I had guessed there were many others who found it easier. It took me many years, and like golden dog I think I lose something like 400-500 points playing strength (long line tactics are very hard to calculate though in the middle game for me).
There's a player I know who can do blindfold and only loses about 100 points of strength -- and for those who say they were able to do it after only a few months I think it's that kind of player who has a more natural talent for it. I also agree blindfold play is pretty much a separate skill in that people of the same rating may differ on the # of boards or if they're able to do it at all.
An expert at my club said when he was rated ~1700 he played 4 beginners at once and won all the games... I can literally barely finish 1 game so I can't quite imagine that. During a real game I do a lot of calculation, he says he does minimal calculation and works with a lot of evaluations and fantasy positions. I wonder if that's somehow related.
This is a section of a 16-month old article (you could find it on this website) which is relevant to this topic:
The initial task the brain encounters when first seeing chess pieces is the understanding of what those pieces are and what they do. When one first sees a chess board with pieces, there is utter confusion and the brain may signal the person to give up – but the person winds up associating these pieces with their respective positions on a board and how those pieces move.
This is done when the eye registers signals about the positions of each piece and how the pieces are associated. The newly established visual signals are transferred to the brain, which attempts to make sense of the board and pieces via neuron connections. These connections use previous experiences and memories, seen as similar to those found a chessboard, to help a person comprehend the positions of pieces on the board. Thus, a person, subconsciously, is able to associate these pieces with each other. Next, to learn how the pieces move, a person must be able to connect these symbols / pieces to a particular change in position. Thus, the brain uses further neurons, already connected with the initial neuron connections used to understand the original positions of the pieces, to connect with memories and experiences that involved connecting symbols with functions (i.e. waving a hand signals a greeting or a farewell). Thus, the brain is able to connect the functions of the chess pieces with the pieces themselves. Finally, the brain connects the functions with the original positions of the pieces. Therefore, without actually paying attention to the symbols representing positions or changes in position, the brain is able to connect initial positions with changes in position. As a person learns how to change the positions of chess pieces, new neuron connections associate with the older neuron connections used for the original change in position for chess pieces. A person is therefore able to associate new positions with similar changes in position.
Next, the brain must be able to associate the functions of the pieces with each other. This, of course, comes after the brain is able to master the positional changes of the pieces from any position on the board. At this point, visuals [of the board] are not necessary. The brain has already made enough connections to establish the visual-spatial relationships of the pieces and their associated functions; now, the brain can attempt to connect the functions of the pieces and focus them onto different positional spots established by memory. Thus, the brain is able to create combinations involving more than one piece in order to create an objective that focuses on particular positions on the board. This is how chess players ultimately train themselves – they begin to make more connections that allow them to logically see their combinations and responses to their combinations. This all done in the mind, and not actually on the board (at least not in OTB / over-the-board chess). It is obvious that playing out combinations directly on a board would make this process easier, but training directly within the mind, without the necessity of visual stimuli that represent the pieces, gives more difficult training that helps the neurons connect and allows for improvement of the game based on the connections of these neurons.
NOTE: The previous three paragraphs were based solely on my analysis of learning based on my knowledge of neuron connections. The true validity of this information is disputable, but nevertheless, my analysis should be roughly accurate.
It is clear that, at some point, every professional chess player thinks deeply about moves within their minds. But is my claim that visualization of chess pieces is a “luxury” when thinking about moves and combinations true? You may want to test this out, and do so thus: visualize a chess board with all the pieces completely set up – then play several moves in your head. You should notice that your chessboard and pieces don’t seem to have a particular shape / color / size, or even dimensions that connect to how you see them on the chessboard. You seem to simply “know” where the pieces go and how they move without having to actually picture a knight or a King. This is extremely normal; in fact, an account of this experience has been described by a person who plays blind chess: http://notebook.kulchenko.com/intelligence/blind-chess-and-working-memory. I must note that the points I make in this paragraph on based on this person’s account and on my realization that I have nearly the same experience as this person whilst playing blind chess, or even when thinking about moves.
Now, one may be able to understand how blind people are likewise able to play chess and improve at it. Once a person learns the pieces and how they move, the brain takes over and replaces the pieces with their directly associated movements / functions and connects with each other to achieve several goals: capturing pieces, gaining advantages, etc., to ultimately achieve checkmate.
It should now be clear that initial visual stimuli are absolutely necessary for a person to be able to play chess. Next, it should be clear that visual stimuli are not necessary for a person to improve at chess. Finally, it is necessary to note that non-visual improvement cannot be achieved without initial visual stimuli.