The 3rd Blind Chess Olympiad was held in Weymouth, England, from March 29 to April 11, 1968. Twenty teams competed, with the Soviet Union finishing first, followed by Yugoslavia and Romania.
The Irish team of Seán Loftus, Willie Breen, Ernie McElroy, and Michael Keane had an outstanding result, finishing in tenth place, ahead of both Great Britain and the United States, the only time this has ever happened in any chess Olympiad. “It is not often in chess—or in other sports—that teams from Ireland find teams from England and the U.S.A. behind them at the finish” (Jim Corby, Evening Herald, May 8, 1968 p. 7). Indeed!
The OlimpBase report on the event has the final table and 14 of Ireland’s 44 games. (See also the games archive here.)
Philip Doyle has compiled a detailed account of Ireland’s long and distinguished history in events for blind and visually impaired players, and has kindly provided permission for the pages to be hosted on this website. A new page has been added, and a separate collected games page will be integrated here in the near future.