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Rules & downloads

Rules and downloads


There are no separate rules for chess for players with visual impairments, only adaptations to the International Chess Federation regulations which make the game accessible.

Tournament directors shall have the power to adapt the following rules according to local circumstances. In competitive chess between sighted and visually impaired players (legally blind) either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a normal board, the visually handicapped player using one specially constructed. The specially constructed board must meet the following requirements:

  • At least twenty centimetres by twenty centimetres.
  • The black squares slightly raised.
  • A securing aperture in each square.
  • Every piece provided with a peg that fits into the securing aperture.
  • Pieces of Staunton design, the black pieces being specially marked.