Chess and Blindness

I have come accross this article from the Utica Observer Dispatch which is a little close to me. I like seeing people with vision impairment excel, being vision impaired myself. I am legally blind in my right eye and 6 on 12 to 6 on 18 in my left eye. However I'm thankful for the sight that I have.

Take this guy in this article for example. He is legally blind in both eyes due to a mine explosion when he was working as a Bosnian Soldier. And yet even considering his impairment he still defeated people with sight at the New York State Championships in 2002, a tournament which he won! He recently came second in the US Blind Chess Championships. His Previous best had been in 2005 where he placed third.

In terms of Australian Players. The person I like to see around is Alex Momot. I see him at a lot of Central Coast / Newcastle tournaments and he recently participated in the NSW Open U1600 division. He always has his own board with the peg holes and pegged pieces. I've played him on that board in a friendly game and he spotted some tactics.

I just hope that as I grow older my eyesight won't get any worse and hopefully someday they can fix my Optic Nerve hypoplacia.