Chess opened door to a 'different world' for Luther

Growing up in the 1970s in Germany was tough for chess grandmaster Thomas Luther.

- Melvyn Teoh

The 55-year-old was born with dysmelia, a condition that left him with under-developed arms.

But chess provided a level playing field, giving him a route to a fulfilling life. After picking it up as a child, he went on to become a grandmaster at 25 and won three German championship titles and a silver medal with the German national team at the 2000 Chess Olympiad.

Now a training director with the Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) and chairman of the International Chess Federation (Fide) Players with Disabilities Commission, Luther has come a long way.

He said: "I learnt early on to handle (the disability) in my life. So I'm very much independent and this is also a mindset, that having a problem in life, you always call out others to help, or you have the mindset, okay, I'll fix it.

"Back as a kid, when I learnt chess and I went to the chess club, I saw a different world. Suddenly, there was really equality, I could really play as well as the others, or even be better.