Blind Chess

Originally posted by RJHinds
Jesus does talk about the blind leading the blind.

One day Jesus found himself on the wrong side of a particularly nasty Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf when, in a pique of rage, he overturned the chess tables and drove all the punters out of the playing hall!

Originally posted by Green Paladin
One day Jesus found himself on the wrong side of a particularly nasty Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf when, in a pique of rage, he overturned the chess tables and drove all the punters out of the playing hall!

Very good strategy, I would say.

In the past, I have seen people like you (with your unqualified statements) getting banned within a few days. Now, times have changed, we can only ask for how long dinosaurs lived in the past, and whether masturbatingf affects your blindfold chess (hmm, on the latter point I might have mixed up something).

Originally posted by RJHinds
Maybe, I don't understand what you are saying. Do you believe
in blindfold chess or not?

Do I believe in Blindfold Chess?

That is an odd way of putting it.

I'm not sure if it can help a player develop as a player.
I certainly did not play blindfold games to improve. It was mostly done
as a party piece against non-serious players. Showing off if you like.

I think there is a knack in it. Some good players can do it. Others can't
or at least have shown no desire to. I have not played a blindfold game in
years but I can instantly name the colour of any square without sight of a board.
(and I'm right 50% of the time.) 😉

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Do I believe in Blindfold Chess?

That is an odd way of putting it.

I'm not sure if it can help a player develop as a player.
I certainly did not play blindfold games to improve. It was mostly done
as a party piece against non-serious players. Showing off if you like.

I think there is a knack in it. Some good players can do it. Others can't
or ...[text shortened]... name the colour of any square without sight of a board.
(and I'm right 50% of the time.) 😉

I can't do it, that is why I am not near as good OTB. I can't visualize
the moves well, and sometimes don't realize that a piece will have
moved and is no longer defending a piece. On here, I can play very
far ahead and actually see the positions. I learned to use the
analyze board before I decided on a move. I make far less blunders
that way. I would still like to join the USCF again before I get to
old to think and see if I can become an expert or better. I once
beat an expert, who was only a few points below the master rating
in the USCF. But usually I lost.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
George Koltanowski gave a 34 blindfold simul in Edinburgh in the 1937.
The Edinburgh C.C. was asked to help organise it by supplying the sets and
gathering the players.

The minutes record 'great mirth was supplied' when one of the players
turned up with own ornate set asking if Mr Koltanowskiit would object to him using it. 🙂
(think about it.)
about it mate. Everyone has a blunder like that on here.
Including me. It's unexplainable.

Yeah, that's why it's a bad idea to enter those hardcore tournaments.

They don't do much to improve your chess. 😞

Originally posted by yosiman
I'm interested in improving my blind chess.

Any suggestions?

I used to try to do this, but I am not sure it helped me. I may try again at some point. Anyway, here you go:

http://chesstraining.sourceforge.net/wordpress/about/

Play against a weak engine, but a few moves in arrears, or blank out sections of the board.

Originally posted by gezza
I used to try to do this, but I am not sure it helped me. I may try again at some point. Anyway, here you go:

http://chesstraining.sourceforge.net/wordpress/about/

Play against a weak engine, but a few moves in arrears, or blank out sections of the board.

I remember seeing and advertisement claiming to improve chess
visualization. I don't know if it was the same idea as blindfold chess
or not.

P.S. I am brain dead when it comes to visualization. I can't even
visualize my dreams. I only think about them. I used to have
visual dreams when I was young, but not now. I think that is
why my OTB play is not too good. I have to concentrate too hard
to try to remember where the pieces have been moved. I get
tired and decide to just move and hope I remembered right.

" I used to have visual dreams when I was young, but not now. "

HAL-9000 to Dr. Chandra in the film 2010 just before HAL-9000 was disconnected.

"Will I dream?"

Dr. Chandra: "I don't know."

Originally posted by gezza
I used to try to do this, but I am not sure it helped me. I may try again at some point. Anyway, here you go:

http://chesstraining.sourceforge.net/wordpress/about/

Play against a weak engine, but a few moves in arrears, or blank out sections of the board.

Hmmm I couldn't get it to work but thanks anyway.

Originally posted by yosiman
Hmmm I couldn't get it to work but thanks anyway.

That's what she said.

Originally posted by Green Paladin
Is blindfold chess not mentioned in the Bible?

Dude, leave that crap out of the chess forum.

Originally posted by PhySiQ
A big help is to write down all 64 notated squares ( I wrote them in descriptive notation back then) and without a board nearby, cite the color of each square... right it down. If you do this without cheating yourself, it will only take 3 or 4 times before you'll know each squares color without any trouble.

Q

We all knows how to convert a-h to 1-8. So everyone of us knows that the square d3 can be converted to 43 without problem. Add the two numbers, 4+3=7, if the sum is even, then the square is black, else it is white. Hence, d3 is a white squre.

What's the problem?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
We all knows how to convert a-h to 1-8. So everyone of us knows that the square d3 can be converted to 43 without problem. Add the two numbers, 4+3=7, if the sum is even, then the square is black, else it is white. Hence, d3 is a white squre.

What's the problem?

Thats a cute little mnemonic. I actually didn't know that, so I guess I'm one of the uneducated. I don't actually see this being valuable while playing a blindfold game. Having to do this mnemonic for each square along a long diagonal doesn't seem like good form. Its much better to understand the board based on memories of force.

i.e that a Bg2 bishop controls a1, b2, c3, d4, e5, c6, b7, a8. This is important to remember visually rather than numerically - often tactical motiff's in the center will include a remove the defender or a discovered attack on this diagonal. I find it rather difficult to believe a player would numerically solve this for all his pieces in a closed center.

Its much more likely he would remember the lines of force of his pieces, recognize that multiple pieces share the same effected squares, and decide on the best practical tactical release.

But I'm sure its not a bad training device when you first get started.

Q

There used to be a chess program that you could train square colors, diagonals, knight moves etc. At some point though, knowing what color e4, g7 or whatever should be automatic without any specific training. As Picasso said "if only we could pull out our brain and only use our eyes."