Photographer Anastasiya Pentyukhina is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Blind (fold) chess’. To see Anastasiya’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Samsonova Anastasia, chess competition participant. Moscow.

The chess hall in the cultural and sports rehabilitation center of The All Russia Association of the Blind (VOS). The training and competitions are held here.

Suslov Evgeniy, FIDE Master (FM), chess coach. Ivanovo.

Chigarev Damir, multiple champion of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Ramenskoye.

“Blindfold chess” is a common practice among chess players. A person plays without seeing the board and announces their moves verbally. For visually impaired people it’s a given fact rather than an additional challenge. The chess games for visually impaired happen like that, although the pieces on board can be touched in the process.
As the sportspeople cannot see the board, they have to keep the game in mind all the time. Raising the player’s skill requires developing memory and spatial thinking. It is achieved through constant training and solving chess problems.
The chess community is in constant communication: they spend their time together, play online and help each other to get to the competitions.
Chess for the visually impaired mostly exists because of certain enthusiasts. The government provided grants cannot fully cover neither the organization of tournaments nor the team management.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from some form of visual impairment. In Russia, the number of blind and visually impaired people exceeds 210 thousand.

Nadezhda Vekshina, Russia’s champion in chess. Kostroma

Chess set and clocks, prepared for the tournament in Saint Petersburg.

Ivanov German, multiple champion of Russia in team tournaments. Saint Petersburg

Olga Sokolova, , chess competition participant. Kostroma.

Smirnov Sergey, two-time World Champion. Saint Petersburg.

Artist statement
Anastasiya Pentyukhina is a documentary photographer. Born in 1993 in the village of Pokrovo-Prigorodnoye, Tambov oblast.
Has been living in Moscow since 2015.
Her personal projects are focused on social inequality and inclusivity topic.

All images and text © Anastasiya Pentyukhina