Learn to play blindfold chess

When I first started playing chess I was very surprised by the players who were able to analyse games without seeing the board. Shortly afterwards I discovered a new way of playing chess: blindfold chess. From that moment on I decided to win a game of blindfold chess, and with some training (and a few terrible games) I achieved my goal after a few weeks.

Who can learn to play blindfold chess?

You might think that you need a chess title or a very high rating to play blindfold chess. However, almost any player who has been playing for some time can do it. Although it will be easier if you have an intermediate or higher level (around 1300 Elo).

How do I start playing blindfold chess?

Although you could learn by just playing a few games, I wouldn't recommend it because it can be harder and more frustrating. That's why I'm going to give you some steps to help you improve little by little:
If you're playing chess blindfolded, it's very useful to know the name of every square and to think the moves in algebraic chess notation. This will help you to remember the moves you have already made.
To improve this skill, you can use Vision from chess.com, which will help you to train your visualisation of the board, and it can be very fun to challenge yourself to get a better score every day. (It is important to train from both the white and black sides).

The next step is to start moving some pieces without the board. For this exercise, you have to choose a piece (knight, bishop, rook...) and two squares. You then move the piece from the first square to the second square in as few moves as possible. One of the best pieces for this exercise is the knight, but it is really interesting to do it with any piece.

Now that you have mastered the movement of pieces, you can start to play some easy positions. I suggest you go to Analysis and configure an endgame with not many pieces. For example, king, bishop and 4 pawns against king, knight and 2 pawns (or any other endgame you can think of), then click on Practice vs. Computer and try to win the endgame (you can choose a low level for the computer in your first attempts). Remember that you should choose blindfolded pieces so that you cannot see the pieces.

Once you have done these exercises for a while, you will feel more confident and will be able to start playing your first games.

Playing your first games

The first thing you should do is create a new account just to play blindfold chess, as your rating will be very different when you play normal and blindfold games.
As you will be playing from your computer you will have some hints that you wouldn't see in an OTB game. You can use these hints at the beginning to help you play longer games, and then use them less and less as the game goes on. For example, you can check the moves that have already been made on the right-hand side of your screen, and you can also see where a piece is. You can also configure the pieces to show you the legal moves, which makes it easier to remember the position.  I also recommend that you play long games (10 minutes or more) so that you can remember the position and not start making random moves when you run out of time.

If you are in a losing position, you should keep playing to practise endgames (I think remembering where the pawns are in the endgame is the most difficult part of the game). And also because you are playing against much weaker players, so they can make a mistake at any moment and change things up.
Once you have raised your Elo a bit, you can start playing OTB games with your friends (this time without hints).

Some additional recommendations

It is normal to make so many mistakes at the beginning because you are playing in a way that you are not used to, but if you are patient and persistent you will improve and reap the rewards of your efforts.
In your first games you may find it easier to exchange a lot of pieces to make it easier to remember.
You can also start by playing an opening that you are used to playing to make the position more comfortable for you.
After each game you should review it to see if what you thought happened was what actually happened.
Finally, I hope that this advice has been helpful, that you start practising and that you win your first blindfold games soon.