Chess Beyond Sight
The only things which spoil chess are the board and men
- Alexander McDonnell
Blindfold Chess - What is it?
Blindfold chess is a unique form of chess that requires you to rely solely on your mind, without the aid of a physical board or pieces. Blindfold chess needs an extraordinary memory and mental visualization skill.
Blindfold chess follows the same gameplays as normal chess; you simply can't see the board. Your opponent makes their moves using chess coordinates (for example, Bg2 to Bh3), and you answer with your own (for example, Qxh3). You're not allowed to write down the moves anywhere or look at the board at any point.
The ability to calculate variations and anticipate opponent moves becomes even more crucial in blindfold chess, as players must rely on their mental calculations to assess the consequences of each move. But who started Blindfold chess? Who was the first person to become extremely good at it? What is happening in the world of Blindfold chess right now?
HISTORY
The origins of blindfold chess can be traced back to the early days of the game itself. According to historical records, blindfold chess was played as early as the 10th century. It was usually played to either portray a player's great ability, or it was used to try and decrease the strength of a player when they were playing with someone weaker than them. It would also be done because Blindfold exhibitions and simuls helped chess players make a lot of money.
In January 1266, the first exhibition of simultaneous blindfold play in chess history took place. Buzecca, a Saracen master, competed against three specialists in blindfolded games. Buzzeca won two of the games and drew the other. Another one of the earliest recorded instances of blindfold chess dates back to the 13th century, when a Persian player named Abu Bakr Ibn Yahya al-Suli reportedly played three simultaneous blindfold games in Baghdad.
On May 9, 1783, Danican Philidor shocked his peers at the time by playing three blindfold chess games at the St. James Street Chess Club in London. Philidor allowed all three opponents to play white and even gave away a pawn for the third! He won all three of the games.
WIKIPEDIA - François-André Danican Philidor performing a blindfold game.
The popularity of blindfold chess continued to grow over the centuries, with notable players such as Paul Morphy, Blackburne and former World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz showcasing their remarkable abilities in public exhibitions. In 1867, Steinitz played a Blindfold simul in which had 3 wins and 3 draws (out of 6 total games).
Till 1937, multiple players including Alexander Alekhine, Richard Reti and Koltanowski fought for the most blindfolded games played. Koltanowski raised the bar by playing 34 games in Edinburgh in 1937. He appeared to be perfectly safe, and he was—until 1943. In 1943, Miguel Naidorf played 40 boards at Rosario in a display that lasted 17.5 hours. Najdorf broke his own record in 1945 and for the next 66 years, no one broke it.
In 2011, finally, Marc Lang broke the record with 46 games. In 2016, Timur Gareyev broke the record once again with 48 blindfolded games played simultaneously.
FAMOUS BLINDFOLD CHESS PLAYERS
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor was a French chess player and composer. He was born on September 7, 1726. Many of his family members were accomplished Music composers and Philidor was too, to some extent. At the age of 12, one of his compositions was shown to the King at the time.
Some of the musicians taught the young Philidor chess while they were waiting for the King to arrive (to hear Philidor's composition). Philidor was so fascinated by the game of chess that he left his studies to pursue a career in it.
Chess.com - Francois-Andre Danican Philidor
He started taking chess lessons at the age of 14 and soon he became better than his teacher. Philidor was also friends with a person from "New England" called Benjamin Franklin.
On May 9, 1783, Philidor shocked his peers at the time by playing three blindfold chess games at the St. James Street Chess Club in London. Philidor allowed the three opponents to play with white and even gave away a piece for the third. He convincingly won all the three games. Even in his later years, when he was 67 years old (1793), he played and won two blindfold games in London at the same time.
PHILIDOR'S BEST BLINDFOLD GAME
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. Living before chess had a formal world championship, he was widely acknowledged to be the greatest chess master of his era.
Chess.com - Paul Morphy
Seeking new opponents, Morphy crossed the English Channel to France. At the Café de la Régence in Paris, the center of chess in France, Morphy soundly defeated resident chess professional Daniel Harrwitz. In the same place and in another performance of his skills, he defeated eight opponents in blindfolded simultaneous chess.
MORPHY'S BEST BLINDFOLD GAME
Morphy slowly brings his King in and Black is lost. The White King will slowly gobble up all of Black's pawns and then promote.
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was a Bohemian-Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and chess theoretician.
Chess.com - Steinitz
Steinitz played no tournaments and only one match between 1873 and 1882. His other games during this period were in simultaneous and blindfold exhibitions, which contributed a significant portion of a professional chess player's income at the time (for example, in 1887, Blackburne was paid approximately $5000 for an exhibition).
STEINITZ'S BEST BLINDFOLD GAME
Steinitz attacked his opponent with almost every move he played. I'm shocked this game was a blindfold game.
Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne was a British chess player. He was born on the 10th of December, 1841.
Blindfold chess was introduced to Blackburne later in his life. Louis Paulsen, a great German chess player, conducted a simultaneous blindfold display in Manchester in November 1861 and he beat Blackburne. This triggered Blackburne to practice Blindfolded.
Chess.com - Blackbrune
After losing his job and discovering that he had a special talent in blindfold chess, Blackburne began giving blindfold and simultaneous exhibitions all over Britain, and made the majority of his income from these exhibitions for the majority of his career, including blindfold displays against up to twelve opponents simultaneously. To raise funds for the Teesside Chess Association, the Teesside Chess Association invited world-class players to give exhibitions. In 1889, Blackburne charged $5000 for two simultaneous exhibitions plus a blindfold event. Blackburne won 29 games and only lost 1 (with 4 draws as well.)
Blackburne's Best Blindfold Game
This game definitely exemplifies a reckless, go-for-broke attack.
Richard Reti
Richard Selig Réti was an Austro-Hungarian, later Czechoslovakian, chess player, chess author, and composer of endgame studies. He was one of the world's top players in the 1910s and 1920s.
Chess.com - Richard Reti
In 1925 Réti set a world record for blindfold chess with 29 games played simultaneously - winning 21 of them.
RETI'S WORST BLINDFOLD GAME
You might ask me, why am I showing Reti's worst game here? It's because this game is an extremely fascinating one.
Black started by winning a pawn on the 17th move. Then, on the 20th move, Black got a passed pawn and worsened White's position again. Black didnt make many errors after that and slowly got into a better position. Even though there was still some chance for Reti to win, he resigned from the game.
An amazing game from Reti's opponent, Wennerstrom.
George Koltanowski
George Koltanowski was born in Antwerp, Belgium on the 17th of September, 1903. Even though Wikipedia claims that he learned chess at the age of 14, Kolty says that his Dad taught it to him in 1919 implying that he learned chess at the age of 17.
In Scotland, 1937, Kolty broke the World Record for most blindfold games played (34 games). Afterwards, in 1960, he also set a record in 1960 for playing 56 consecutive blindfold games at ten seconds per move.
Kolty would commentate and give his thoughts on a lot of events, including Blindfold ones. He was Belgium's best chess player for an extremely long time but he soon moved to the United States. In the US and other countries, he popularized the Swiss chess system. He also helped develop the theory for the Colle System (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3).
KOLTY'S BEST BLINDFOLD GAME
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine was a Russian-French Former World Champion. Alekhine was a "renegade" as he left the Soviet Union in 1925 and moved to Paris.
Alekhine's first Blindfold chess display was in September, where he played five people at a Russian military hospital at Tarnopol.
In New York on April 27 (a day after my Birthday...), 1924, he broke the world record for simultaneous blindfold play when he played twenty-six opponents and he won sixteen of the games after twelve hours of play. He broke his own world record on February 1 (a day before my sister's birthday...), 1925, by playing twenty-eight games blindfold simultaneously in Paris, winning twenty-two, drawing three, and losing three.
ALEXANDER ALEKHINE's BEST BLINDFOLD GAME
It's a little weird why black resigned here - Black is literally winning. There's even a forced mate. The only explanation would be that Black was too tired to find the continuation and thought it was lost.
Timur Gareyev
Timur Gareyev is an Uzbekistani and American chess grandmaster.
Gareyev tied for third in the U.S. Chess Championship 2013. He won the U.S. Open with an 8-1 clear-first-place score in 2018.
Gareyev's simultaneous blindfold chess record includes a 19-game blindfold simul in Texas in September 2012, a 27-game simul in Hawaii in December 2012, a 33-game match in St Louis in May 2013, and a world record 48-board simul in Las Vegas on December 4, 2016.
Gareyev has played many more blindfolded chess matches and is one of the best blindfold chess players ever (if not the best). He has found himself in some hot water recently though, and has been banned from playing or attending US Chess national events for two years (in 2022 he was banned).
Gareyev's Best Blindfold Game
Gareyev calls himself the "Blindfold King", and that's what his entire brand is based on.
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster.
He is best known for Najdorf Variation, one of the most popular variations of the Sicilian Defense. Najdorf was one of the best players during the time of World War 2.
During the 8th Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, World War 2 broke out. As Najdorf was a Jew, he decided to stay in Argentina. Sadly, in World War 2, his daughters, his parents and his wife were murdered in the Holocaust.
In 1947, the grandmaster played 45 blindfold games simultaneously, winning 39 of them. Miguel Najdorf was accused of malpractice in his 1947 exhibition, which leads us to our next topic...
BLINDFOLD CHEATING
There are a lot of great Blindfold chess players, but sometimes players perform malpractice. As Blindfold chess is extremely hard for the majority of people, people tend to try and cheat to achieve validation and recognition. Here are two cases of malpractice in Blindfold chess.
Janos Flesch
János Flesch was a chess Grandmaster, chess writer and coach, born in Budapest, Hungary. He claimed to have broken this record in Budapest in 1960 with 52 opponents - winning 31 games, drawing 3 and losing 18. The fact that Flesch was allowed to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress invalidated this record attempt. Some of the games were also allegedly staged.
George Koltanowski, a former Blindfold chess record holder, claimed that he could have managed 100 games under those conditions. This isn't entirely cheating, but it's an invalid attempt (and so I added it here).
Stein Bjørnsen
Stein Bjørnsen was a blind Chess player. He didn't necessarily cheat in Blindfold chess, but he cheated by using his blindness.
Bjornsen was permitted to play with two unique items since he was blind: a smaller chess board to easily feel where the pieces were, and a small earphone. He claimed that his earphone was used for "taking notes" and claimed that it was allowed in the FIDE rulebook.
His games were pretty impressive for a guy who hadn't ever played in a tournament before. In his first competitive tournament, he outplayed his opponents strategically in a near-perfect style, earning Bjornsen an unbeaten 8/9 score and winning the rating division he played in.
He went on to compete in other tournaments, with similar outcomes. He won or drew every game he played, earning a performance rating of 2200 and amassing a 64-game unbeaten run with an average accuracy of 96%, which was better than almost every top player at the time.
He was not caught for his suspicious play until an entire year later. He had claimed his equipment had been checked, but they actually had not been. When checked, it was found that it was actually a Bluetooth earpiece that fed him moves.
He was temporarily banned, but he returned after two years. He was found cheating again and was banned for life.
A History of Chess
A History of Chess is a book written by H. R. Murray in 1913. In the book, he talks a lot about chess variants and their histories. He talks a bit about Blindfold chess as well.
Things listed in this book:
SaiId b. Jubair excelled in Blindfold chess play
Based on what I can find after doing a quick search, I suppose he meant "Sa'id ibn Jubayr".
Sa'id ibn Jubayr was born in the year 665 and died in the year 714, both in modern Day Iraq. He was a leading Islamic scholar at his time.
Murray's book tells us that Sa'Id had played chess all his life and that he played with equal ease whether he saw the board or not. His method of playing blindfold was to turn his back on the board; then he would ask the slave who attended him what his opponent had moved.
Muhammad b. Sirin (D. 110/728-29), a Persian, who was famous for his interpretation of dreams, and could also play chess blindfold.
Muhammad Ibn Sirin was born in the year 653 and died in the year 729, both in modern day Iraq. There are a lot of Islamic scholars who had played Blindfold chess (and chess as a whole) before the 13th century.
Hisham b. 'Urwa (D. 146/763-4), another blindfold player.
Hishām ibn ʿUrwah was a prominent narrator of hadith. He was born in modern Saudi Arabia, in 680, and died in modern Iraq, 763.
Ruy Lopez's nearest rivals were Alfonso Ceron and Medrano. All three players were noted for their skill in blindfold play
Ruy Lopez was a Spanish chess player, author, and Catholic priest. The Spanish/Ruy Lopez opening is named after him for his great contributions in the study.
Alfonso Cerón was one of the strongest Spanish chess players in the 16th century.
DEPICTIONS IN MOVIES
The Luzhin Defence
The Luzhin Defence is a chess-related film based on the book "The Defense" by Vladimir Nakabov. In the book, it is written that Luzhin enjoys playing Blindfold chess. He also gains a lot of money from it.
Nakabov was a Russian novelist who also composed chess puzzles from time to time.
The Mentalist
The Mentalist was an American crime drama show which started in 2009. The show follows Patrick Jane who works for the CBI. He helps them with solving murders and track down serial killers. In the movie, he comes across a chess player, who players a blindfold game with him.
Critical Thinking
This film is based on a true story about how a U.S high-school National Chess Team wins the National Championship. The film came out in 2020 and received generally favourable reviews.
There is a scene in the film where a new student showcases his Blindfold chess skills to prove that he's rated 2300 at chess.
White Snow of Russia
This film is about Alexander Alekhine and how he became the World Chess Champion in 1927.
As already said earlier, Alekhine was a great Blindfold chess player. There is a scene where Alekhine plays 32 opponents blindfolded and beats them all (based on Alekhine's 1933 Chicago Exhibition where he did so).
The Catcher Was a Spy
The Catcher Was a Spy is 2018 American war film starring Paul Rudd. The movie is based on a book with the same name.
The movie follows Moe Burg (Paul Rudd) and how he tries to help America in the race to build the first atomic bomb. In a scene, Moe Burg meats Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) and the two play Blindfold chess against each other.
It is said that Heisenberg played Blindfold chess well as a kid and continued to in his adult life.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
In this movie starring Robert Downey Jr, Holmes and Moriarty play a game of blitz chess normally. But soon, the pieces stop having any use and the two start verbally speaking their moves while starring at each other. I'd recommend you go watch this video by chess.com user @Rocky64 for his amazing edit on the scene (0.00-3.38)!
CONCLUSION
While blindfold chess has been recommended in moderation by many sources as a method of increasing one's playing strength, simultaneous blindfold exhibitions were officially banned in 1930 in the USSR as they were deemed to be a health hazard. Mikhail Botvinnik also warned against it. That's why Alekhine (a renegade) is the only Soviet player to have famously played Blindfold chess.
Blindfold chess stands as a testament to the remarkable cognitive abilities of the human mind and the enduring appeal of the game of chess. There has not been much buzz about Blindfold chess since Gareyev's 2016 World Record.
CREDIT TO:
A HISTORY OF CHESS - H.R.J MURRAY
THE BLIND CHESS CHEATER - @Fire (He's a great TB)
BLINDFOLD CHESS SCENES - @Rocky64 (He's a great TB also)
BATTLES OF BLINDFOLD CHESS WARS - @Silman (R.I.P)
Credit to @AstroTheoretical_Physics once again for helping me with this blog!!
Damn, Blindfold chess is very hard. But you know what's not hard? Filling out this form: https://forms.gle/YvNHWNuhrodVdFCdA. . It only takes 30 seconds unlike Blindfold chess, which takes years and years to practice and master.
Your name can be etched into the history of this life-taking website. Fill out the form if you can.
Thanks for reading, have a good day!
Probably my last blog for some time because I’m too tired to write. I hope you liked this blog (:
