Chess for Visually Impaired Players
In a “mainstream” chess event
...two able-bodied opponents share a single chessboard with 32 pieces, rely on their sight to make moves, and use paper scoresheets to record their moves. How do blind and visually impaired people play chess? They use specialized Braille boards!
All the Black squares are raised about 3-4 mm above the White squares. By feeling the squares, the player is able to determine whether the square is a Black or a White one. Each of the squares on the Braille board has a hole in the centre so that the pieces can be fixed in these holes. Each of the pieces has a downward projection (nail) at the base, which fits into the hole in the squares on the board, thereby fixing the piece securely. All the Black pieces have a pin fixed on their tops helping the player distinguish between a White and a Black piece.
By feeling the raised or the lowered squares, the players can figure out whether the piece is on a Black or a White square. By feeling the shape of the piece, they can determine whether the piece is a Pawn, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Queen or King. The touch of the pin on the pieces helps the player to distinguish a White piece from a Black one. The player is therefore able to reconstruct in his mind the position on the board. He is now ready to take on any opponent, sighted or otherwise.
After making every move, the visually impaired person is required to announce the move aloud, so that his opponent comes to know the move and reproduces it on their own board. Instead of writing the moves on a scoresheet, the visually impaired player writes the moves in Braille or records the moves on a tape recorder.
When a visually impaired person plays against a sighted opponent, he or she uses a Braille board and set while their opponent uses a standard board and set. When two non-seeing players play against each other, each one of them uses their own Braille board and a set of pieces. The players announce their moves by voice in a language common for the opponents or in German by default.