Notes from the book presentation by Turgay Seçkin Serpil for the FIDE DIS Commission in 43rd Chess Olympiad, Batumi on 27.09.2018

I am doing this presentation today not because I’ve been a chess trainer for the last ten years or because there is a visually impaired person in my immediate family, but because I have had a unique experience, which has culminated in making a presentation to you here in Georgia. As I was walking along the shoreline to watch the sunset, I saw two men sitting on a bench and found myself eavesdropping. One wore glasses and had a white stick in his hand. The person sitting next to him could be his friend or a volunteer, that I do not know. What I do know is that he was describing the sunset, the fishermen by the sea and the people walking by to the former and that I found it quite touching. Then I found myself thinking: “What can I, as a chess trainer, do for the visually impaired?” I have called the Six Points Association of the Blind Sports Club’s manager and talked to him. Starting from November 2018, I have been teaching chess at an elementary school and to the sports club through skype. In this brief period of time I noticed that there is no book that teaches chess methodologically to the visually impaired.

Yet I felt that there had to be such a book, because it required special attention. Knowing how to play chess on its own was not sufficient; educating the visually impaired necessitated a pedagogical education. By compiling the lecture notes that I used, I have prepared a textbook. But I believe this textbook will be deficient, for it lacks your experiences and includes only mine for the single year that I have taught. This book, which I'm writing currently, is a part of the project, that has been certified by the Turkish Chess Federation. The book will be a guidebook for all, who want to become chess trainers for the blind and visually impaired, and an audio-book will also be prepared to teach the basics of chess. So in case a single blind or visually impaired has no means to have a chess trainer, he or she will be able to download this book from the Turkish Chess Federation's website. Thus it will incorporate the "Seeing Hands" project of the Turkish Chess Federation and will expand it. I would now like to elaborate... Toggle full contents

I came here with the purpose of getting to know you, introducing the project and, with your help, start the “Visually Impaired Chess Trainer” field. I have decided to write a book full of practical information, with arbiter rules and the problems that might be encountered. I have consulted with Fatma Kamalak Yılmaz, an international arbiter, and received feedback from visually impaired chess players Kerim and Selim Altınok. The field of "Blind and Visually Impaired" is a separate field of expertise and it cannot be considered independent of coaching. For instance, a player's right to ask how much time he or she has left or my students offering a draw in order not to lose on time, of which they cannot keep track, even though they are better on the board. If they had an audio-clock, which would inform them of how much time they had left, they could easily use their time to the fullest like all chess players, without having to ask the arbiters anything.

After the Chess Tournament for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which was held in Antalya in 2018,Then my path crossed with the Dialogue Museum and I started teaching chess to the hearing impaired, as well as the visually impaired. When I started teaching at the Dialogue Museum, all I had in mind was teaching chess to the visually impaired but the harmony of the Museum made me face a peculiar problem. I was supposed to teach both the visually impaired and the hearing impaired simultaneously. My knowledge of chess, which I acquired at the age of three and kept improving thenceforth, and my FI document (Fide Instructor) availed to nothing because I was face to face with a problem that I hitherto had not come across and utterly unknown to me. Although I have had experiences with the visually impaired, I was inexperienced with the hearing impaired and it would prove quite difficult teaching both simultaneously. I made their acquaintance and then separated them into two groups, one comprised of those who knew nothing about chess, and the other of those who knew how the pieces moved. In May we united the groups and started working together with purpose. The method had transpired by itself on the way. In virtue of this concord and harmony I was teaching chess both by using the board, and by reciting notations of games. This simultaneous teaching led me to speak more refined and to express myself more clearly. There was a translator in the class, who translated what I said into sign language. As I was teaching the blind and visually impaired and the hearing impaired simultaneously, I learned a lot. Turkcell Dialogue Museum employees translated what I told to sign language. I also would like to write a chess dictionary in sign language, for chess knows no boundaries.

The History Of Turkish Blind & Visually Impaired

You may find the brief history of chess for the visually impaired below. I would rather like to rely on statistical data:

  • 1999: Chess for the visually impaired began with state support. There are only a few players in this time period.
  • Between 2000 and 2002 Turkey hosted various international chess tournaments.
  • In 2002, World Chess Championship for Blind and Visually Impaired was held in Istanbul. Due to several organizational problems Turkey could not take part in the international tournaments between 2003- 2007. 30-40 visually impaired people took part in tournaments in Turkey.
  • In 2007 negotiations have been held with International Braille Chess Association and starting from 2008 we started taking part in international tournaments.
  • The number of tournament participators began to rise but not yet a 100.
  • Until 2010 the tournaments were held in a single category only.
  • In 2012 Women’s Category was introduced.
  • All the while the number of blind and visually impaired players increased and reached 482 in 2018. The number of athletes is much higher; 482 is the number of people that took part in tournaments.
  • The blind and visually impaired can go to www.freechess.org and with Winboard they can play chess online. The blind and visually impaired chess players thus compete in tournaments online, which is open to all players. Thanks to this program the chess tournaments which are broadcast online can be watched live by the blind and visually impaired.

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Aims of the Project

  1. To increase the number of blind and visually impaired chess players.

  2. Teaching the blind or the visually impaired person basic rules of chess with an audio-book, in case he or she does not have access to a chess trainer,

  3. Pedagogical education seminar for chess trainers for the blind and visually impaired and creating a separate field for chess trainers for the blind and visually impaired.

  4. To make Turkish Chess Federation and the Handicapped Commission more active; to increase the number of chess trainers, who will voluntarily teach chess through Skype.

  5. To write a Chess Dictionary in Sign Language

  6. In the Dialogue Museum, where I work as chess coach, I want the hearing impaired and the visually impaired to play in the same team.

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