In this warm and encouraging episode of Remarkable World Commentary, host Donna J. Jodhan, herself a blind advocate and chess lover, sits down with Voldi Gailans, Chairman of the UK’s Braille Chess Association, in a conversation that doubles as an invitation. Voldi traces his lifelong relationship with the game: first meeting the pieces as a boy at a Latvian social club, learning the moves on a pegged tactile board at boarding school with no strategy to guide him, and finding formal coaching only late in life, an experience that fuels his mission to spare today’s beginners those lost years. Along the way he dismantles the “mystique” that chess is only for clever people, explains how much richer the game becomes once you learn ideas rather than just moves, and reflects on patience, resilience, and learning to lose gracefully as lessons that carry straight over into life.
The second half turns personal and forward-looking, as Donna and Voldi trade memories of the BCA’s welcoming community, the Theme Break, the tournaments, the friendships, and float the idea of a future Canada-versus-UK match. Threaded throughout is Voldi’s conviction that chess is a lifelong gift anyone can pick up, now played over Zoom, phone, email or across the world online, and Donna’s own rekindled enthusiasm as a returning player. It closes on a note of genuine friendship and an open invitation for listeners to give the game a go.
TRANSCRIPT
Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary. Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners. Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids, especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate, author, sight loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator. She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise in access, technology and information. As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles, she just wants to make things better than possible.
Donna Jodhan: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Remarkable World Commentary. I am Donna J. Jodhan, a lifelong disability advocate and one who sees the world mainly through sound, touch and stubborn optimism. I am a law graduate and accessibility consultant, an author, a lifelong barrier buster who also happens to be blind. You may know me from a few headline moments. In November 2010, I won the landmark Charter case that forced the Canadian government to make its websites accessible to every Canadian, not just to sighted ones. And in July of 2019, I co-led the Accessible Canada Act with more than two dozen disability groups to turn equal access into federal law. And most recently, in June 2022, I was greatly humbled by Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee Award for tireless commitment to removing barriers. When I’m not in a courtroom or a committee room or a pottery studio, you’ll find me coaching kids with vision loss, producing audio mysteries, or helping tech companies make their websites and gadgets talk back in plain language. Everything I do circles one goal: to turn accessibility from an afterthought into everyday practice. I invite you to think of this show as our shared workbench, where policy meets lived experience and lived experience sparks fresh ideas. Now, before we jump into today’s conversation, let me shine a spotlight on today’s guest, a change maker whose world is every bit as remarkable as the world that we are trying to build. I’d like to introduce you to the chairman — and I hope I have his title correct — of the Braille Chess Association, based in the UK. I’d like to welcome you to our show. It is a pleasure and a privilege to have you on board.
Voldi Gailans: Thank you, Donna. That’s very kind, and it’s nice to be here.
Donna Jodhan: Great. So let’s start off with this question. You have written that in your 76th year, you find yourself as chairman of the Braille Chess Association — something that you say you never expected. Please take us back to the moment that you accepted that role. What made you say yes?
Voldi Gailans: Well, I was asked whether I would consider becoming chairman by my predecessor, and it did take me by surprise, because I never thought of myself as chairman material. I’m not a leader by nature. I like to sit back and try to help where I can. Having joined the Association in 1977, I look back on it all, and I think of what chess has done for me in all those years, and the huge enjoyment I’ve had from it, and my debt of gratitude to the Braille Chess Association. And I thought, well, I’ve been asked to do this job, I must give it a go, because I want it to thrive. I think what we give to people is something enormous. It is, as you said at the beginning, life changing. I think it makes such a big difference to all of us — blind, sighted, whoever. Chess is a good thing for anybody to do, and you’ve got something very special for life.
Donna Jodhan: You know, I have to tell our listeners that I met Voldi and his wife, Clare, the day before I returned to Canada from my European trip in June of this year. It was a sure privilege and a pleasure to have met you both. And you have changed my life even before we met, when you started coaching me. So thank you very much.
Voldi Gailans: Well, that was on a very low level, Donna. I’m not a great player. You see, this is one of the beauties of it — I absolutely love the game, and I’m not a top player. I’ve struggled all my life to get better, and I’ll still struggle for the rest of it, but I love it. It’s such a wonderful game. And I would like to feel I could share that enthusiasm and get other people to love it and enjoy it as much as I do.
Donna Jodhan: And I could hear it in your voice, and you sure have started to make me more enthusiastic about chess. So, Voldi, your very first meeting with chess wasn’t over a board at all, but at a Latvian social club that your father used to take the family to. Tell us about that little boy, fascinated by the shapes of the pieces. What did chess mean to you before you even knew the rules?
Voldi Gailans: I just loved — I came across this board, and it was a nicely made board. They were standard Staunton figures that a normal chess player would have. And I just liked the shapes; they fascinated me. I used to play with them, like children play with figures and make up games. I did spend some time while I was there, because I got a little bit bored — of course, Dad was chatting to his friends in Latvian, and we were just left to drift around quite a lot of the time, and this was a nice little diversion. Somebody did mention accessible chess to me, but it didn’t mean anything to me. I was only 8 or 9, something like that. But yes, that was my first contact with the game. And it wasn’t until I went to school — we’ll come on to that, won’t we. I’m sorry, I’m waffling on and not letting you ask the questions.
Donna Jodhan: No, go ahead.
Voldi Gailans: Well, all right. My real experience with chess first came at school, when we used to have games nights on a Thursday evening, and one of the games was chess. We had these tactile chess boards, which were just wooden or metal boards with holes drilled in and a peg at the bottom of each piece which fitted into the holes. In those days, on that particular design of chess set, the pins were in the white pieces. But anyway, this teacher taught a group of us the moves of the game, and that was it. I learned the moves and I thought, I can play chess. And we all thought, great, wonderful, we’ve got a new hobby. And we did, and we played games, but we had no idea what to do. We just knew the moves, so we moved the pieces, but we didn’t know what was the right thing to do. We had no idea of strategy or tactics. We managed to find the odd chess book with some games written down in it, and a history of the World Championship up to 1935 or so, and I enjoyed reading that. I’d get the board out and follow these games with no idea really what they were trying to do, these wonderful grandmasters. I had no appreciation, but it was something new, it fascinated me, and I had so much time in the holidays to do all this. I spent hours doing it with no real knowledge, which was such a shame. But over the years, of course, things improved, and I know better now. It all came rather late, but it was the most wonderful thing to start learning and to improve on, and I’ve had so much pleasure from it.
Donna Jodhan: Now, many of our listeners have never held a pegged, tactile set. Paint the picture of those Thursday games evenings at your boarding school, around your 11th birthday — the raised squares, the Braille books in old descriptive notation. What was it like to learn the moves, but not yet the ideas behind them? Tell us about it.
Voldi Gailans: Well, it was a very long time ago; I’m not sure that I really remember. As a child, you can do it — you pick up these things and you just do them, don’t you? You don’t think about how, or isn’t it hard, isn’t it difficult. It’s a fairly simple code, the chess code, really, when you think about it. The game itself is relatively simple. You know the basics, because each piece has certain movements; you learn what those movements are, and then you start moving them on the board. And the strategy and the rest of it comes later on — with instruction, with tuition, with playing games yourself, with experience, talking to other people, sharing things. It’s a lifelong learning process.
Donna Jodhan: It sounds so easy.
Voldi Gailans: Well, essentially that first part is easy — you just learn how each piece moves, and you move them. The difficulty is when you come to look at how deep the game is. At each point in the game, for each move, there are so many different options. It’s very complex. But you learn certain things, if you learn them properly at the start — like, for instance, when you’ve got those pieces in front of you, what sort of moves should you make, and what are your ideas in starting the game? I didn’t even know about opening systems, or the middlegame, or the endgame; they were totally unfamiliar concepts to me at the time. Of course, you soon learn, when you’re learning properly, that the first thing you do is get your pieces off the back rank and get them into play. Well, there you go — straight away you’ve got a whole lot of moves cut out. You’ve got a little plan, and it’s better than not having any plan. And that’s the very first thing you learn.
Voldi Gailans: And the game is littered with principles and ideas and little tricks that you learn. And then your imagination comes into play, and by experience, by playing, by looking at books, doing the exercises, even doing just problems — which I would think is perhaps a bit akin to doing crosswords, only all you need to know are the moves of the pieces. You get given a problem: well, mate in three moves, or five; find out how to win in your next move, or in three or four moves. You’ve got the puzzle there, and because you know what the pieces do, you’ve always got a chance of finding the answer. I’ve always thought, with a crossword, there might be a piece of information I don’t know, or a word I don’t know, and however much I try to do it, I’ll never get it, because I don’t have that information. But the chess problem is quite different, because you know the rules, you know how they move, and so you’ve always got a chance to solve it.
Donna Jodhan: I think you had told me that on https://lichess.org — lichess dot org — that website offers us the opportunity to go and solve puzzles. Is that right?
Voldi Gailans: Yes, I haven’t done that, but yes, I believe it does, and I think that’s accessible. I’ve just played games of chess so far; I haven’t done a great deal with it, partly through time. There’s so much to do, even just with the chess books I’ve got and the games I play, and of course family commitments and other things. But chess is very time consuming — or as time consuming as you want it to be. You could do it 24 hours a day and you’re never going to learn it all. But that’s part of its fascination, because there are so many different aspects to it. You make your choice, really, as to what you’ll study, what you look at, and make a decision as to what kind of game — whether you’re a tactical player, whether you’re an attacking player, defensive. You learn that by your own experience.
Donna Jodhan: Now, you have reflected that, for many years, you and your school friends played with only a rudimentary idea of what you were trying to achieve. Looking back, what was lost in not having a coach in those early days, and how has that shaped the way that you welcome beginners now — someone like me?
Voldi Gailans: Well, of course, what was missing was any ideas, any instruction — how you would open a game of chess, what to do with the pieces, where you want to put them on the board, why you want to put them there, what’s the purpose of each move. If you look at it like a story, in a sense — you start the game as White, you play your first move, and I think, oh, she’s done this, so I’ll do this, because… And it was the ‘because’ that I didn’t know. It was a complete blank. I just knew that the pieces moved like this, so I’ll move them. As time has gone by, I did just pick up things as I went along, but formal coaching, being taught in the right way, is so important, I think, to get people started and to get them fired up. Because once you get some ideas, once you know a little bit, you think, wow, this is fantastic. You might see a very quick checkmate and think, oh, how did that happen? Why was that such an easy win? You’re always asking questions the whole time and finding answers. You look at a chess position and think, what’s the best move I can do in this position? What am I looking for? And of course, the more knowledge and experience you gain, the more fascinating it becomes, and the better you become at recognizing.
Voldi Gailans: It is, after all, just a game of patterns, you see. You see a particular situation, or a similar situation, and through having played a lot, looked at lots of games, you think, oh, I’ve seen something like this before — and it gets your imagination going, and it helps you. Now, I didn’t have any of that; we didn’t have any of that help at the time. As a child, of course, you pick these things up so quickly, and your ability to concentrate and to work hard is so much greater. I certainly noticed the difference now that I’m 76. But as a child, you’re like a sponge — you soak it all up. Just looking at the juniors at our club, they are fantastic, and they are so quick. They play very fast games, and it’s just such a high standard as well, and it’s all because they’ve had proper instruction and proper learning. I really do regret not having had that; it’s a shame. But as a fairly mediocre player, I can truly say that I love it just as much — well, far more than I ever did.
Voldi Gailans: Because my understanding is growing, as it would to anybody who looks at the game. Anybody could play it. It’s not so difficult as all that, not to get the moves — there are six different pieces on the board, each with their own particular moves, and you can learn those very quickly. And then after that, that’s when the hard work starts. But, as I say, mediocre player that I am, it’s still fascinating, and there’s so much more to learn — so much more I won’t ever learn, but I’ll keep trying, because it’s just a wonderful game. And the social aspect is also wonderful. Now we can play over Zoom or by phone, and you have contact with people through something you enjoy. You can get out and about and go to a chess club and meet people. We’ll probably come on to those things, maybe. Sorry, I don’t mean to steal your show, Donna — I’m just so excited about this game, and I would love people to give it a go, because honestly, you’ve got something forever.
Donna Jodhan: You know, just listening to you, I could just feel the excitement in your voice, and certainly you have played a part in getting me back to playing chess. I remember I did not want to join the Summer Cup, the BCA Summer Cup, and you kept saying, oh, you’ve got nothing to lose, so go. And I did join. So I am playing this Friday against John, and I don’t care if I win or lose. I’m here to learn.
Voldi Gailans: Well, that’s a lovely attitude. You see, you just can’t lose by playing the game. And something else I think it teaches you is to accept defeat gracefully, and to be magnanimous and sportsmanlike. It’s a hard job when you first start — you probably go to a club, or play with people who’ve had plenty of experience at playing, and because you’ve had none, chances are you’re not going to win many games to start with.
Donna Jodhan: No, not so well.
Voldi Gailans: Well, anybody totally new, who doesn’t know very much… But of course the whole point is: at the end of those games, do you say, ‘I lost, I’m no good, I can’t do it’? Or do you say, ‘Hang on, why did I lose? There’s got to be a way of getting better,’ and you fight back? That’s the whole essence of playing. You have to learn to accept the defeats, because you’ll get plenty of them. But I always think that if you get a defeat, there’s a reason for it — there always is. Because if you play a move, you’ve got to have a reason: why are you playing this move? And if the answer is ‘I don’t know,’ then you find out — well, why? What should I play in this position? It’s just discovering, learning for yourself, and having a never-say-die attitude, not accepting defeat. And when you’re defeated, don’t let it prey on your mind, because there’s always another game, and you learn from the game you’ve lost. Have a look through it. It might be a very elementary mistake — you might just put a piece or a [rook? 00:21:27] on the wrong square, and it’s taken, and that’s the end of it. Well, you try to iron out those things straight away. You want to be losing because you’re outplayed, because somebody outthought you — then you can look at that and go on from there. But of course, we all make silly mistakes for no reason, and we can kick ourselves and think, well, why did I do that, and worry about it. But you mustn’t worry — you just pick yourself up, get on with the next one, and try to avoid making those mistakes again.
Donna Jodhan: At 16, you changed schools, found a chess team, and played your very first competitive games. And then there’s that wonderful idea you and a friend had, which was to play a game at a pub at every London Underground station. What did those early years teach you about chess as a way to bring people together?
Voldi Gailans: I think it was all rather subconscious. I played for the school team, not terribly well — I didn’t have a very high opinion of my chess. I was down the bottom. I probably did have the odd win. It didn’t mean as much in those days as it came to me later on, because it’s kind of grown with me. I’ve always played, even since I left school, and after that I played lots and lots of games. When I look back on it, I think, gosh, how did I do it? But I really enjoyed doing it. I’d turn out, week after week, to go to the chess club or to the matches. I never thought, oh, I shouldn’t be playing this, I’m not good enough. But since having more coaching and being a bit more focused, it’s really made me realize what I’ve missed out on. And that’s really why I want to see our coaching efforts bear fruit, and encourage people to start learning at any time, and actually learn ideas and learn how to play the game properly.
Voldi Gailans: Because when you do that, you’re inspired. You see the things that are done on the chessboard, and you think, wow, this is very clever. And you look at it, and you play a bit, and you think, well, okay, it is clever, but it’s not beyond me. I can learn, I can pick up ideas, I can use my imagination and come up with my own ideas — and that is wonderful. Some people play… they look at a book and they learn a screed of stuff, they learn move after move, which is a terrible way to learn, because of course you can’t possibly learn like that. At any point, if somebody then plays something different, the position is totally different, and your line of moves doesn’t work anymore. So you have to be very careful not to do that, and try to learn ideas, and to learn to use your imagination.
Donna Jodhan: It sounds as if you are very high on using your imagination. Is that right?
Voldi Gailans: Yes, I think so, I try to. And the more you see — you can play lots of games, and you can get advice about what you did wrong; you can look at master games, particularly ones that have annotations that you can understand — and that, playing through the games, gives you ideas. Doing the tactical exercises… there are books that concentrate on particular tactical motifs, and you can do the exercises, and you see these things happening, and you think, wow, now I can try to put these into my game. Because you’ve seen them, you think, okay, I can try this. If you’ve never seen them, they probably won’t occur to you. But that’s where chess literature is so important. And the very first thing I always try to teach people when I do any coaching is to teach them the notation, so that you can learn not only to make the moves, but to express them, either in words or in writing. And of course, once you can put them into writing, you can share your games with other people; you can read other people’s games, and you can read the chess books, and read the grandmaster games, and read the annotations. It’s like literacy in language, and I think it’s very important. That pushes you onwards, and the whole learning experience just goes on and on. There’s always something to learn. I’m still learning plenty of things now, even at my age.
Donna Jodhan: I know for me it has helped me to develop patience and strategy. Would you agree that chess does do that for you?
Voldi Gailans: I would, yeah, absolutely. And it teaches you mental toughness, because you can play some very long games — you may play for two, three, four hours — and it’s all going well, and suddenly you make a move and you think, oh no, what have I done? And the whole thing falls around your ears, even though you’ve put in all that time to get to a good position. That’s a very familiar story. So you have to learn to be patient, and learn to accept that you make mistakes, and when you make them, you think, well, okay, I deserve that, I shouldn’t have done that — and add it to your experience, but don’t carry the baggage around to your next game. I liken that to life, you see. In my old age, it’s made me feel that this is what life’s all about: overcoming problems. How do you deal with a problem? My latest theory is, well, it’s only a problem if you make it one. You’ve either got to kick it into touch and forget it, if you can’t solve it…
Voldi Gailans: And certainly don’t worry about things you can’t control. There’s so much — when I think of the stresses I used to worry about, things that really I had no control over whatsoever, and the stress levels are just awful. You should never have to cope with that, and you need to learn to live with those sorts of things. I think chess has helped me to do that, because it is logical — you react all the time, you’re solving problems every time you make a move. It’s just so good for you. And I do believe it will be good for everybody. I think everybody should play, and really so few people do. I keep meeting people who say, oh, I used to play at school — used to — and they don’t anymore, and it’s very sad. I just think it’s good for us in the way that physical exercise is good for us on a physical level. Chess, I think, is absolutely fantastic mentally — it’s just wonderful. And everybody would benefit by playing, and the competitive spirit that you build up, the people you meet — it’s just a win all the time.
Donna Jodhan: You’ve described your first weekend congress so vividly — you know, the large carpeted hall, plenty of room at the tables, that atmosphere of silence and concentration. For someone who has never been to a tournament, what was it about that day that hooked you for life?
Voldi Gailans: I think it was just that — the silence, the concentration, you could feel it in the hall. You’re doing the same thing as all sorts of other people sitting around you, just trying to win a game of chess, with nothing else to distract you. Because it was the first tournament, it was very exciting, and I absolutely loved it. It got me wanting to play tournaments and matches. And although they’ve never been to a high standard, you’re always playing on your own level — there’s always somebody you can beat, and you can certainly lose to plenty of people. So whoever you’re playing, just treat it with the same equal attitude: well, I’m here to win a game, and if I make the right moves, I can win. A few years back, I had a nice win against our British champion. Well, that was totally out of the blue, and it may well have been that he dropped a clanger, but I’ll tell you, I’m still living on it. I always think, well, it could happen again, you never know. That’s what… I played with a lot of hope. And I try not to get brain fog and worry about how I’m feeling — just concentrate on the game, do your best, and keep going. Play game after game, and don’t let things drag you down.
Donna Jodhan: And soon afterwards, you joined the Braille Chess Association, and you played in your first British Championship for the Blind that very same year. As a young blind player, what did it mean to you to discover a whole community built around the game that you loved?
Voldi Gailans: Well, I would say it was part of the growing experience. It was my first British Championship, and it was nice to be playing in it. I think I came away with two points, which I was quite happy with, because I wasn’t expecting to do terribly well. It wasn’t a very big competition; we didn’t have so many players in those days. But I certainly remember the weather conditions — it was absolutely wild. It was in Blackpool, and it was winter, so there was terrific wind, and the sea was up, hitting the spray, hitting the hotel windows and— But, you know, it was a good workout for the first time, and I didn’t get nought, so that was good. Although I have been to at least two or three tournaments where I got nought out of six, or nought out of seven.
Donna Jodhan: Sounds like me.
Voldi Gailans: And I’ve come back for more, so I must have enjoyed it reasonably well to keep doing that. Even with my lack of acumen, it didn’t put me off, because you play as well as you can, according to what you’ve learned. And the fact that I’ve learned so much more since then just makes me appreciate how big the game is, and how much there is still to discover. And we can all do that — by playing, by experience.
Donna Jodhan: Boy, you’re really doing a good job at convincing me that I cannot give up here.
Voldi Gailans: You can’t — nobody should give up. Donna, I want to see people start playing, I really do, because I honestly feel that you can get enthused by it, by trying things and by learning ideas. You see something different, and you think, I didn’t think of that before, that’s really fascinating — and it drives you forward, it makes you want to do more in the game. The sad thing is, I think chess has a kind of mystique. People think it’s for clever people, and it just isn’t. I mean, obviously there are naturals, people who are really good at that sort of thing, but for everybody else, we have to work hard and have fun. That’s the main thing, isn’t it — to enjoy the game, enjoy playing, and not worry about losing or winning. Obviously, if you’re going to be really serious and competitive, that’s how you are, and that’ll help you be competitive, and you’ll always find ways to win; it’ll inspire you to work harder. But if you’re not that driven, you can still have huge enjoyment, and you can still learn, and you can still have fun, and learn so much. So I hope people who have never thought of playing before might consider doing it, because as a visually impaired person — and not just visually impaired people, but anybody — it would be of great benefit to them, and they could make a lot of friends, even locally. Just go to the local chess club, play some games, and meet people.
Donna Jodhan: The BCA reaches all the way back to 1932, when blind enthusiasts first posted their moves to one another in Braille. As its chairman, how do you carry that near-century of history, and how do you describe the association to someone hearing of it for the very first time?
Voldi Gailans: Well, of course, it’s come a long way since those days when Braille moves were sent by post — and of course, those games used to go on for months and months. In fact, until recently we’ve had a correspondence league and a correspondence championship, and the games would go on for 12, 18 months. But of course, with technology, we now have Zoom, and we can play by phone, and we can play by email — all different types of games. And then, of course, there are rapid games, where you have, say, 30 minutes on the clock each to finish the game. A lot of people now are playing five-minute, ten-minute games, which I wouldn’t dream of doing, but some people like it, and they’ll go for an evening and play six or seven games of chess. There are so many opportunities now, and of course the online possibilities are huge — there’s so much on chess online now. We didn’t have those in those early days. Even when I joined — this was 1977 — we didn’t have the internet, we didn’t have Zoom, we didn’t have the immediate contacts. And now, of course, people are able to play all around the world, play people in different countries, and there are competitions — you’ve probably been familiar with them, Donna.
Voldi Gailans: People are playing each other all over the world, and it’s absolutely wonderful. So it is very different now. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I hope we can interest more people, get more players, have more top players even — because that’s one thing we try to do, is to send people to international events. At times we’ve had matches against other countries, which it would be lovely to be able to have back again — perhaps not so much over the board, as occasionally happens, because of course it’s very expensive to send people abroad. If you sent a whole team, it would involve some expense, but maybe for special occasions, you never know. We’ve got a hundredth anniversary coming up in a few years’ time, so who knows what will happen. We have a current match at the moment, a transatlantic match with the United States — a 15-board match with the US. I don’t know whether you’ve got players in Canada who’d give us a match sometime, Donna. That might be a thought.
Donna Jodhan: I don’t know. I’d have to scrounge up the people.
Voldi Gailans: We had one against France last year, which was good. So that may be the trend — because it’s not very expensive to organize; it just needs some work and organization. But we have so many ways now to play, and it’s absolutely wonderful, and anyone can do it.
Donna Jodhan: My clock is starting to tick down, but I wanted to ask you about the Chairman’s Cup for 2027. I’ve never been. I first went to the Windermere, in 2013, and then again in 2019.
Voldi Gailans: Yes, the Theme Break is an opportunity. It’s a week, really for beginners, for people new to chess, and we have some coaching sessions, and we have a little mini-tournament for people to take part in. Socially, it’s a chance to meet people and to introduce them gently to chess. And that was what you attended, Donna, wasn’t it?
Donna Jodhan: Yeah. But tell me about the event for next year. If I were to come, what would I expect to be a part of?
Voldi Gailans: Oh, well, that’s a more — well, ‘formal’ isn’t quite the right word, but it’s a tournament. It’s a seven-round tournament, and you play one game a day, quite a long game — probably two hours each on the clock, something like that, I would guess. And you’d have the rest of the week free to mix and mingle and to do what you like and have a holiday. So after your game in the day, you’ve got the rest of the time free. That, hopefully, would make you want to come. I very much hope you will.
Donna Jodhan: What types of activities are there in Bournemouth?
Voldi Gailans: Oh gosh. Well, I think we usually have some entertainments at an event like this. People run quizzes, and sort of panel-type games. We have entertainers in to do evening performances, all of which are optional, of course. And of course there will be things going on in Bournemouth — we can get information from the local offices that will tell you what’s going on around the area at the time. But you’re in the hotel the whole time, and if you want to go out and do things, then obviously you can do that.
Donna Jodhan: Are things organised for you, though? Are events organised, as they were at Windermere?
Voldi Gailans: It depends — perhaps not so much. I mean, obviously, if you’ve got a sighted guide, you’re more likely to get out and go and do things anyway. I think it is one of the things that, if you come on your own as a visually impaired person, you do have to decide what you’re going to do with your time when you’re not playing. But that’s kind of always been the thing, really. If you were interested in particular things, I expect things could be found out about what’s going on. I know on one occasion we went to a nice concert at the lighthouse, which was very nice. So it depends who comes, what organizers are there. But it’ll be very friendly, and I can certainly guarantee you a big welcome if you do decide you want to come.
Donna Jodhan: You guys have always welcomed me. Each time I’ve — you know, when I went to Windermere, on those two occasions, I felt like a celebrity.
Voldi Gailans: Oh, well, that’s good, that’s good. So you should be — it’s lovely. We certainly enjoyed meeting you, it was lovely, and I certainly hope we will again. I’m glad to hear you might think of coming.
Donna Jodhan: I’m thinking about it. But then again, how far is Bournemouth from Liverpool?
Voldi Gailans: Oh, quite a long way.
Donna Jodhan: Quite a—
Voldi Gailans: Long way, yes. The other end of the country.
Donna Jodhan: Oh, dear. Okay. I have enjoyed this interview. I have learned a lot about how one thinks about chess. I started playing way back in 2003, I think, and then I slacked off for a few years, and only decided to come back after my second visit to Windermere in 2019, where I met Mark Kirkham. Mark has been very patient with me. And now you and your wife Clare has promised me a game, hasn’t she?
Voldi Gailans: She has, yeah. Well, do drop her a line, won’t you? I’m sure she’ll be happy to play you.
Donna Jodhan: I’m going to ask you to send me her email address.
Voldi Gailans: I can do that. It’s the same as mine, only it’s C instead of V.
Donna Jodhan: Instead of V, a C.
Voldi Gailans: Yeah.
Donna Jodhan: Okay.
Voldi Gailans: But I’ll send it to you anyway.
Donna Jodhan: Okay, no problem. Are there any parting words of wisdom from the chairman before I let you go?
Voldi Gailans: I’m very new, I’m still learning, very much so. No, I think my basic message is that chess is for everybody, and I hope anybody listening will consider giving it a go, because it’s such a huge and wonderful thing. Getting started is not a problem, but after that, the learning starts — and you play games, you look at chess material, you discuss with people, you work a lot on your own, deciding how you’re going to study, what you’re going to study, because it’s endless. You’ll have it for life, and you’ll never be able to do it all, but the whole subject is just so fascinating. And the enjoyment in playing, particularly once you’ve really got going and are learning ideas, is phenomenal. It’s great. You don’t have to be a real wizard to enjoy it and have the fun, because most of my chess life I’ve had very little tuition, and I’ve absolutely loved it. And since I’ve had some tuition, it’s absolutely fantastic. So our aim in the BCA now is to try and get people started with a proper start, so they don’t have the experience that I had, with all those years of not being taught. We certainly like to think we can try to help people get started and to enjoy their chess.
Donna Jodhan: I think, for me, I will promise you this: I’d like to continue having you coach me, and to play one or two games against your lovely wife.
Voldi Gailans: Oh, well, we can do that.
Donna Jodhan: Yeah. And the other thing I promise you I’m going to do is put out a call for anyone who plays chess in Canada, and see whether we can — how many members would you want to be on the team, though?
Voldi Gailans: Oh, as many as you can get. I’m sure we can — see who you can get, let’s see what happens, see what comes of it. That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?
Donna Jodhan: That would be for maybe next year, I don’t know, but I’m going to put out the call soon, and I promise you that.
Voldi Gailans: Maybe you’d like to captain the Canada team.
Donna Jodhan: Oh, good Lord, no. I don’t know.
Voldi Gailans: Well, actually, I did play a French Canadian last year, in our match against France. He was playing for France, so I was a traitor — I expected to be able to play for Canada as well. And he was a good player, too.
Donna Jodhan: Was that Olivier Deville?
Voldi Gailans: No, it wasn’t. You know, Donna, I’m sorry, I can’t remember his name.
Donna Jodhan: Oh, okay.
Voldi Gailans: But there are some players. Is there a Canadian association — a chess association for the blind?
Donna Jodhan: No, not that I know of. No.
Voldi Gailans: Oh, what a shame, what a shame.
Donna Jodhan: Yeah. But we’ll see — I will start seeing who I can capture. And when would be a good time for this to take place next year? What time?
Voldi Gailans: Well, let’s see whether it’s on first, and then we’ll think about — yes, it would have to be fitted into a schedule, I suppose. But let’s see whether it’s feasible, and then we can decide on anything else. And Olivier will know the names of these French Canadians — I think there are at least a couple of them, so I’m sure he would know them.
Donna Jodhan: Okay.
Voldi Gailans: So, it’s been lovely, Donna. Thank you for asking me. I hope it’s been worthwhile for you, and I hope all your listeners will find it so. And I hope to hear that many people have been starting.
Donna Jodhan: It’s been a pleasure and a privilege for me, and I’ve truly enjoyed this, and I look forward to continuing my work with you.
Voldi Gailans: Wonderful. Well, that would be lovely, Donna. I look forward to it as well.
Donna Jodhan: Have fun on your vacation.
Voldi Gailans: Thank you.
Donna Jodhan: We will talk to you on the ninth.
Voldi Gailans: Wonderful, wonderful. Look after yourself, won’t you? Keep very safe.
Donna Jodhan: Yeah. And don’t forget to send me the link.
Voldi Gailans: I won’t, of course I won’t. It’ll be just after we get back from Holland. But I will send it on, you know, a day or two before.
Donna Jodhan: Okay, take care. Hi, Clare.
Voldi Gailans: Yeah, lovely. Look after yourself. Bye-bye.
Donna Jodhan: Bye-bye.
Voldi Gailans: Bye-bye.
Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you, and invites you to write to her at donna@gmail.com. Until next time.
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA
Global Leader In Disability Rights, Digital Accessibility, And Inclusive Policy Reform
Turning policy into progress for people with disabilities.
Connect With Me:
🌍 Website: https://donnajodhan.com
📧 Email: donna@donnajodhan.com
✏️ Blog (1): https://donnajodhan.com/blog
✏️ Blog (2): https://donnajodhan.com/sterling1
✏️ Blog (3): https://donnajodhan.com/sterling2
✏️ Blog (4): https://donnajodhan.com/blogspot
🛒 Etsy: https://donnajodhan.com/etsy
🎙️ Podcasts (Web): https://donnajodhan.com/podcasts
🎙️ Podcasts (Apple): https://donnajodhan.com/podcasts-apple
🎙️ Podcasts (Amazon): https://donnajodhan.com/podcasts-amazon
🎙️ Podcasts (Spotify): https://donnajodhan.com/podcasts-spotify
🎙️ Podcasts (iHeart): https://donnajodhan.com/podcasts-iheart-radio
💬 Facebook: https://donnajodhan.com/facebook
💬 LinkedIn: https://donnajodhan.com/linkedin
💬 X1 (Formerly Twitter): https://donnajodhan.com/x1
💬 X2 (Formerly Twitter): https://donnajodhan.com/x2
📽️ YouTube: https://donnajodhan.com/youtube
🛜 RSS: https://donnajodhan.com/feed