Charudatta V. Jadhav, president of the All-India Chess Federation for the Blind, said on Saturday that it was essential to develop an online software to help visually challenged chess players to improve their skills in the game.
Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the inauguration of a five-day National FIDE Rated Chess Tournament and National B Chess Championship for the Blind here, Mr. Jadhav said that he had urged Manipal University to ask its engineering students to develop a software with better navigational features to reach the large group of visually-challenged persons. The engineering students could take it up as a project at the graduation or postgraduation level.
It was difficult to get good coaches in chess. The dissemination of information through traditional channels was difficult. Hence it was necessary to use technology to larger number of visually challenged chess players, he said.
Mr. Jadhav, though visually challenged, is a chess player, and holds B.E. and M.B.A. degrees. He is now pursuing his doctorate. Mr. Jadhav said that the world chess championships, chess Olympiads and world junior championships for the visually challenged, were being held since 1951. But the country had entered this field late in 1998.
But the Federation had set targets and achieved them. In the last 17 years, the federation had conducted 400 chess tournaments for the visually challenged. It had sent 23 teams in to participate in various world championships. “Our teams have done extremely well in these tournaments and won medals,” he said.
The association had got good support from the corporate firms and institutes. “We have not only participated in world tournaments but also conducted three international-level tournaments in the first 10 years itself. Now, the association has 130 FIDE rated players,” he said.
But the association wanted the government to provide good infrastructure for the visually-challenged players to achieve more in the field. If the game was supported by the government, it would also provide more motivation for the chess players, Mr. Jadhav said.
Rajgopal Shenoy, Associate Dean of Kasturba Medical College, was present.
Facebook comments