The 2023 IBCA World Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired kicked off on Monday, October 9, at the 5-star Rodos Palace Conference Hotel in Rhodes, Greece. The nine-round Swiss tournament features 82 players from 29 countries. Among them are one GM, five IMs and three FMs, making it one of the strongest IBCA World Championships ever.

The President of IBCA, Dr Jadhav Charudatta, together with IBCA Vice-President Nikos Kalesis, welcomed the players and wished them the best of success. Dr Jadhav Charudatta also played the ceremonial 1st move of the tournament, officially launching the Championship.

GM Marcin Tazbir (2499) of Poland tops the starting list, while FM Alexey Streltsov (2343, Israel), IM Predrag Nikac (2283, Montenegro), IM Oliver Mueller (2275, Germany) and FM Jorgen Magnusson (2240, Sweden) complete the top-5 rating favourites.

Tournament schedule (local time):

09/10, 16:00 -> Round 1
10/10, 16:00 -> Round 2
11/10, 16:00 -> Round 3
12/10, 16:00 -> Round 4
13/10, 10:00 -> Excursion
13/10, 16:00 -> Round 5
14/10, 16:00 -> Round 6
15/10, 10:00 -> IBCA Congress
15/10, 16:00 -> Round 7
16/10, 16:00 -> Round 8
17/10, 14:00 -> Round 9
17/10, 21:30 -> Closing Ceremony

You can find links to full results and pairings, tournament updates and photo highlights on the 2023 IBCA World Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired official website: worldchessfestival.com/ibca-wic2023. 

IBCA official website: ibca-info.org 

IBCA Facebook page: facebook.com/ibcachess