News

Blind chess film challenges ideas of vision

Published 21 November 2012

Event 25 November 2012

A documentary film on the thriving but little known world of blind chess in India will receive its world premiere this Sunday.

The film Algorithms: Four moves in, we are all blind by University of Brighton sports sociologist and documentary film-maker, Ian McDonald, challenges our notions of sight, foresight and vision.

It follows three blind Indian boys who dream of becoming chess masters and a blind player turned mentor whose vision is to put India on the global map and to empower blind children through the tactile game of chess.

The teenage players – Darpan, Sai Krishna and Anant – are filmed in their homes, at school and at tournaments to reveal their struggles, anxieties and hopes.

The film, the first-ever feature documentary on blind chess, will be premiered at the International Film Festival of India in Goa which runs until 30 November and McDonald will be attending.

The film opens with a chess tournament in Mumbai in January 2009 where the three boys are introduced.

It tracks them for three years as they battle through to the 2011 world championship in Greece. It shows how they struggle to balance their academic studies with their preparation for different tournaments. Their families speak about their hopes for their sons and their mentor Charudatta who not only analyses their chess strategy but also seeks to discover what motivates them.

Charudatta believes that with the correct infrastructure and training the blind can surpass the sighted in chess.

McDonald said: "Chess is an ancient and universal game with origins in India. When my wife Geetha (his producer) and I began this project in India in 2008, we knew what we were encountering was unknown, complex and beautiful. It started a journey that challenged our perception of ability and disability, of sight and vision. It prompted us to reflect on the forgotten significance of touch and of the materiality of our social existence in an era dominated by the visual and the virtual."

An AkamPuram Production, the 100-minute documentary is filmed in black and white and took four years to make. McDonald was awarded a University of Brighton Research Sabbatical in 2011/12 to work on the editing.

Anant playing chess in Algorithms

The idea for the film dates back to 2006 when McDonald was finishing work on a documentary about an Indian martial art. He read a newspaper report on a junior blind chess tournament in Kerala and was intrigued to know more. His research revealed that blind chess was thriving though little known. He knew then that he wanted to make a film about it, but didn't start shooting until 2009.

Originally it had been planned as a six-month project but he said the issues it raised about sight and vision meant there was much more to the subject than he had at first thought.

Algorithms is McDonald's ninth film. Most take a sideways look at art and sport, with the outsider in sport being a particular focus. His documentaries have been screened at film festivals, conferences and campaign meetings around the world.

For more information go to: www.algorithmsthedocumentary.com.