Ponomariov wins eight games blindfolded

Ex-World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov beat eight Basque players in a blindfold simultaneous chess exhibition that took place during the annual chess tournament organized by Eire tavern, in Gipuzkoa, Spain. Despite being totally unexperienced in this discipline of chess, Ruslan didn't hesitate to accept the challenge.

By Jesus Maria Rodriguez

The event took place on Sunday, January 25. It started at 12:30, after the official welcome with the music of txalapartas (a Basque musical instrument made of wooden logs) and the traditional welcoming aurresku (Basque dance). The games started immediately afterwards. At the beginning Ruslan seemed quite nervous and had some communication problems when telling his moves. For this task he received the useful help of In?©s Go?±i Alonso, whose perfect English and knowledge of the game enabled her to execute the moves that Ruslan said aloud.

After the first four moves on each board, the communication went smoothly and Ruslan was clearly much more relaxed and focused in the games, we witnessed a display of absolute control on each and every board. And so, the eight finalists from last year's Eire tournament started resigning one by one: when there were only two or three boards left, the result was clear.

When the last board resigned, the public broke into a deafening applause that went on for five minutes. Then Ruslan finally relaxed and the face that had looked so serious during the last three hours wore now a bright triumphant smile on it. It was a very moving moment for all, difficult to describe in words. He had achieved what seemed impossible.

Five games have been preserved:













Thanks to In?©s Go?±i Alonso, Ruslan's girlfriend, for translating the article and providing all material - it seems Ponomariov got himself an excellent pr manager 'simultaneously'! ;-)