Can the average person learn to play blindfold chess?
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sorry but I do not understand the whole blindfold thing....why would you play blindfold if you have your eyes to see the board? it doesn't make sense to me
IcyAvaleigh wrote:
sorry but I do not understand the whole blindfold thing....why would you play blindfold if you have your eyes to see the board? it doesn't make sense to me
More like a bike stunt, (like riding a bike without holding handle bar! ). 
I think it is possible to play if you are a strong player, but tactical strength will suffer. If I have to play blindfold, I will choose quiet positional game.
Jan 23, 2019
0
#83
zankfrappa wrote:
Jack Nicholson was never a golf pro, what are you taking about? He was famous for smashing through a door with an axe in The Shining, not smashing golf balls...
The ability to visualize is a gift, although others have been able to gain
the skill through unpleasant practice.
The great Jack Nicklaus said he would "go to the movies" before each golf
shot. He would clearly see the shot in his head before he attempted it, which
was a huge advantage to be able to have. Another golf legend Tom Kite said
he read Jack's book and could not do the same thing, as visualization did not
come easy for him. Jack also pictured new golf holes in his head as he walked
the fairways, which he would use later for the new courses he designed.
Nicklaus clearly is some sort of extremely gifted genius in his own way.
IcyAvaleigh escribió:
sorry but I do not understand the whole blindfold thing....why would you play blindfold if you have your eyes to see the board? it doesn't make sense to me
Somehow you are one with the board and pieces, the lines of force and those things. I think it could be a good way to improve. You are "feeling" it. I've thought sometimes that people who are not very gifted, like me, are looking at chess from an external perspective, reasoning upon static figurines instead of really visualizing how they interact.
My answer to this would be yes as I've played it. Not in a tournament or anything, just me and a friend messing around and an adjudicator to make sure we make legal moves. It's difficult and when we played we played like ~500 (or at least well below 1000) level as it was so strange, but it can be done with enough practice. I also have a visual impairment and play blindfolded sports so it may be a bit easier for me.
WIshbringer wrote:
In high school I played blindfold chess every day in physics class with my friend, Tom. We got away with it for months until we were assigned a student teacher. One day she strolled up the aisle and found our physics notebooks (literally) filled with chess notation. The regular teacher had seen it but didn't know what it was, and evidently was too embarrassed to ask. We got busted and it was the end of our blindfold games. I won most of the games, but Tom went on to Princeton and Berkeley.
Wholesome story, thanks for sharing!
Has Wishbringer been here since 2010?
Feb 11, 2020
0
#88
WIshbringer wrote:
In high school I played blindfold chess every day in physics class with my friend, Tom. We got away with it for months until we were assigned a student teacher. One day she strolled up the aisle and found our physics notebooks (literally) filled with chess notation. The regular teacher had seen it but didn't know what it was, and evidently was too embarrassed to ask. We got busted and it was the end of our blindfold games. I won most of the games, but Tom went on to Princeton and Berkeley.
You can play blindfold verbally, no?
