Here are a couple of pretty cool...and maybe a tad bit amazing facts I found on the net:
George Koltanowski entered the Guinness Book of Records and Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" after his exhibition on September 20, 1937 in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which he played 34 simultaneous games blindfolded in 13.5 hours, winning 24 and drawing 10 of them. In 1960, Mr. Koltanowski played 56 consecutive games blindfolded, winning 50 and drawing 6 of them. A co-founder of the US Chess Federation and World Chess Federation, he is the oldest living International Grandmaster at the age of 96. Mr. Koltanowski is the author of 30 chess books and has authored the Chess Problem feature in the San Francisco Chronicle every day since May, 1947 - even during newspaper strikes.
and the second:
Jose Capablanca's official title was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary General from the Government of Cuba to the World at Large. Capablanca asked the mayor of Havana to clear a tournament room before he resigned his game to Marshall in 1913. In 1922, he played 103 opponents in a simul in Cleveland, winning all but one game, a draw. In his entire career, he was never checkmated.
Just a couple of things that I would like to hear folks comment on.
SM
Originally posted by Freddie20044Best I can find is this:
how many games did Capablanca play without being checkmated...that is quite some record though
do you know what ratio of wins : defeats( resignations!) : draws he had?
fred😀
From 1901-1939 his overall record (not including blitz, exhibitions, etc.) was +245 -41 =221 {70.1%}
Originally posted by kingisdeadHere is all I can find to answer your question:
About those blindfolded simul games... Man, that blows me away. My little mind can not even conceive of it.
How the F***k do they DO that Sh*t??!!
Are these people androids or something or what? How is that humanly possible? ...[text shortened]... supernatural!!
It just blows my mind, that's all I can say.
We asked Mr. Koltanowski about his methods of keeping track of his and his opponents' moves. "The less I think during a match," he said, "the better my play is. All the moves are in my mind from the beginning of the match. My mind is a gramophone record. When I want to know what moves have been made, I start the record in my mind. Then I listen." from: New Yorker, January 6, 1945
So...apparently...a photographic memory is essential. These blindfolded exhibitions stop me in my tracks as well!
Another good exhibition of this sort was done by Paul Morphy. The article below was printed in The New York Times October 19, 1858:
The astounding performances of young Paul Morphy have brought the excitement in the chess playing world of this city up to white heat. Last Monday he played against, and beat, blindfolded, eight of the best players of Paris at one time! The Cafe de la Regence, at which this extraordinary feat occurred, has two large rooms on the ground floor. In the first room, which is full of marble tables, were seated the eight adversaries of Mr. Morphy. in the second room, in which are two billiard tables, was seated the single player. A large portion of this room, including the billiard tables, was shut off from the crowd by a cord, and behind the tables, in a large arm chair, sat Mr. Morphy, with his back nearly directly to the crowd. Two gentlemen, reporting for the press, kept the games, and two other gentlemen, Meesrs. Journoud and Arnous de Riviere, cried out the moves, or rather carried them from one room to the other. THe adversaries of Mr. Morphy were Messrs. Baucher, Bierwith, Morneman, Guibert, Lequesne (the distinguished Sculptor), Potier, Pret, and Seguin.
They were all either old or middle-aged men, and superior players, while Morphy is but twenty-one years of age. The boards of the eight players were numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., in the order in which I had given the names of the gentlemen. At 12:30 the games commenced, Mr. Morphy playing first, and calling out the same move for all the eight boards.... 1. e4. The games were conducted in French, Mr. Morphy speaking French perfectly. At 7pm #7 was beaten with an unseen checkmate. Soon after 8pm, No 6 abandoned the game as hopeless, and half an hour later, #5 played for and gained a drawn game. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were soon after beaten. At 10 pm, #4 made the player accept a draw game, but it was 10:30 before Mr. Seguin, #8, a very old gentleman, who contended with great desperation, was beaten. Thus he beat #6, while #2, who acted on the defensive and only sought a drawn game, effected their purpose, but a drawn game under such circumstances, ought to be considered equivalent to a win.
During the entire exhibit, which lasted ten hours, Morphy sat with his knees and eyes against the bare wall, never once rising or looking toward the audience, nor even taking a particle of drink or other refreshments. His only movements were those of crossing his legs from side to side, and occasionally, thumping a tune with his fingers on the arms of the chair. He cried out his moves without turning his head. Against 1, 2, 3, and 6 and 7, who were not up to the standard of the other three players, he frequently made his moves simultaneously after receiving theirs. He was calm through out, and never made a mistake, nor did he call a move twice.
It must be collected, moreover, that Mr. Morphy played "against the field" - in other words, that around each of the eight boards there was a large collection of excellent chess players, who gave their advice freely, and who had eight times longer to study their play in than the single player. He played certainly against 50 men, and they never ceased for a moment making supposed moves and studying their games most thoroughly during the long intervals that necessarily fell to each board. And yet Morphy, who out of sight of these eight boards, saw the game plainer on each than those who surrounded them! I could scarcely have thought the thing possible if I had not seen it. At the end of the games there was shout from the three hundred throats present , which made one believe he was back again in Tammany Hall! The fact is there was a considerable number of Englishmen and American's present (among the latter was Prof. Morse, who took a deep interest in these extraordinary games), but much the larger number were French. Morphy did not seem at all fatigued, and appeared so modest that the frenzy and admiration of the French knew no bounds.
He was shaken by the hand and complimented till he hung down his head in confusion. One gray-haired man, an octogenarian chess player, stroked his hair with his hands, as he would a child of his own, and showered him with terms of endearment. Morphy had no beard yet, and looks more like a schoolboy than a world's champion. He escaped from the excited crowd as soon as possible, and left with some friends, to get something to eat. It is not necessary to point out to chess players the immensity of this intellectual feat; every one will admit that it borders upon the miraculous, and, as was remarked by one of the antagonists, Lequesne, such a mind never did exist, and, perhaps, never will again.
Originally posted by Strategy MasterIn addition to that story: The next day,Morphy dictated all the games ha played in that simul to his secretary,without making a single mistake!
Here is all I can find to answer your question:
We asked Mr. Koltanowski about his methods of keeping track of his and his opponents' moves. "The less I think during a match," he said, "the better my play is. All the moves are in my mind from the beginning of the match. My mind is a gramophone record. When I want to know what moves have been ...[text shortened]... one of the antagonists, Lequesne, such a mind never did exist, and, perhaps, never will again.
Originally posted by SirLoseALotHave you gone over the games? Walked through the notation? They really are works of art, considering the nature in which they were played!!
In addition to that story: The next day,Morphy dictated all the games ha played in that simul to his secretary,without making a single mistake!
http://www.academicchess.com/Games/chessviewer/morphysblindfoldchess.htm
You can play through all eight on this page.
Originally posted by Strategy MasterNo,but I will soon,thanks 🙂
Have you gone over the games? Walked through the notation? They really are works of art, considering the nature in which they were played!!
http://www.academicchess.com/Games/chessviewer/morphysblindfoldchess.htm
You can play through all eight on this page.
Originally posted by mrrowieNot me....I tried with a friend of mine...made it about 4-5 moves and just got lost. 🙂
not on the same par but a schoolmate of mine, "muns", could beat anyone in the class blind folded, which blew me away at the time. he was scottish junior champion back then.
can anyone here play blind folded?
r
SM
Originally posted by mrrowieI played a few games against my chess computer without using the pieces.But really blindfold,no,I don't think I can manage that for more than 10 moves.
not on the same par but a schoolmate of mine, "muns", could beat anyone in the class blind folded, which blew me away at the time. he was scottish junior champion back then.
can anyone here play blind folded?
r
Originally posted by mrrowieThat depends. Do you count getting scholar's mated as "playing?"
not on the same par but a schoolmate of mine, "muns", could beat anyone in the class blind folded, which blew me away at the time. he was scottish junior champion back then.
can anyone here play blind folded?
r
From an article about the great American Champion Harry Pillsbury, who died in 1906, at the age of 34 and who might have been one of the greatest players in history but for his contracting syphillis, which limited his playing and eventually killed him:
Pillsbury would give simultaneous [blindfold] exhibitions playing 10 chess players and 10 checker players, while playing whist. But read on ...
Once, right before performing this feat, he was given a list to memorize by 2 university professors: Antiphlogistine, periosteum, takadiastase, plasmon, ambrosia, Threlkeld, strepococcus, straphylococcus, micrococcus, plasmodium, Mississippi, Freiheit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, athletics, no war, Etchenberg, American, Russian, philosophy, Piet Potgelter's Rost, Salamagundi, Oomisellecootsi, Bangmanvate, Schlechter's Nek, Manzinyama, theosophy, catechism, and Madjesoomalops.
After a few minutes he was able to recite the list forward and backward. He was able to recall the list forward and backward the following day.
EDIT: Pillsbury's lifetime record against Lasker was 7-7, but a match for the World Championship was never arranged, partly because of Lasker's pre-100 studies in mathematics, partly due to Pillsbury's poor health.