19-03-2014, 12:16 PM
This is going to sound like I am opposed totally to what Steve is saying but can I state that that is not the case, but with so many things from FIDE it is impossible to put into place.
Let me start by saying that I think chess does quite a bit for disabled players. When a blind player turned up for the 4NCL (which now has increments) with an analogue clock we tried to get him a digital (we did get one but it was faulty!). Another player in a wheelchair was given a wider aisle and a heavier set to prevent him knocking pieces over.
However look at the FIDE Guidelines and tell me how you put this into practice.
"4. A circular shall be sent out when all competitors are known. This circular contains an entry form with the usual points and questions, asking whether any potential competitor has an impairment that will require special circumstances. The competitor has to inform the organisers about the special circumstances at least 20 days before the start of the event."
If this is to be enforced entries would need to close about a month before the event!!!
Issues to take into consideration
2. The corridors between rows of tables should twice as large (wheel chairs)
What does this mean? There should be a figure given. As it stands if I had 3m wide passageways I would need to make the one to the wheelchair board 6m!!
Assistants:
1. The assistants should have a minimum knowledge of chess; the language is less important since most of the handicapped players only speak their mother tongue.
2. Assistants for blind players should know the name of the pieces in their language.
1 and 2 do not seem to go together. It also seems to contradict D.2 of the Laws of Chess which the Braille players fought so hard to remain unchanged in the 2009 Laws.
By all means let CS Scotland have a set of guidelines but let them be sensible and able to be applied. Please do not enforce badly thought out instructions on us.
Perhaps you and the Disability Officer should get together and alter the FIDE Guidelines into something which could be used in Scotland. You could then try to get FIDE to adopt those.
Let me start by saying that I think chess does quite a bit for disabled players. When a blind player turned up for the 4NCL (which now has increments) with an analogue clock we tried to get him a digital (we did get one but it was faulty!). Another player in a wheelchair was given a wider aisle and a heavier set to prevent him knocking pieces over.
However look at the FIDE Guidelines and tell me how you put this into practice.
"4. A circular shall be sent out when all competitors are known. This circular contains an entry form with the usual points and questions, asking whether any potential competitor has an impairment that will require special circumstances. The competitor has to inform the organisers about the special circumstances at least 20 days before the start of the event."
If this is to be enforced entries would need to close about a month before the event!!!
Issues to take into consideration
2. The corridors between rows of tables should twice as large (wheel chairs)
What does this mean? There should be a figure given. As it stands if I had 3m wide passageways I would need to make the one to the wheelchair board 6m!!
Assistants:
1. The assistants should have a minimum knowledge of chess; the language is less important since most of the handicapped players only speak their mother tongue.
2. Assistants for blind players should know the name of the pieces in their language.
1 and 2 do not seem to go together. It also seems to contradict D.2 of the Laws of Chess which the Braille players fought so hard to remain unchanged in the 2009 Laws.
By all means let CS Scotland have a set of guidelines but let them be sensible and able to be applied. Please do not enforce badly thought out instructions on us.
Perhaps you and the Disability Officer should get together and alter the FIDE Guidelines into something which could be used in Scotland. You could then try to get FIDE to adopt those.