This tournament was held in memory of Peter Gibbs, who passed away last summer.   It was fitting that the event took place in Leicestershire – the county in which Peter had lived for many years.  Celia Gibbs joined us for the weekend. The exact venue was the Leicester Hilton Hotel and this was the first…

BCA Publicity Officer, Abi Baker, recently interviewed three people who were at the 30th Chess Theme Break.  Eleanor Tew and Irene Elbourn had attended as trainees and Tony Elbourn had volunteered as a coach.  Play the video below to find out what they thought about the week! The BCA is very grateful to Freya Smith…

In January 2024 members gathered at the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare for our 30th Chess Theme Break! There was a drinks reception to celebrate three decades of this remarkable event and we were joined by Councillor Ciaran Cronnelly, the Mayor of the town. It was wonderful that Celia Gibbs, who ran the Chess Theme Break…

Excerpts from a report written by James Connors A year on from the BCA’s 90th anniversary, it was a warm welcome back to Solihull with 21 players and three guide dogs prepared to occupy the chess room and battle it out over five rounds at the board across the weekend.  We also welcomed many other…

Gary Hogan writes: A few months after surprisingly finishing joint second with Steve Burnell in my first tournament in Harrogate, April 2023, I received an email inviting me to represent the BCA at the 2023 IBCA World Individual Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired from 8th – 18th October 2023, Rhodes, Greece. I…

The aim of the Summer Cup is to help BCA members keep their chess skills sharp from the comfort of their own homes over the summer months.  It’s an ideal event for people who cannot attend our OTB tournaments for one reason or another!  In this five round Swiss tournament, two weeks are allowed for…

Braille Chess Association – Chairman’s Cup The BCA held a tournament in the Marsham Court Hotel from Saturday 15th July to Friday 22nd July.  23 players took part, most of them visually impaired.  During the week, 7 rounds of chess were played and in the evenings the group enjoyed entertainment such as a quiz, some…

Members gathered at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate for our AGM Weekend Congress from the 14th to the 16th of April, 2023.  We held our AGM on the Saturday evening.  It was our first hybrid meeting, with members attending online as well as in person.  The Annual Best Game Trophy for 2022 was presented…

Nearly thirty players, guides, family members and friends gathered in Weston-super-Mare from 28th January to 4th February 2023 for a chess themed holiday!  The week started with a few days of coaching, during which six of our more experienced players trained ten other members in small groups.  There were also some “How Good is Your…