Echesspedia

 The International Committee of Silent Chess ( ICSC ) was established at Copenhagen on 14 August 1949 after an international Deaf chess meeting Mr. Dronkers, a local Deaf chess player from Rotterdam, was the man who paved the way for the ICSC to become the leading world Deaf chess organisation as it is today. It started in 1953 with an international match between England and Norway at Oslo. From that small beginning, the ICSC went from strength to strength. Mr. Dronkers saw how important it was to encourage outstanding Deaf chess players to play each other on a competitive international scale.

The ICSC is a body of national Deaf chess associations and is managed by the Board of five people, all of whom are Deaf and has its own Statutes and Regulations. It stages on the four-year cycle its own world individual and teams Deaf chess championships for both men and women, and European national deaf club championships. The rules of chess are those of FIDE’s. The only difference is that for any ICSC event, the Deaf player must have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in the better ear and must not wear a hearing aid during the over-the-board game. The FIDE Arbiter takes control of the ICSC tournament and is aided by a Deaf assistant who has a knowledge of international sign language when it comes to dealing with any problem which may occur from any Deaf participant.

The ICSC received recognition from FIDE on 25 April 1955 and the FIDE appealed to its member countries to support the activities and organisation of the ISCS events. Mr. H. Meurer (GER), Dr. Svabensky (CZE), the late Mr. O. Punschke (GER) and Mr. G. Vida (HUN) were the main Deaf stalwarts who ensured that the ISCS was progressing steadily and positively throughout the first forty years. The ISCS has chosen as its guiding principle: AD AUGUST PER ANGUSTA (through difficulties to greatness).

The trust invested by FIDE in the ICSC’s handling of both the chess events and ICSC Congress and in the ICSC’s conformity to FIDE standards was shown by the presentation of the flag of the FIDE to the ICSC during the ICSC Edinburgh Congress in 1992 as a token of appreciation. In 2002 a team with ICSC representatives has participated for the first time to the Chess Olympiads.

ICSC team vs India at the 2010 Olympiad

ICSC WORLD INDIVIDUAL DEAF CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

1956	M.Svabensky (CSR)
1960	E. Lulcev (BUL)
1965	M.Svabensky (CSR)
1968	M.Svabensky (CSR)
1972	N.Mustakerski (BUL)
1976	N.Mustakerski
1980	R. Pereira (POR)
1984	J.Kerc (YUG)
1988	D.Hadorn (SUI)
1992	S.Salov (RUS)
1996	S.Salov (RUS)
2000	V. Georgiev (BUL)
2004	V. Georgiev (BUL)
2008	V. Georgiev (BUL)

ICSC WORLD INDIVIDUAL DEAF LADIES CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

1996	T.Baklanova (UKR)
2000	V Gonchar (UKR)
2004	O. Grasimova (RUS)
2008	T. Balanova (UKR)

ICSC WORLD JUNIORS DEAF CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

2004 S. Zaynidinov (UZB)
2008 S. Zaynidinov (UZB)


ICSC WORLD TEAMS DEAF CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

1953	Norway
1955	Germany
1958	Germany
1962	Hungary
1966	Czechoslovakia
1970	Bulgaria
1974	Bulgaria
1978	Yugoslavia
1982	Yugoslavia
1986	Yugoslavia
1990	Yugoslavia
1994	Russia
1998	Russia
2002	Russia
2006	Russia
2010	Croatia

ICSC WORLD LADIES TEAMS DEAF CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

1998 Ukraine
2002 Ukraine
2006 Ukraine