Blindfold chess

Philidor playing blindfold chess

Blindfold chess (also known as sans voir) is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are communicated via a recognized chess notation.

Blindfold chess was considered miraculous for centuries, but it is now accepted that any strong player today can play blindfolded, and many can keep track of more than one simultaneous blindfolded game.^[1] In simultaneous blindfold play, an intermediary usually relays the moves between the players.

Before chess

The first written commentary to a predecessor of blindfold chess appears in Buddha's mild rebuke to monks.

"Monks were – as some ascetics – addicted to such idle pursuits such as board games on an eight-row or ten-row board, or those games in the air (mentally), hopscotch, spillikins, dicing, ball games, guessing letters, hand pictures, guessing thoughts, mimicking deformities, playing with toy ploughs; the ascetic Gotama refrains from such idle pursuits".^[2][3]

Early history

Blindfold chess was first played quite early on in the history of chess, with perhaps the first game being played by Sa'id bin Jubair (665–714) in the Middle East. In Europe, playing chess blindfolded became popular as a means of handicapping a chess master when facing a weaker opponent, or of simply displaying one's superior abilities.

Morphy playing blindfold chess

Harold James Ruthven Murray recorded another type of unseen chess: two Central Asian horsemen riding side by side playing chess by calling chess moves to each other without using a board or pieces.

The first known blindfold event in Europe took place in Florence in 1266.^[1] The great French player André Danican Philidor demonstrated his ability to play up to three blindfold games simultaneously in 1783 with great success, with newspapers highlighting his achievement, having taught himself to visualize the board while in bed at night when he had trouble sleeping.

Paul Morphy held in 1858 a blindfold exhibition against the eight strongest players in Paris with the stunning result of six wins and two draws. Other early masters of blindfold chess were Louis Paulsen, Joseph Henry Blackburne (he played up to 16 simultaneous blindfold games) and the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, who played in Dundee, in 1867, six simultaneous blindfold games (three wins, three draws). It was seen by these masters as a good source of income.

20th century history

As time went by the records for blindfold exhibitions increased. In 1900 Harry Nelson Pillsbury played 20 games simultaneously in Philadelphia; not long after having attempted the unusual feat of playing 15 chess and 15 checkers games simultaneously (the record for blindfold checkers being 28 simultaneous games). The Czechoslovak player Richard Réti and Russian World Champion Alexander Alekhine were the next to significantly further the record.

In 1924 at the Alamac Hotel of New York Alekhine played 26 simultaneous blindfold games against very strong opponents (Isaac Kashdan and Hermann Steiner among them), with the score of 16 wins, 5 losses, and 5 draws. This was probably the strongest of any blindfold exhibitions ever held. The next year in February in Paris he faced 28 teams of four players each, with the impressive result of 22 wins, 3 losses, and 3 draws. In the same year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo, and amusingly commented on his poor memory after leaving his briefcase behind after the event.

On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with 19 wins, 5 losses, and 5 draws. Edward Lasker was the referee for this event.

George Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 24 games and losing 10, over a period of 13 hours. The record was included in the Guinness Book of Records and is generally accepted as the world record to this day.^[1] Later, both Miguel Najdorf and János Flesch claimed to have broken that record, but their efforts were not properly monitored the way that Koltanowski's was. Najdorf's first record in Rosario, Argentina was against 40 opponents (+36 =1 -3)^[4] and was organised in an effort to gain sufficient publicity to communicate to his family that he was still alive, as he had remained in Argentina after travelling from his native Poland to compete in the 1939 Chess Olympiad. He increased this record to 45 opponents in São Paulo in 1947, with the result of 39 wins, four draws and two losses.^[5] The Guinness Book of Records does not acknowledge Najdorf's record, because he allegedly had access to the scoresheets, and there were multiple opponents per board.^[1] Koltanowski claimed that he could have managed 100 games under those conditions.^[6] However, Najdorf's record is considered legitimate by other sources.^[7]

The last increase in the record was claimed by the Hungarian Janos Flesch in Budapest in 1960, playing 52 opponents with 31 wins, 3 draws, and 18 losses. However, this record attempt has been somewhat sullied by the fact that Flesch was permitted to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress. It also took place over a remarkably short period of time, around five hours, and included many short games.^[6]

There have been no serious attempts to increase the record since then, due to lack of interest in mere numbers.^[8]

One other notable blindfold record was set in 1960 by Koltanowski in San Francisco, when he played 56 consecutive blindfold games at a rate of 10 seconds a move. The exhibition lasted 9 hours with the result of 50 wins and 6 losses.^[8] His specialty was conducting a blindfold Knight's Tour on boards of up to 192 squares.

A new European record was set in November 2010 by Marc Lang in Sontheim/Germany, playing 35 opponents with 19 wins, 13 draws, and 3 losses over a period of 23 hours.^[9]

Health concerns

While blindfold chess has been recommended in moderation by many sources as a method of increasing one's playing strength, simultaneous blindfold exhibitions were officially banned in 1930 in the USSR as they were deemed to be a health hazard.^[10] Mikhail Botvinnik also warned against it.^{[citation needed]} Blindfold players^[who?] have reported that it is more tiring than regular play, even if faster time controls are used.^[1]

Psychology

Given that it seems to require extraordinary visuo-spatial abilities and memory, this form of chess has led to considerable research in psychology, starting with the research of Alfred Binet in 1893, continuing with the work of chess grandmaster and psycho-analyst Reuben Fine in 1965, and culminating in the last two decades with several scientific articles describing experiments on the psychology of blindfold chess.^[11] In general, this research shows that what is crucial for blindfold chess are both the knowledge that chess players have acquired and their ability to carry out visuo-spatial operations in the mind’s eye.

Modern status

Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year, with the highest profile event being the Melody Amber Tournament, held in Monte Carlo. This event is partly funded by the billionaire Correspondence Chess Champion Joop van Oosterom and attracts many of the world's chess elite to compete in unique circumstances. Of the modern day players, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov and Alexander Morozevich have proven themselves to be particularly strong at blindfold chess, being alternating winners of the Amber Tournaments between 1996 and 2006.

See also

• Kriegspiel (chess)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "The Elite Meet in Monte Carlo". ChessBase. 2003-03-15. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=857. Retrieved 2008-04-11. 
2. ^ Digha Nikaya, translated by Maurice Walsh, page 70.
3. ^ T. W. Rhys Davids Dialogues of the Buddha ISBN 8120816692 ISBN 978-8120816695
4. ^ Perlas Ajedrecísticas - Christian Sánchez
5. ^ Chess Notes 4811. Blindfold Record
6. ^ ^{a b} Lawton, Geoff (2003). Tony Miles:It's Only Me. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8809-3. 
7. ^ Hearst, Elliot and Knott, John (2009). "Blindfold Chess: history, psychology, techniques, champions, world records and important games". McFarland & Company. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth (1996). Oxford Companion To Chess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192800493. 
9. ^ http://www.blindsimultan.de
10. ^ White Knight chess magazine, September 2010
11. ^ Gobet, F. & Campitelli, G. (2007). The mind's eye in blindfold chess.PDF ". European Journal of Cognitive Psychology", 17, 23-45. Retrieved 25 December 2008.

External links

• "Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games" a new book by Eliot Hearst and John Knott
• "Blindfold Chess" by Danny Kopec
• "George Koltanowski"
• Canadian blindfold chess timeline
• "Mnemonics approach"