I have been wondering about this question. Before I knew I was an aphant blindfolded chess was some vodoo magic. I think if you have 'some' imagination you can maybe figure out ways to maximize that. Without visualization I guess you would have to translate the board into something more conceptual? But this does feel like a disadvantage.
Aphantasia and Chess
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Dec 14, 2023
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#3
Hey there, I just posted elsewhere looking for fellow aphants that have found strategies to help with learning chess. Anyone?
for Blitz I think it´s ok as it relies more in instinct and for Classical chess, it´s definitely a handicap.
I’m an Aphant, which makes it hard to work more than one or two moves ahead, I can’t see them, so I have to sort of do it instinctively. I’m sure this means there will be a rating ceiling. I don’t mind as I am playing for fun. At the level I’m at it’s one move blunders on both sides anyway. (600 blitz).
I know a 2000 Aphant OTB at my local club and she is at no ceiling!!!!!
I have aphantasia, and I used to think it's a serious handicap in chess, but now I think it just needs a different approach. For example I have a decent verbal memory, so what really helps me with longer calculation is either saying the moves out loud (during training at home), or verbally thinking about them (during actual games), that's how I can keep in mind which squares the pieces are going to be on after X moves.
I am looking for some advise for remembering openings, it is quite difficult for me when I can't visulize the moves. I like to play systems with white, such as cole and london but playing black is quite annoying. Some advice that I have got before is to remember why you made the move. But that can be annoying becuase when having to remember why in my head and then try to find the move that matches it, it can slow and some times cause me to talk aloud, and I like to play over the board and I would really not like to give clues away in an over the board match. Sadly I have never spoken to or met another chess player with aphantasia. Could someone please help me I have an important tournament soon. Although I am starting to build Instinict on my favorite opening the scandinavian defense.
Feb 22, 2025
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#10
In my opinion, it's not necessary to rely on visual cognition to remember things. People have other types of memory and navigational processing that are superior in many ways, such as verbal and spatial.
Although I haven't personally done this (and it requires a lot of practice and work), memory athletes have used the well trodden Major mnemonic system to memorize massive numbers of openings. Here are a couple of examples.
https://en.chessbase.com/post/memory-techniques-the-chess-equation
https://johnden.org/chessmemorypalace/chapter1
I'm not all that used to Major and other mnemonics myself, so I've only used it for simple things like remembering grocery lists and short chess traps.
Aphantasia is the condition where a person doesn't have an "eyes mind", it has some pros but also a lot of drawbacks, not being able to visualize the board is one of them.
I wonder if there´s a lower skill ceiling, being an Aphant. Calling out all Aphants out there, to share their experience.