Mental map: Johar (right) playing against Lennard Lai, 25, who is visually impaired, in the third Malaysia Lions Club International Chess Championship in Gurney Plaza, Penang. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Chess player Johar Johari may be blind but he sees moves on the chessboard better than most able-visioned people.
The 43-year-old, who is completely blind after suffering from retinitis pigmentosa – a disease that affects the retina – is a competitive chess player.
By lightly touching the chess pieces, he knows immediately whether they are a knight or a rook, and in his mind, forms a mental map of the chessboard.
“My late wife encouraged me to play after she read in the newspapers that two partially blind participants had won gold in the 2017 Asean Para Games.
“At first, I declined as I knew once I started playing chess, I could never stop. It’s like an addiction.
“I was also hesitant because taking part in tournaments incurs high costs, including participation fees and travel.
“After being encouraged several times, I took part in my first tournament in 2018,” said Johar, whose wife unfortunately passed away last year.
He is among the 23 disabled participants who took part in the Malaysia Lions Club International Chess Championship for the disabled on Saturday.
Initially, it took Johar time to get used to playing chess as a blind person.
He had to buy a Braille chessboard with a grid to avoid knocking down the pieces.
“I started playing chess when I was young – when I could still see – and I learnt it from my father.
“I managed to get into the top 10 in Melaka state schools council when I was younger,” he said.
Johar said while he felt frustrated when he first became blind, he was still grateful that he could once see.
“Now, I travel with my disabled friends to join chess tournaments. Life must go on. I have adapted to my disability,” he said.
Loo Pin Xie, 17, who has a hearing impairment since birth, started getting interested in chess when he was 12 and used to go for classes that came to a stop due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“I self-study now and learn from books as well as YouTube videos for around an hour a day. When there are tournaments coming up, I will spend more studying and practising chess.
“I can listen by wearing hearing aid most of the time,” said Loo, who is hoping to become a computer scientist.
The youngest participant Goh Sheng Wei, 10, already has his sights set on becoming a professional chess player since learning the game from his brother.
“This is the first time that I’ve participated in a tournament,” said the boy.
Visually impaired participant R. Thayalan, 13, said he was addicted to playing chess after a schoolteacher taught him the game early this year.
“I usually practise with my sister and father at home. It was challenging to remember the format in the beginning but once I got a hold of it, it was easy,” he said.
Organising chairman Elizabeth Toh said Loo emerged as the top chess player in the tournament, out of the participants, aged between 10 and 60.
