learning to play blindfold chess

I have recently become interested in blindfold chess and I am thinking of learning to play. Most of the famous players can play blindfolded and I thought that there must be something to it. But I was wondering if playing blindfolded helps them improve or is it a result of them being awesome already lol.I played computer1 in blindfold chess and it was going ok untill I got to the endgame and started losing track of where my opponents pieces were lol. I was wondering if there is anyone here that can play and can give me any advice/tips on learning to play. Also does it help you play regular chess better??? and can you play blindfolded at the same level as you play regular chess? I was wondering if it becomes like second nature to see the board in your mind and be able to play without struggling to remember where every piece on the board is? 

its definetely helpfull! calculation skills are blindfold skills....

I love playing blindfold, however it's difficult to do online, OTB is easier for me, because the board is nothing but distracting. There is an app on the Apple app store you might look into. Just 99 cents.

Realistically, does it take years of practice to get to a level where remembering the pieces isnt a challange? Thanks I will check out that app :)

Well.... okay at my level I can do it pretty succesfully? Like I can usually play a pretty competent game, but idk if anyone my level can do it, or if people much below my level can do it.

Facts are hard to find and blindfold isn't all too popular. I wish it were more widespead...

i can play blindfold with relative success, even at a relativly low level, but that is because i trained myself to do it specifically to bother a friend at school. i would litterally turn around while we were playing and ask him to move my pieces to certain squares. he was dumbfounded...

this is making me want to go to live and try blindfold chess...

i'll tell you how i've done after a couple of games...

In a regular game, when you're visualizing future positions with calculation, that's a lot like playing blindfold. Titled players can play blindfold because they're good, not because they've ever practiced blindfold.

Limited blindfold practice probably helps deep calculation in real games. But that's not a high priority skill. Some games you never get a position which requires long calculation. So is it useful? Sure. But I wouldn't spend even 1 hour a day on it. And if long calculation / visualization is what you were wanting to work on, Stokyo exercises and solving studies would likely be more useful.

1) i do agree a lot with leiph 18, those are all good points.

2) i played  a lot of blindfold last night, and preformed at about my normal level. i think that helps prove that you can be very capable of playing blindfold chess without it actually making you better, and you don't have to be some super great player to play blindfold (i'm only around 1000), you just need to be able to visualize your pieces.

@cookiemonster, you baisically repeated what i was saying. i do disagree on one point though. being at a 1000 rating does not signify a massive lack of strategy. i understand concepts of space, development, tempo, position, and i can even calculate several moves ahead fairly accurately in most cases. i do recognize my need to improve, but i don't really know where i actually need to focus on improving (probably part of the problem). perhaps you could play a game or two against me and help me out?

I can play 1 game at a time.  I tried to do 2 once, an almost had an aneurysm.

okay. i do really want to improve. admitting i don't know basic strategy? difficult for me. however, i guess the fact that i am at a 1000 rating i'm not sure where to go to improve probably means that you are right. i would really appreciate any help you can give me.

check this out for chess improvement! http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/secrets-of-a-strong-troll

yes ches_troller. i read your topic. i'm surprised that some of that stuff worked.

I believe you don't remember the pieces as much as you remember what is going on on the board, and this shows you were the pieces go.

I saw that Susan Polgar documentary a while back and they did this experiment.

She sat at a cafe and a truck drove by with a position from a game. She saw it for 4-5 seconds. She was able to set-up the position on a chess board no problem.

Then they changed the position on the truck to a random position. Not a real game. After looking at it for the same amount of time, she was unable to set-up the pieces correctly.

There's also this free online tool (and ios/android/windows app) that you could try :). It's mine, so feel free to PM me feedback if you try it and think of some improvements! 

http://www.blindfoldchesstrainer.com

I've begun using it to teach and entertain my students (K-8) on some basic lessons (blocking the scholar's mate, ladder checkmate, etc). It keeps the more advanced students amused, when I'm targeting the beginners. A second coach moves the pieces on the display board behind me.