World Disabled Chess Championships, 17-25 October, Dresden

[IM Jack Rudd]

More details are available on the tournament website here. If you want to enter, email me at [email protected] and I will arrange an entry for you.

[Martin Crichton]

Seems rediculous to stage such an event in my opinion. Everyone knows that being deaf or physically disabled does not effect your ability to play chess...unless you have no limbs and the poor person that would be in that situation would definately end up competing against others with much lesser physical disabilities.

And they have a section for visually handicapped...that part is ok but there are already established events for that.

Here is why I am against the organisation of such an event

Maybe 10-15+ years ago (GM) Jim Plaskett, (former British champion, winner of £250k on who wants to be a millionaire and infamous for breaking the aparthied ban in South Africa while he was the reigning British chess champion ) competed in a chess mind sports olympiad event just a week after he absolutely smashed Nigel Short in a (4NCL game?) .

I was disgusted to see that he won first prize in the disabled category because he had diabetes! (doesn't everyone have diabetes these days?...well 30% of the population anyway) I realise that I am probably going to get flak now for speaking my mind and voicing my opinion on this topic but hey ho...

As a footnote I am a little curious as to the thinking and motivation behind such an event...especially as it is being hosted in Dresden - Germany....(I am led to believe that German chess can get a lot of state sponsorship.)

As a second footnote....what's next? World chess ch for African American and mixed race people? (there is already an Asain games) World chess ch for small people? World chess ch for fat people? (I might even qualify for that one) the list goes on....

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Jim Plaskett, (former British champion, winner of £250k on who wants to be a millionaire and infamous for breaking the aparthied ban in South Africa while he was the reigning British chess champion "

and shamefully coached disadvantaged children in the townships, whilst he was in South Africa. Are there no limits to his depravity?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Plenty of things don't necessarily impinge upon one's ability to play chess. Being aged under 18, being aged over 50, being female, being a member of a particular nationality. But events exclusively for people who fit into one of those categories are established features of the chess calendar. Why shouldn't disability be a similar personal quality?

[Steven DuCharme]

Best wishes to all combatants!

[Martin Crichton]

Plenty of things don't necessarily impinge upon one's ability to play chess. Being aged under 18, being aged over 50, being female, being a member of a particular nationality. But events exclusively for people who fit into one of those categories are established features of the chess calendar. Why shouldn't disability be a similar personal quality?

I can think of plenty of reasons
there is no way of differientiating the contestants based on their physical disability....how do you categorise the groups? mild, medium, severe? As chess is a mind sport, the only way of grouping the contestants would be based on their ratings...and if there is money involved lol well I am sure it will attract some unscrupulous characters.... who defines what constitutes a disability...(in the example i mentioned above all said person had to do was provide a doctors note/certificate...organiser was unable to contest it)
I would imagine such an event is very demeaning to chess players with physical disabilities (but as I am not I cannot speak for those that are)...Would they like to be known as the disabled chess champion?
but as you say why not? I just find it bizzarre but as I say...bring on the fat peoples chess ch

[Martin Crichton]

"Jim Plaskett, (former British champion, winner of £250k on who wants to be a millionaire and infamous for breaking the aparthied ban in South Africa while he was the reigning British chess champion "

and shamefully coached disadvantaged children in the townships, whilst he was in South Africa. Are there no limits to his depravity?

that is depraved...how much was he paid? He should be a politician!

[IM Jack Rudd]

I would imagine such an event is very demeaning to chess players with physical disabilities (but as I am not I cannot speak for those that are)...Would they like to be known as the disabled chess champion?

I can't speak for players with physical disabilities, but as a player with a mental disability, I would be thrilled to become, say, British disabled chess champion.

[Roger de Coverly]

I would imagine such an event is very demeaning to chess players with physical disabilities (but as I am not I cannot speak for those that are)...Would they like to be known as the disabled chess champion?

It's well established and has been for some years, that FIDE allows teams representing those of poor sight, those of poor hearing and those with physical disabilities to take part in the Olympiads alongside those from national chess federations. There are international bodies representing these groups of which two are mirrored in England, being the long established Braille Chess Association and English Deaf Chess Association.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"that is depraved...how much was he paid? He should be a politician!"

I believe it was free - he tried to help and got a load of morons calling for his head.

On "disabilities", whatever nauseating PC term is required these days, the Paralympics has lots of different categories, so it is a commonplace concept. It is more of a disadvantage having a low grade or rating than being young, old, female etc., and tournaments can award whatever prizes they like.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

For some disabilities, it is considered more of a cultural issue:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_culture

"Deaf culture is recognized under Article 30, Paragraph 4 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states that "Persons with disabilities shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture.""

One of the interesting things about both Deaf culture and Chess is how they can both be global in nature, crossing national boundaries and uniting people from different countries in ways beyond just where they were born. Chess is, though, more of a universal language than sign language, as that various from country to country. But you will get deaf people from different countries who have more in common with each other than with hearing people in their own countries.

[Having said that, I was unaware of this specific event, and there are signs, IMO, of the recent expansion of such events resulting in too many events and not enough people available or willing to take part.]

[David Robertson]

On "disabilities", whatever nauseating PC term is required these days

What would you prefer? Retard? Crip? Spaz? Weirdo? Freak? All of them, like, back in the day? No need to feel restrained. Hate with the rest.

Plenty of things don't necessarily impinge upon one's ability to play chess. Being aged under 18, being aged over 50, being female

But these qualities do, or are held to, impinge on ability at chess: the young, less able by experience than adults; the old, less able by aging than the young; women, less able by the evidence than men. Times change, and we correctly delineate less severely if at all. But age and gender (and nationality) remain important identity markers, justifying a modest ceremonial treatment.

Why shouldn't disability be a similar personal quality?

It's a very personal quality. But unlike most (all?) other identity markers, disability is the most marked for social exclusion and discrimination (see the hate speech examples above). The question then arises: do disability communities (sight/hearing/physically/mentally impaired) best address their relative exclusion by separate organisation; or by demanding social inclusion? The first seeks accommodation; the second seeks change.

As far as chess is concerned, I only have a view concerning physical disability, a recently acquired status as my mobility has become impaired. Nothing of my disability currently impairs my ability to play the game. Hence I have no interest in any special playing category. But I go further, and fundamentally oppose such a special category because I believe it impedes efforts to improve physical access to chess. That's my biggest problem: useless chess clubs that play upstairs in pubs and elsewhere, making scant effort at accessibility.

Do I oppose FIDE's efforts, as advertised above? No, I don't because other nations may fall far short of our progress in addressing access and discrimination issues. So for the physically disabled of some other countries, dedicated tournaments may be an important expression of community solidarity. Not for me though. I want equal access, and no discrimination

[NickFaulks]

On "disabilities", whatever nauseating PC term is required these days

What would you prefer? Retard? Crip? Spaz? Weirdo? Freak? All of them, like, back in the day? No need to feel restrained. Hate with the rest.

Did the eminent professor really write that? Surely his account was hacked.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"David Robertson wrote:

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
On "disabilities", whatever nauseating PC term is required these days
What would you prefer? Retard? Crip? Spaz? Weirdo? Freak? All of them, like, back in the day? No need to feel restrained. Hate with the rest.

Did the eminent professor really write that? Surely his account was hacked."

Possibly, but probably not. I was grumbling about terms like "differently abled" etc., as if being in a wheelchair or being unable to see conferred wonderful advantages.

I will leave him to do the hating!

I agree with Ellen De Generes, "If someone calls you weird, say 'thank you.' "

[Brian Towers]

On "disabilities", whatever nauseating PC term is required these days

What would you prefer? Retard? Crip? Spaz? Weirdo? Freak? All of them, like, back in the day? No need to feel restrained. Hate with the rest.

Did the eminent professor really write that? Surely his account was hacked.

Well, yes. Normally he chooses his words with more thought and accuracy.

"Weirdo" and "Freak", for example, could so easily be applied by an ungenerous "normal" person to those chess players who take the game seriously enough to pay to play graded games. Perhaps we're all "disabled"? Perhaps that's closer to what Kevin was implying in these post-1984 times?