How do you 'think' about chess?

Richard Feynman the physicist believe that people think in one of two basic ways, words or pictures.

Take counting for example. when you count in your head do you hear words, or do you see numbers? Turns out this has implications on multitasking. The people who hear words have trouble speaking and counting in their head. While the ones who see numbers have trouble watching and counting in their head.

I wonder if this also applies to chess. For example, to play a blindfold game, to me seems beyond impossible, because I cant 'see' the board in my head. Like really at all. To play I need a physical board (or computer screen) in front of me, yet at the same time I can recall a decently once it is in front of me.

Post what type of thinker you are with your rating. (just count in your head). Maybe what annoys you most when playing, noise or visual distractions? Just thought it would be fun to see the results if enough people reply.

It's funny you mention Feynman, as I use neither words nor images but math: Feynman's own path integral formulation determines my moves. This has the added benefit of allowing me to blame my poor play on the universe itself and be right about it.

I guess I say "one, two, three" in my head. I don't see pictures... seeing pictures of numbers seems really weird to me. I'll be interested to find out if some people really visualize it.

But with other things, lets say learning someone's name. I usually forget, but if I write it down and throw the piece of paper away, I can usually remember. The point is just to visually see the name.

 For the record Im a word guy too.

You dont see nothing. You just know it my friend.

I don't understand the distinction please elucidate

Given that a picture is worth a thousand words, he obviously felt that there's a profound divide in the intellectual capabilities of the population.

Sure, according to Feynman , when people count in their heads, they either think in terms of words, like a voice saying one, two, three, OR they see pictures like flashcards or a ticker of numbers. Most people have a default they use.

When I count in my head I hear the words, I don't see pictures.

Visualizing a chess position in my head isn't a problem for me. I could tell you where all of the pieces are in any of my current daily or vote chess games without looking (40 games total).

I think audio distractions affect me more than visual distractions. When I'm playing I'm fixated on the chess board so it's pretty easy to ignore my visual surroundings if I want. But if people are talking or if there's a movie going on in the background then it's more difficult to stay focused on the game. I think things through by talking to myself in my head and if my internal monologue is disrupted then I won't play as well.

Im about the same, except I cant visualize the board much at all, its just a vague sorta notion. I can TELL you the position of the pieces and recite the moves of a recent game.

For now, it’s as if Feynman’s model is in a box. Until we open the box, we can consider the model to be both correct and incorrect.

Hat tip to Erwin Schrödinger.

Fair enough. Expertise in one area rarely transfers to other areas.