International Braille Chess Association History of the Organization Compiled and Equiped with Combinding Texts by Hans-Gerd Schaefer Translated by Julie Leonard ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ C H A P T E R I Introduction 様様様様様様様 People have a fundamental need to measure their skills and knowledge against those of others - to compare themselves. Surely it can only be the evolution of mankind as a living organism that has brought about such behaviour. The pre-human evolutionary stage in particular has not only favoured but positively promoted this conduct both in the daily struggle for survival and in the process of natural selection that governs the reproduction of the species. Man, the "thinking animal", proved to be such a superior life form that its reproduction greatly exceeded all natural bounds. Consequently, mankind's need to assert itself against other species was lost and the battle for survival could then only be waged against man's equals i.e. members of the same species. Increasingly, it was no longer other species but fellow men, who began to set the limits for mankind that influenced the personal development of humans as well as their daily hunt for food. For in order to survive as a species, mankind was forced to find rules and standards of behaviour for living together, which were tailored to the population density that had been reached at the time. In some parts of the world it must be many thousand or perhaps even several hundred thousand years ago when it became impossible for every "pack of humans", or extended family group to claim their own territory. Initially, these communities sprang up because of the requirement to hunt as a group and the equally communal need to protect the vulnerable women and children during rest periods. Communal living substantially improved the conditions for reproduction and the resulting increase in numbers generated a momentum, which led to the hunt for meat being replaced with the domestication of animals and the gathering of fruits and grains being superseded by agriculture. The growing population density necessitated an extension of the rules and standards of behaviour for living together and as a result hamlets, villages, towns and national communities were formed. On the one hand, as the communities grew they became interspersed with specialised manual expertise and other skills, but on the other hand, each individual retained the instincts that had made mankind such a successful species. The inclination or even struggle to be the best is present in man, every man, from birth. He wants to be superior to others of his species, even if it is only in certain ways. Solely in this respect, social equality actually preserves some of mankind's unpleasant characteristics. Man, due to his very nature, is always fighting for individuality. It is for this reason that games are known in all cultures. Games keep man's competitive spirit constrained within civilised boundaries and virtually ritualise it. Furthermore, there are suitable types of these ritualised competitions for practically all age groups from infants upwards. Also, the rules universally change according to age and increasing intellectual abilities as well as the degree of physical development. Each individual has the opportunity to discover and develop his own abilities in order to make his mark. Nowadays this fundamental human need is met by organised sports, in which the spectator serves a peculiar twofold purpose. Firstly, he fulfils the active sportsman's need to be recognised and wondered at on account of what he can do. Secondly, by adopting the identity of the community (village, town, nation or whatever), he satisfies the inherently human needs and instincts that he was born with. For nearly three thousand million years there has been life on our planet. The forms it has taken have become more and more involved and complex. Over the course of time, one or other life form has developed to perfection each one of the skills supported by the various environments. Every ecological niche has been filled. Man developed only his intellect. In every other discipline - running, jumping, climbing or swimming - everyone can name dozens of species, or even "specialists", whose level of skill demonstrates that the abilities and chances given to man are so hopelessly inferior that no sportsman would ever even think of wanting to compete with them. Who would race against a cheetah? Who, in all seriousness, could compare his swimming abilities to those of a dolphin? Who believes he can climb through the jungle like a gibbon? In proportion to the size of his body, the take-off power of a human competitive sportsman is practically non-existent when you consider the same ratio in a flea. And which boxer, wrestler or all-in wrestler, however well trained, could take on an orang-utan? We are superior to all other creations of nature merely on account of our intellectual abilities. For every non-intellectual type of sport there can only be one single justification: In corpore sano mens sana. (A healthy mind in a healthy body.) 様様様様様様様様様様様様