ALBERT RUSSEL MILL

In 1932, Albert Russel Mill’s eyesight began to fade, and Doctors predicted that he would lose his sight completely. Choosing not to panic about his future, Albert instead turned to chess. From his home at Leake Street in North Perth, Albert said, “When I realised my sight was going, I immediately started to experiment with boards and chessmen which I could use if blind.”

Albert began playing with a modified board. The pieces were made of metal - the black distinguished with depressions and the white distinguished with tiny nipples. The squares on the board were “depressed metal-bound compartments.” As he played, he slowly learned to memorise the board.

He started corresponding with another blind player in Perth, each of their chess moves communicated to each other in braille. He then wrote to the Adelaide Chess Institute, and they put him in touch with Reverend Edward Radcliffe, a theological lecturer at St Barnabas’ College in Adelaide. At the time of the interview in 1937, they had been playing for three years! Albert noted that every train on the Trans-Australian Railway carried their moves for two different games.

His correspondence with Mr Radcliffe led him to write to other blind chess players. More games commenced and increased to a total of 20 games! There were ten in South Australia, eight in Queensland, and two in Western Australia. By 1945, Albert was playing 36 different games, with the longest taking four years to complete due to the war!

Over the years, he made 30 different sets of chess boards out of jam tins. They were considered famous, with two boards sent to chess clubs in England.

Albert considered that chess was one way in which he was able to maintain his independence. He communicated his moves in braille without any help from family or friends. It also provided him with an occupation. Reflecting on chess and all that it offered him, he described it as “a lovely game.”

The Daily News; 22 May 1937; Page 4.
Mirror; 6 October 1945; Page 2.