Stephane Bressac Wins Unique 1st Blindfold Chess Challenge, Open To Everyone

IM Stephane Bressac won the first edition of the Blindfold Chess Challenge, a tournament with a unique format held July 9-11 in Valencia, Spain, where visually-impaired players faced off with non-impaired players. The 34-year-old Bressac was the only player to score five points out of six rounds.

The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), the organization for blind and visually-impaired chess players, has been represented at Chess Olympiads for many decades. Using special chess sets which they are allowed to touch, and helped by an assistant, the IBCA players face teams of regular players, who use regular chess sets. This week, an even more inclusive format was used for the first time in Valencia, Spain.

In what was a six-round Swiss with games of 30 minutes and a 30-second increment, held at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the non-impaired players were given a similar challenge as blind and visually-impaired chess players always have: to play without seeing the board and pieces. Everyone played blindfolded, which provided an equal playground for players with or without a visual impairment.

Both players made their moves by telling them in algebraic notation to an assistant, who executed and wrote down the moves. While the players with visual disabilities were still playing with their adapted boards, players without an impairment were allowed to consult the assistant about the location of the pieces and the remaining time on their clock.

The Chess Federation of the Community of Valencia organized the event to spread some of the best values ​​of chess: equality and inclusion. In other sports, it is virtually impossible to have visually-impaired players compete with everyone else, but in chess it is possible.

Bressac was not the highest-rated player, but as the only IM he was perhaps still the favorite. He won the tournament with two draws (one against Cuban FM Dexter Docampo Beltran) and four wins.

Here's his win from the fifth round, a clear example of how the presence of opposite-colored bishops often make an attack even more dangerous:

57-year-old Raul Blasco Frasquet was the highest finisher among the visually-impaired participants, scoring four points.

Perhaps because it was a fairly new experience for everyone involved, the number of losses due to an illegal move was relatively high. Some confused the notation (e.g. h7 instead of a2) while others forgot about pieces or pawns being on certain squares.

For instance, Docampo would have won the following endgame for sure if it hadn't been a blindfold game:

The Blindfold Chess Challenge was a six-round Swiss tournament which took place July 9-11 at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The time control was 30 minutes per game plus a 30-second increment per move. The prize fund was 2,600 euros (2,840 dollars). You can find the games here.

A live broadcast with commentary by WCM Adriana Palao was provided each day on the YouTube channel of the  Chess Federation of the Community of Valencia; this was the show of the third and final day.