Originally posted by davidtravelling
I once played a guy at my school (who is now a FIDE master I believe) who beat me while he was blind folded and I could see.
A player at my chess club lost to a player who was blind. It destroyed his confidence for the rest of the tournament! Actual blind players do use a special type of chess board - this would make playing chess not quite as difficult yet undoubtably amazing.
There is some nice history presented on blindfold simuls in the middle of this article (excerpt and link below):
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=857
Blindfold play is something you can practice and improve at apart from your regular chess game. A player who practices it regularly will beat a player hundreds of rating points higher if the stronger player has never tried it before, at least at the amateur level. Give it a try and wow your friends! Unlike your knowledge of the subtleties of the Semi-Slav, this is actually something that non-players are impressed by. [Philidor, Morphy, Pillsbury, Najdorf are noted for impressive blindford simul play (although there were others; Alekhine, most notably).]
"How do they do it?" and many Masters discussed the subject. Tarrasch wrote of seeing the board "as a plastic object" in his mind and about how each move modified the image, "as the photographic plate receives the impression of the object on which the light falls."
Most players agree that it is more tiring than a regular game even with a faster time control.
The generally accepted record for most simultaneous blindfold games is held by George Koltanowski; in 1937 he played 34 amateurs in Edinburgh and finished with a +24 -10 score in over 13 hours of play.
Grandmasters rarely have trouble visualizing the board during a single game. [Today, there are various blindfold events that many of the top players participate in, and the level of play is still extraordinary (Moro is incredible!).]
For example: (Game by Alekhine, Moro, and Polgar respectively.)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012007
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1401123
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1092636
Games By Actual Blind Players:
Baretic (FIDE ~2130) - T. Timman
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266558
Ray Charles - Larry Evans
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266243
Milner-Barry-Baretic (One in which Baretic wins nicely! Although I once read that there is a refutation for the Long Whip Variation of the KG.)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1157256