| Assocname: | All India Chess Federation for the Blind |
| Abbrev: | AICFB |
| Sport: | Chess |
| Jurisdiction: |  National |
| Founded: | 1997 |
| Aff: | International Braille Chess Association |
| Affdate: | 1998 |
| Region: | All India Chess Federation |
| Regionyear: | 1998 |
| Headquarters: | AICFB, 45/20, BDD Block Dr. Bhosale Marg Worli, Mumbai |
| President: | Charudatta Jadhav |
| Secretary: | Manish Thool |
| Url: | https://www.aicfb.in |
| Countryflag: | India |
The All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) is the governing body for the game of Chess among visually impaired in India. It was formed in 1997 with a view to promoting the game of chess among the visually impaired all over the country.[1] [2] [3] It is registered under Society Registration Act, 1860; Public Trust Act, 1951 and Income Tax Act, 1961 – Section 12A.
Although the main objective of the organisation is to promote the game among the visually impaired all over India, the organisation has a set of aims and objectives such as
The AICFB is affiliated to the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) in 1998 and All India Chess Federation. Through this affiliation the AICFB has been able to integrate India with the rest of the blind chess-playing world.
The AICFB has a number of affiliated state bodies and more than 2500 active chess players under it all over India.
Till now the AICFB has organised 19 Zonal levels chess tournaments, 9 National tournaments & sent Indian teams 12 times to participate in the World Chess Championship. It has also organised the first ever Asian Chess Championship in December 2003, which was the first International chess tournament in India and the 11th Individual World Chess Championship for the Blind 2006 which was held outside Europe, in India for the very first time. Sixteen Indian teams have participated in various world events in the last ten years and the last one even returned with a gold medal from the Chess Olympiad for the Blind held at Crete in October 2009. The 14th IBCA Chess Olympiad was also hosted in India by AICFB in August 2012. In the year 2019, the Federation head disclosed that annually the Federation conducts 35-40 tournaments with 5 National,4 Zonal, and rest National A and B tournaments, and FIDE-rating contests.[4] In year 2019, for the first time since its inception the Organisation had hosted the first National School Chess Championship for the Blind at the Mumbai Maratha Fruitwala Dharamshala, Alandi, in which at least 200-plus players participated in the categories of u-10, u-12, u-14, u-16 and open categories for other age groups and is designed to be played Swiss League Format.[5] In 2019, the AICFB had also launched Chess Mitra, an app for the blind.
Till year 2016, All India Chess Federation for the Blind has more than 22,000 registered members, with more than 1,300 who play in national-level events.[6] Among them, 161 are rated in world, and to promote the players in competitions, Zonal events help players qualify for the National B and then National A, which is currently the highest level of tournament nationally.
In the year 2018, Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar had promised to support the National Chess Championship for the visually challenged during a blind chess tournament in which 14 blind players from across the country had participated being the prestigious event as the final winner was crowned India's National Blind Chess Champion for that year.[7]
According to Charudutta, the founder of the AICFB, the organisation has identified 38 schools in 16 states to initiate a programme for professional training.
National Executive Council