Four visually impaired Indians to challenge sighted chess players

Mumbai, Sep 1 (UNI) The top four visually impaired chess players of the country, as part of the preparatory step for the XI Individual World Chess Championships for the Blind, are competing with their sighted counter parts at the National B chess tournament which begins at Ahmedabad today.

The four -- Srikrishna Udupa, Madan Bagayatkar, Rajesh Oza and Darshan Patel -- will represent India in the world championship to be held from October 8 to 19 at the Radisson White Sands in Goa.

The visually impaired are competing with the sighted players on equal footing and on the same board with the same rules, a release issued here today stated.

All India Chess Federation for the Blind got affiliated with the All India Chess Federation (AICF) in 2005 and the AICF accepted the proposal to allow the top four visually impaired players to participate in the National 'B' tournament.

This will be a golden opportunity for the visually impaired Indian to hone their skills on the board as they will have to play their best chess in order to challenge the visually impaired Russian, Polish and Kazaks and give them a run for their money at the world championships, the release added.

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