Anastasiya Pentyukhina

"Blindfold chess" is a common practice among chess players. A person plays without seeing the board and announces their moves verbally. For visually impaired people, it's a given fact rather than an additional challenge.

The chess games for the visually impaired happen like that, although the pieces on the board can be touched.

As the sportspeople cannot see the board they have to keep the game in mind all the time. Raising the player's skill requires developing memory and spatial thinking. It is achieved through constant training and solving chess problems.

The chess community is in constant communication: they spend their time together, play online and help each other to get to the competitions.
Chess for the visually impaired mostly exists because of certain enthusiasts. The government-provided grants can only partially cover the organization of tournaments and team management.