How I Learned To Play Chess-Blind Instrumentalist – Opeolu Akinola

Opeolu Akinola is a rare gem. Being blind couldn’t hold him down. He plays different musical instruments and,of all games, Chess.

How he did this is the subject of the brief interview below.
Read his story:

Question: You play music. Which instruments do you play and how did you learn them?

Answer: I play keyboards, guitars and the recorder well. I play basic trumpet, tuba and percussions. I learnt keyboard as a student of Pacelli School for the Blind where I also played trumpet and light percussions in the school band. I self-taught myself rhythm, lead and bass guitars using Braille music books and Internet tutorials. I was trained on soprano and alto recorder by a dutch woman whose husband was an expatriate working with Shell Petroleum.

Question: It’s amazing you play chess. How is this possible, considering that you are blind? How did you learn it and what was the inspiration?

Answer:I learnt to play from my sighted colleagues in secondary school at FGCL Ijanikin where there was a tactile chess board in the resource room. The black squares on the board are raised and the chessmen have pegs that fit into holes on the board to prevent them from falling when I use my fingers to explore the game.