Blindfold Game

Hi. This is my second ever blindfold win (out of like maybe 8 tries?).  My opponent is not a tournament chess player and only knows how to move the pieces, so it's not an amazing triumph or anything, however... sometimes playing guys like this can be challenging because they do not create typical opening positions.  I'm playing black.

The only move I "missed" in my mind was playing Bxc4, I thought it was hanging, else I wouldnt have traded bishops in that position.  It was nice that I had a semblence of a middle game plan (playing d5) and saw some tactics in my head when they appeared on the board. What was funny about this game is my friend knew I played a lot of chess but he had no idea I could play blindfolded, he was kind of blown away by it.

Congratulations, looks impressive!

So, how did you learn? I used to start visualizing 2x2, then moved to 3x3 and then 4x4 boards and calculated sequence of moves etc, but kinda lost the motive to go up to 8x8! Would that be a good approach in your opinion?

I just started trying it.  It's not difficult to remember where every piece is located.  The hard part is spotting geometric motifs in your mind. I think that comes better with practice though. 

Some players have an aptitude for blindfold play -- you can't base it completely off their rating.  I know players weaker than me who are good blindfold players (I'm not good) and players who are stronger that can't quite finish a game (even if these are the minority :).

The amber tourney pits top GMs vs top GMs.  Make no mistake that in a blindfold game against you or me Karpov wouldn't miss anything.  I'm sure they're only slipping up when after a few 20 ply depth calculations they misplace a piece and have to guess... in fact I remember Anand in an interview saying he did forget where his rook was and so played this combination in a way that would have worked (or at least not lost) regardless of which square the rook was really on heh.

Your skepticism is noted. And for the record I'm 1700 USCF.  Anyways you mistake what I mean a little bit.  When I say it's not difficult to remember where the pieces are, I mean "Where is his king side knight, it's on h3, where is the dark square bishop? It's on b2".  Just because I dont have trouble remembering where these pieces are does not mean I will catch a discovered bishop attack on my queen or certainly miss a knight fork.  I mentioned in my response that I do not have trouble REMEMBERING what squares the pieces are placed on, but that certainly does not paint a clear picture in my head.  I can just call out the squares coordinates.  Do you understand what I'm saying?  For example I might say, "your bishop is on b2, my queen is on f6, I play h6. Oh crap, b2 and f6 are on the same diagonal arent they? I just lost my queen." 

Also notlesu, for what it's worth, I probably remember my last 10 or so over-the-board tournament games, move for move in my head without any effort to commit them to memory.  It's just one of those things.

In case you're interested, here is another blindfold game I played against one of my buddies (which I also remember) several months ago. This guy is about a 1000 rated tournament player. I'm playing black again.

I am not sceptical.  My USCF rating was in the 1500s, but I could play blindfold games against weak players and achieve checkmate, sometimes making an error as to where a piece was.  I understand what you mean about it being much harder to see all the squares that a piece hits, than to know where the piece is.  Keep it up, it is great expericence and adds a cool new dimension to the coolest game.

I bought a set that blind players use, with the peg pieces and the tops of the white pieces have a weird shape to distinguish them from the black.  The white squares are raised.  So I can practice visualizing, by keeping my eyes closed and feeling the pieces and board, sometime just the board with no pieces.  I run my fingers along the diagonals and try to see it in my mind.  It is a good exercise.  I was curious if adding a tactile dimension to the game would help my mental visualization skills overall.  

http://www.chess.com/eq/chess+sets/tactile-chess-and-checker-set-for-the-blind2

(Though, I don't recommend this particular set.  I got it and it is poorly made.  I was pretty shocked.  I am on the hunt for a better quality one.)

Notlesu, check out my tournament history.  Ive played 3 tournaments since 1654 rating... 1654>1672>1714>1700.

But good grief, we are splitting hairs.  If you don't want to believe I can play blindfold chess with reasonable aptitude that's up to you.

I guess I wasn't clear.  I bought the braille set to add a new dimension to the chess in my mind.  As in, when I try to "see" the entire board in my mind, I am unable to do so clearly.  I thought that I had always only "seen" the board with my eyes....what if I were to leave out the eyes, and learn about the board with my sense of touch?  Would it add a slightly different perspective to my blindfold play?  Would it improve my mental awareness?  I am not saying I play chess with the braille board, I am saying I use the braille board to add a different  texture to my mental board.  

But, I also am not clear on what your overall point is.  You seem to be on the one hand doubting someone on this threads ability to play blindfold chess and at the same time, you say that that ability is a "natural occurrence" of playing regular chess.  So, where is the room for doubt?  And as to your wondering why blind chess players use a braille set, then why aren't you wondering why chess players that can see use a set at all?  Why don't we all sit around in the dark and call out our moves?  Because our game is  multi-faceted, that is why.  The game always takes place in the mind, sight or no sight.  But vision and touch are senses that add different dimensions to the game.

Blindfold play is hard for me. I can visualize all the chess pieces for , say, the first 5 moves? But then I don't remember the location of a piece here and there, and that leads to a loss.

Its wrong to judge a player's blindfold ability from his rating.I am not a strong player,but if given appropriate amount of time I can play  blindfold chess as good as I can when I keep my eyes open.It's my inability to understand chess better,that keeps my rating down,not for my visualization ability.

Here's a link to some of my blindfold games   http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/my-first-blindfold-attempt

Haha... maybe I shouldn't say "who are good blindfold players" because by that I just mean in blindfold play their strength doesn't drop much compared to their sited play.  Mine drops easily a few hundred points while some people's strength hardly drops at all (some claim they even play better sometimes but I'm skeptical :)

I do not have a 1900 rating, but for what it's worth I think of myself as roughly that strength.  I've been told higher but I think I'm more objective about it than they are.  I think my play is uneven so it's hard to say in any case.

I have enough trouble playing while seeing the board, but good job!! GM George Koltanowski was a great blindfold player. He often played blindfold consultation games pairing with Dr. Alekhine in Europe in the 1930s and in the mid 1940s GM Reuben fine played 4 blindfold games simultaneously and won all four of them. One of the four players was future GM Robert Byrne...

25...Nf5