5th FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities starts in Lublin, Poland

The 2023 FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities, organized by the Polish Chess Federation, got underway in Lublin on August 18. The ten-day competition brought together 46 players from various parts of the world. With 22 participants, Polish players are the largest group in the championship, followed by the delegation of Ukraine, consisting of 12 participants. Other participants represent the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Israel, Kazakhstan, the United States and Angola.

Polish GM Marcin Tazbir (FIDE rating 2500; pictured above) tops the starting list, followed by International Master Daniel Pulvett Marin (2496) from Spain. The third seed is Polish IM Łukasz Nowak (2408).

Among the Women, the highest-rated player is Polish WIM Liliana Leszner (1936; pictured below), followed by her fellow countrywoman, 17-year-old Emilia Egeman (1870) and Woman FIDE Master Aleksandra Aleksandrova (1772) of Israel.

The youngest participant is 12-year-old Szymon Barszcz and the oldest is Sławomir Sobocinski (pictured below), aged 69. Notably, the entire Polish team that won gold medals at this year’s Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities in Belgrade (Tazbir, Molenda, Dukaczewski, Piekielny, Stachańczyk) is taking part in the competition.

The fifth edition of the championship, a nine-round Swiss tournament with classical time control, is open to all players with visual, hearing and physical disabilities. Rounds 1-8 start at 3:00 PM, and Round 9 begins at 10:00 AM. The playing venue is located in the Arche Hotel Lublin. The tournament director is Paweł Zaskalski, while the chief arbiter IA Sabrina de San Vicente officiates the competition. The championship is financially supported by the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Poland.