[Nfbf-l] U.S. Braile Chess Association, sends Representative to an International Blind Chess Tournament in Greece

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
The U. S. Braile Chess Association, of which I am currently Vice President 
sent a Representative to an International Blind Chess Tournament in Greece.
I thought some would be interested, as we have not done this in over 30 
years.
With Best Regards,
God Bless
Alan
Plantation, Florida
Alan Dicey, Vice President
United States Braille Chess Association - USBCA
"Yes, Blind and Visually Impaired People, Can, and Do, Play Chess!"
United States Braille Chess Association Home Page:
 http://AmericanBlindChess.org


This blog is about the 2014 World Chess Championship for Blind Players from 
the perspective of me, Alex Barrasso, the first U.S. representative at this 
event in over 30 years.  I will post results daily beginning May 5, and will 
certainly post an entry when we arrive at the event on May 4. Between now 
and then, I may not be able to post much.

In late January 2014, President of the U.S. Braille Chess Association 
(USBCA) Al Pietrolungo contacted me to ask if I would be willing to 
represent the U.S. at this year's World Championship for Blind Players! 
What a tremendous opportunity!  I jumped at the chance!  The tournament gets 
underway one week from today.

The World Championship for Blind Players is organized every four years by 
the International Braille Chess Association.  This year, it takes place near 
Katerini, Greece from May 4-15, and is being co-organized by the Hellenic 
Sport Federation for People With Disabilities.  So far, there are over 100 
players registered for the event from over 30 countries.  The tournament 
consists of nine games - one each day beginning on May 5, with an off day on 
May 10.  In each game, each player has 2 hours to make the first 40 moves 
and an additional hour for the rest of the game - potentially a total of 6 
hours for each game.  Medals will be awarded to the top 3 finishers.

So, after a 30+ year absence, how did we manage to send a competitor to this 
year's tournament?  Getting here was certainly a roller coaster ride full of 
surprises, but we pulled it off.  As I mentioned earlier, the journey 
started in late January.  Of course, participating in an event like this is 
not free of charge.  So we set to work immediately fundraising.  The first 
step was to create an Athlete Development Account through the USBCA's 
partnership with the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes. This account allows 
the USBCA to receive tax deductible donations to support competitive 
opportunities for blind chess players. Hopefully, this tournament will be 
the beginning of bigger things to come for the USBCA. We hope to participate 
regularly in U.S. Chess Federation events and to send a team to the 2016 
Olympiad for Blind Players.
But I digress. Back to fundraising for this year's event. The first donor 
was Bruce Leverett, who kicked things off with a very generous $1,000 
contribution and secured contributions from other individuals. Bruce has 
also provided invaluable guidance and advice along the way by helping me 
analyze games and choose a guide/coach for the event. A former colleague of 
mine, Jacquie Kubicki, also played a big part in our fundraising efforts by 
getting the word out on social media, resulting in several contributions. Of 
course, I owe a big debt of gratitude to my wife Brenda, who contacted 
friends and family to encourage them to contribute. She has also tolerated 
my absence as a husband and father while I spend hours preparing for the 
tournament and arranging logistics. But undoubtedly, the most touching 
highlight on the fundraising front are the efforts of U.S. Embassy Prague's 
Foreign Service National Committee. This is a group composed exclusively of 
representatives of the Embassy's Czech employees.  When the Committee heard 
about my participation in the tournament, its members decided to fundraise 
for me. They organized a bake sale on March 31. Have you ever heard of a 
one-hour-long bake sale that raised $888? I never had and probably never 
will again, but on March 31, that is exactly what happened. Committee 
members and others donated baked goods and sold them in the Embassy lobby. 
After just over an hour, the proceeds totaled $888. What a boost! Thank you 
also to the U.S. Chess Federation for pledging $500 toward the endeavor.

So, who am I, and who is the guide I mentioned earlier? I have been playing 
chess for 30 years. I started competing in events for the blind back in 
1992. I also played against sighted opponents. I live in Prague with my wife 
Brenda and our daughter, where I work at the U.S. Embassy. You can read more 
in this article published in Chess Life On-Line Magazine. Thanks to author 
Bruce Leverett, and to the Magazine's editor Jennifer Shahade for taking an 
interest in the story.

And my guide? His name is TK Khaw. I met him while working in Singapore, 
where we spent lots of time with our favorite pastime. Thank you again to my 
wife Brenda for suggesting him as a guide. I have no doubt that he will do a 
fantastic job.

My goals for the tournament our modest. Looking at the list of competitors, 
I am ranked 88. I certainly hope to finish higher than that, but only time 
will tell whether that happens. With such a strong field, finishing near the 
top is a tall order even though I have won the U.S. Championship for Blind 
Players multiple times. The mere fact that the U.S. is competing at this 
event is an achievement in itself - hopefully one on which we can build and 
that will help us get more USBCA members interested in playing more 
over-the-board tournaments.
Alex's blog from the 2014 World Blind Chess Championship

All:



As you know, the IBCA individual championship kicks off tomorrow.  For those 
who want to track my progress, I have set up a blog at 
http://www.alexwbcc14.wordpress.com.

I will post something daily beginning tomorrow.  The first round is on 
Monday.  I am ranked 88 on the wall chart, and am therefore likely to be 
playing the 36th ranked player in the first round.  There is already one 
post on the blog recapping the lead-up to the event.  Thank you to the USBCA 
for this tremendous opportunity.



Alex