Simultaneous And Blindfolded

Playing chess without sight is an amazing feat of memory. Doing it simultaneously against more than one opponent makes it even more awesome. It was once considered so miraculous that in the Middle Ages, one observer thought that a blindfolded player was in league with the Devil. When Francois-Andre Philidor (pictured above) defeated two opponents in a blindfold game in the 18th century, eyewitnesses were asked to sign affidavits confirming it really happened. Most masters can normally visualize positions in their heads. The Cuban champion Jose Raul Capablanca even found it unnecessary to own a chess set at home. If he had to set up a position physically, he used everyday household items, such as two lumps of sugar to stand in for rooks.Blindfold chess is physically and mentally exhausting. From the very beginning, people have warned that these stunts could damage the brain. For example, a New York Sun obituary for Paul Morphy said, “The strain in his brain produced a brain fever, from which he never recovered.” And The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin said Wilhelm Steinitz had “been driven insane by the game to the mastery of which he had devoted his life.” In 1930, the USSR banned blindfold chess because of its supposed health hazards, and a Russian player allegedly died attempting to break the world record for number of opponents. World champion Mikhail Botvinnik warned against undertaking such a stunt, and his student Garry Kasparov declines to attempt it seriously. This perceived danger did not stop some masters from pushing the envelope, and their number of opponents steadily increased over the years. Pillsbury took on 20, and Richard Reti played against 29. Alekhine challenged 32, and George Koltanowski went up against 34.When the war broke out in Europe, many players found themselves stranded in Argentina after the 1939 Olympiad. The Jewish players particularly felt that to return home would be foolhardy. With no way of communicating with his family in Poland, Mojsze Najdorf hit on a novel idea. He would attempt to set the world record in a simultaneous blindfold exhibition. It wasn’t a stunt for its own sake. Najdorf hoped this feat would be reported in Europe so his family might read it, know that he was safe, and contact him. Najdorf took on 40 opponents, winning an astonishing 36 games, drawing one, and losing only three. Tragically, he never heard from his family. When Najdorf returned to Poland after the war, he discovered that they had all perished. With nothing to live for in his native land, Najdorf returned to Argentina, settled there, and changed his name to Miguel. Happily, he lived to a ripe old age, all the while lucid and perfectly sane.