	UKR	2238	5
7	IM	Stachanczyk, Jacek	POL	2066	5
8		Grybas, Gintaras	LTU	1921	5
9	FM	Magnusson, Jorgen	SWE	2240	5
10	IM	Nizam, Rasim	BUL	2150	5

Complete standings and Round 8 pairings

The IBCA Congress was also held in Rodos Palace hotel on Sunday morning and a new Presidential Board was elected for 2023-2025, in accordance with article 1.3 of the IBCA Electoral Regulations. More details about the elections procedure and the 2 nominated candidates can be found on the official website of IBCA: https://ibca-info.org/2023-ibca-elections

A total of 52 countries are members of IBCA and 34 countries casted their vote. The final results of the IBCA elections 2023 were:

1. Ticket of Presidential candidate Jörgen Magnusson (Sweden):

Votes: 23
Percentage: 67.65%

2. Ticket of Presidential candidate Sergio Harnandan (Netherlands):

Votes: 11
Percentage: 32.35%

The President of IBCA for the term 2023-2025 now is FM Jörgen Magnusson (pictured below). The new Presidential Board also includes IM Piotr Dukaczewski (Poland) and IM Nikos Kalesis (Greece) as Vice-Presidents, Olivier Deville (France) as General Secretary and Thorsten Müller (Germany) as Treasurer.

The previous President of IBCA Dr. Jadhav Charudatta (India) has been approved unanimously by the Congress as Honorary President in recognition of his tremendous work for IBCA.

Photo highlights of the event: https://facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=chessingreece&set=a.802210368367921

IBCA official website: ibca-info.org

2023 IBCA World Championship starts in Rhodes, Greece

KN — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 05:31:29 +0000

The 2023 IBCA World Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired kicked off on Monday, October 9, at the 5-star Rodos Palace Conference Hotel in Rhodes, Greece. The nine-round Swiss tournament features 82 players from 29 countries. Among them are one GM, five IMs and three FMs, making it one of the strongest IBCA World Championships ever.

The President of IBCA, Dr Jadhav Charudatta, together with IBCA Vice-President Nikos Kalesis, welcomed the players and wished them the best of success. Dr Jadhav Charudatta also played the ceremonial 1st move of the tournament, officially launching the Championship.

GM Marcin Tazbir (2499) of Poland tops the starting list, while FM Alexey Streltsov (2343, Israel), IM Predrag Nikac (2283, Montenegro), IM Oliver Mueller (2275, Germany) and FM Jorgen Magnusson (2240, Sweden) complete the top-5 rating favourites.

Tournament schedule (local time):

09/10, 16:00 -> Round 1
10/10, 16:00 -> Round 2
11/10, 16:00 -> Round 3
12/10, 16:00 -> Round 4
13/10, 10:00 -> Excursion
13/10, 16:00 -> Round 5
14/10, 16:00 -> Round 6
15/10, 10:00 -> IBCA Congress
15/10, 16:00 -> Round 7
16/10, 16:00 -> Round 8
17/10, 14:00 -> Round 9
17/10, 21:30 -> Closing Ceremony

You can find links to full results and pairings, tournament updates and photo highlights on the 2023 IBCA World Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired official website: worldchessfestival.com/ibca-wic2023.

IBCA official website: ibca-info.org

IBCA Facebook page: facebook.com/ibcachess

World Chess Championship for the Blind starts on October 08 in Rhodes

KN — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 11:52:19 +0000

The 2023 IBCA World Individual Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired will take place on the Island of Rhodes, Greece, from October 08-18. The event, organized by the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), the Hellenic Sports Federation for Persons with Disabilities and the Chess Club “Ippotis”, will bring together 80 players from 31 countries. The competition is held as part of the World Chess Festival in Rhodes.

The tournament will be held under the official IBCA and FIDE rules as a nine-round, Swiss system event, with one round played daily.

Blind people use braille boards for playing chess. Such chess board has special modifications that help visually impaired players. All the black squares are elevated a few millimetres to be easily identified by touch, and each of the squares has a hole in the center in which pieces are sturdily fixed with the help of nails in their bases.

The rating favourite of the tournament is GM Marсin Tazbir (2494, Poland), the winner of the FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities 2023.

“When people play with me, they don’t think about my disability, they may not notice it. But sometimes, playing with people with disabilities can be hard for healthy people due to the psychological fact that you are playing against a handicapped person. Even though you still want to win, sometimes you feel a little bit guilty for yourself that you are playing such a game. The tournaments where people with disabilities can meet together and compete are something special. For all of us, it is a great opportunity to overcome our limits.” Tazbir says.

The tournament will take place in the Rodos Palace Hotel on the northern seaside of the island.

Event Schedule

08/10 – Arrivals
09/10 – Technical Meeting, Opening Ceremony, Round 1
10/10 – Round 2
11/10 – Round 3
12/10 – Round 4
13/10 – Free day
13/10 – Round 5
14/10 – Round 6
15/10 – IBCA Congress, Round 7
16/10 – Round 8
17/10 – Round 9, Closing Ceremony
18/10 – Departures

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 regularly holds world championships for blind and visually impaired people.

Starting list of players

Regulations for the 2023 IBCA World Individual Chess Championship

Photos: Mark Livshitz