Blindfold Chess - the book

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

On February 1, 1925 Alekhine broke his own world record of 26 games blindfold simultaneous by playing 28 teams of players in Paris, France. One of the most viewed photos of all time of Alekhine and his feats shows the magnitude of this event with at least 100 people crowded into the picture, most of them well dressed gentlemen but at least 5 ladies that I could spot. The photo appears at: www.blindfoldchess.net and careful study reveals a lot of details. Alekhine's score of 22 wins, 3 losses, and 3 draws was a better percentage than New York but he had often written that the opponents in New York were much stronger. In New York Alekhine had stopped for dinner but in Paris he played without any real break starting at 1020 am and finishing at 11pm and consuming only chocolate, mineral water, many cups of coffee and 29 cigarettes. Alekhine vs Les Echecs du Palais Royal -1st Team
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bd7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Be7 9.e5 dxe5 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.Qxc6+ Nd7 12.00 00 13.Rd1 Bd6 14.Nb5 Qe7 15.Nxd6 cxd6 16.Qxd6 Qxd6 17.Rxd6 Nf6 18.Be3 Rfc8 19.c3 Rcb8 20.Rd2 Rb7 21.Rad1 h6 22.Rd8+ Rxd8 23.Rxd8+ Kh7 24.b3 Ne4 25.c4 Nc3 26.Rd2 f5 27.Rc2 Rd7 28.g4 Rd3 29.gxf5 1-0 Alekhine finds a breakthru in the opening and exchanges down to a winning bishop and rook vs knight and rook ending a pawn up. Black plays weakly dropping a second pawn and getting his pieces restricted without counterplay. The final position is depressing for Black and explains resignation.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Les Echecs du Palais Royal Team Three 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 c5 6.d3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Na5 8.Ne5 Nxb3 9.axb3 Nd7 10.Nc4 Nb6 11.Bf4 Nd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.00 b5 14.Ne3 Qc6 15.d4 e6 16.d5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Bd6 18.Re1+ Be6 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.Ra6 Qd8 21.Rexe6+ fxe6 22.Rxe6+ Kf7 23.Re7+ Qxe7 24.Nxe7 Kxe7 25.Qe2+ Kf7 26.Qh5+ Kf6 27.Qxc5 Rhd8 28.g4 1-0 Alekhine's Defence against Alekhine. Alekhine uses all his pieces effectively, the Nc3 exchanges Black's only active piece, the Nf3-e5-c4-e3-d5 becomes the central strong point that does Black in, model development with Bc4-b3, Bf4, Re1+, Ra6, Qe2+ all working the center and finishing with a couple of power queen moves. Easy for most masters but inspiring to see and the delicate sense of timing to put all those moves together!

[Stephen Wright]

Some rediscovered games

Here are some games I just came across in older sources - as far as I am aware they are not generally available elsewhere. The first is from the infamous Toronto simul where the weather was a factor (see http://www3.telus.net/public/swright2/visitors2.html for details). There is also a second Alekhine-Alpert game played in Toronto in 1932, eight years after their first game mentioned earlier in this thread - see the current issue of Canadian Chess News.

[Event "Blindfold simul"]
[Site "Toronto"]
[Date "1884.01.25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zukertort, Johannes Hermann"]
[Black "Judd"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "1884.01.25"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2010.02.24"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O O-O 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. Re1 h6 10. Be3 Nb4 11. Bf1 Bf5 12. Rc1 Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. a3 Bg4
15. axb4 exf3 16. gxf3 Bh5 17. c3 Bd6 18. Bg2 Qh4 19. h3 Qf6 20. b5 a6 21. bxa6
Rxa6 22. c4 c6 23. c5 Bc7 24. b4 Rd8 25. Rb1 b5 26. Rb3 Rd5 27. Rd3 Ra8 28. Bc1
Rad8 29. Be3 Rf5 30. Bd2 Rxd4 31. Bc3 Rxd3 32. Qxd3 Qg6 33. Re8+ Kh7 34. Re3
Bf4 35. Re4 Rd5 36. Qe2 Rg5 37. Qf1 Bxf3 38. Rxf4 Rxg2+ 0-1

[Event "Blindfold simul"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "1884.01.31"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zukertort, Johannes Hermann"]
[Black "Halkett"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C34"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1884.01.31"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2010.02.24"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 d6 5. Bxf4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nh5 7. Be3 Bg4 8.
Bc4 h6 9. O-O Nf6 10. Qd2 Qe7 11. Rae1 O-O-O 12. d5 Na5 13. Bd3 b6 14. Ba6+ Kb8
15. b4 Nb7 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Nc6+ Bxc6 18. dxc6 Nc5 19. bxc5 dxc5 20. Qe2 Qe8 21.
Bb7 Rd6 22. Qa6 Rxc6 23. Nb5 1-0

[Event "Blindfold simul"]
[Site "Montreal"]
[Date "1903.12.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pillsbury, Harry Nelson"]
[Black "Rose, H.J.."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C14"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1903.12.05"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2010.02.24"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nb5 Qd8 8.
c3 a6 9. Na3 c5 10. f4 Nc6 11. Nf3 Qb6 12. Qd2 c4 13. Rb1 Qc7 14. Be2 Nf8 15.
O-O Ng6 16. Bd1 Bd7 17. Bc2 Rb8 18. Ng5 h6 19. Nh3 Nge7 20. Rbe1 b5 21. Nb1 b4
22. g4 bxc3 23. bxc3 Qc8 24. Nf2 Rb2 25. Qc1 Rxa2 26. Nh1 Qb7 27. Ng3 Qb2 28.
Qxb2 Rxb2 29. Rf2 g6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Simul"]
[Site "Toronto"]
[Date "1932.11.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander A."]
[Black "Whitfield, K.H.."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C25"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "1932.11.14"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2010.01.08"]

{One of two games played blindfold during the regular simul.} 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e5 3. f4 Bc5 4. fxe5 Bxg1 5. Rxg1 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qxh2 7. Rg2 Qh6 8. d4 Qg6 9. Be3 d6 10. exd6 cxd6 11. Bb5 Bg4 12. Qd3 a6 13. Ba4 Kf8 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. d5 Ne7 16. Bf4 cxd5 17. exd5 Qxd3 18. cxd3 Nf5 19. Kd2 Ke7 20. Re1+ Kd7 21. Na4 Rab8 22. Rc1 Ne7 23. Ke3 Nxd5+ 24. Kd4 Nxf4 25. gxf4 Be6 26. b3 g6 27. Rgc2 Rb7 28. Rc6 a5 29. Nb6+ Ke7 30. Nd5+ Bxd5 31. Kxd5 Rb5+ 32. Ke4 Rd8 33. d4 a4 34. bxa4 Ra5 35. Rc7+ Rd7 36. a3 Rxa4 37. f5 d5+ 38. Ke3 Rxa3+ 39.Kf4 Rd3 40. Rxd7+ Kxd7 41. Ke5 Ra3 42. Rh1 h5 43. fxg6 fxg6 44. Rg1 Re3+ 45.Kxd5 Re6 46. Kc5 Rc6+ 47. Kd5 Rd6+ 48. Ke5 Re6+ 49. Kd5 Rd6+ 1/2-1/2

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Cercle de Montmartre Team One, Paris 1925 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4 Bg7 5.Bc4 h6 6.c3 Ne7 7.g3 g4 8.Bxf4 gxf3 9.Qxf3 d5 10.exd5 Nf5 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nd2 a6 13.Bd3 Nd6 14.Qh5 f5 15.Bxh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Qf6 17.Qh5 Rf7 18.Nc4 Rh7 19.Qf3 Nxc4 20.Bxc4 Kg7 21.Rae1 Rh8 22.Qf4 Qd6 23.Qg5+ Kf7 24.Re7+ 1-0 If 24....Qxe7 25.d6+ and the white queen establishes an outpost on e7. Alekhines shows how to play the King's Gambit in a multi-board blindfold exhibition - develop all your pieces, control the center, and generate lots of threats until your opponent cracks.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Cercle de Montmartre Team Two, Paris 1925 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 Ne7 5.Bg5 Nd7 6.Qd2 Bg7 7.Bh6 00 8.h4 b6 9.h5 Nf6 10.hxg6 fxg6 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.Qh6+ Kf7 13.e5 Nf5 14.Qh2 Nd5 15.Qxh7+ Ke8 16.Qxg6+ Kd7 17.Rh7+ Nde7 18.d5 exd5 19.Nxd5 Kc6 20.Nxe7+ Nxe7 21.Qg5 Re8 22.000 Kb7 23.exd6 cxd6 24.Re1 1-0 The "Scorpion Defence" gets played against Alekhine. Alekhine doesnt waste any time attacking the king. Note the D and E-pawn levers and the subsequent breakthru. The black king almost makes it to the A-file. The game ends with a massive pin on the Ne7.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Section Italienne Comite Militaire Interalliee, Paris 1925 1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nge2 Be6 8.f4 Ng4 9.Bxe7 Nxe7 10.Qd2 f5 11.Ng3 Nf6 12.000 Ne4 13.Bxe4 fxe4 14.h3 c6 15.Rdf1 g6 16.Nd1 Qc7 17.Ne2 000 18.Ne3 Rhf8 19.Kb1 Kb8 20.Rc1 Qd7 21.Rhf1 c5 22.dxc5 d4 23.Ng4 Qa4 24.b3 Qd7 25.Ne5 Qd5 26.Rfd1 Qxc5 27.Nxd4 Nd5 28.Nxe6 Nc3+ 29.Ka1 Rxd2 30.Nxc5 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Nxd1 32.Ncd7+ 1-0 Enterprising and creative play in the opening by both sides; Alekhine plays the exchange French followed by an early f4 and maneuvering his knights to e2 and e3 but seems undecided what to do with his rooks; Black remaneuvers his kings knight to e4 to neutralize White's central play and create a central pawn chain and is rewarded with connected central passed pawns after intitiating play with 21...c5. At that moment Black plays the imprecise Qa4 (missing Qd5 which gains an important tempo) and finally miscombines with 27...Nd5 allowing a series of exchanges which end up winning a piece for White. Still an interesting game.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Cercle de la Rive Gauche Team One, Paris 1925 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.0-0 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.Rb1 Be6 10.b4 e4 11.dxe4 cxb4 12.Nd5 Nxe4 13.Qc2 Nf6 14.axb4 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.Rd1 Bxf3 17.exf3 Qb6 18.Be3 Qb5 19.f4 Nd8 20.Rd5 Qd7 21.b5 Rc8 22.Qd3 b6 23.Ra1 Rc7 24.f5 f6 25.Rd4 Re8 26.Bd5+ Kh7 27.Qe2 Rf8 28.Rg4 Qe8 29.Rg6 Rh8 30.Qh5 Bf8 31.Rxh6+ 1-0 Note the play on the white squares. 17.exf3! is a surprise (opening the E-file for important play later) but played by a grandmaster of positional strategy. 27.Be6 wins the queen but Alekhine's finish is more instructive.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Groupe de Joueurs Isoles 1.e4 c5 2.b4 e6 3.bxc5 Bxc5 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.c3 Be7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 d5 8.Nd2 dxe4 9.Nxe4 f5 10.N4g3 Nf6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nf4 Qc7 13.Re1 Nd5 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.Bf4 g5 17.Be5 g4 18.Qf4 Qd8 19.Bxf5 1-0 A Sicilian Wing Gambit Declined. Not a well played game by Black but typical of some players in large blindfold displays who play deliberately risky moves attacking the blindfold players pieces (hoping he wont "see" the moves). Efficient coordination of the pieces in the center by Alekhine. The final position is a pretty picture from White's perspective.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Alekhine - Groupe du Cafe Terminus Paris, Paris 1925 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Na4 Qe7 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.0-0 Nd7 10.c3 a6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 0-0-0 13.Bd5 Na7 14.Be3 Kb8 15.b4 Nb5 16.bxc5 Nxc5 17.d4 Rxd5 18.exd5 e4 19.Qg4 Nd7 20.Rfc1 g6 21.c4 f5 22.Qe2 Na7 23.Rab1 Nb6 24.Qb2 1-0 An interesting duel in the center was shaping up between the bishops and knights after 17.d4 but is abruptly ended with the mistaken 17...Rxd5. With the black knights in retreat it does not take Alekhine long to line up a path to the black king. It looks like the black players still needed lessons on middlegame play with the knights.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

The following game was (I think) the best game by Alekhine in the entire Paris exhibition. Highlighted by creative opening play sacrificing a pawn to retain the center pawns in an unusual way, Alekhine breaks through to his opponents king in style. Alekhine - Groupe de Joueurs Isoles Team Four, Paris 1925 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.d5 Bxf3 8.gxf3 Ne5 9.Bb5+ c6 10.Bf4! Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 cxb5 12.Nc3 a6 13.Rd1 g6 14.e5 Nh5 15.Bg5 Qc7 16.d6 exd6 17.Nd5 Qa5+ 18.b4 Qxa2 19.Nc7+ Kd7 20.Qxb7 1-0

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

.

Hans Jung, what do you think about the Amber tournament?

**
There was a rumuor (joke) that Kasparov and Carlsen split because Magnus wants to play blindfold but Garry thinks that it is waist of time and energy (He never played in Amber tournaments)

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

What do I think of the Amber tournament? A luxury vacation for the very top! It doesnt get any better. Can you imagine getting wined and dined by one of Europe's top billionaires! Oh you mean the chess? Frankly Im underimpressed.
One board blindfold can be done easily by any master player. I was under the impression ( based on some very nice games Ive seen in databases) that these guys were incredible blindfold players - but now I see too many mistakes. Although a good reason may be they are too relaxed (and maybe too many parties?? - Im guessing here) As far as Magnus Carlsen goes - he is a very creative player and I hope blindfold chess has helped that in some way but I dont believe that blindfold chess could have been any kind of factor in the parting of ways between him and Kasparov. Certainly there are alot of other factors (none of which we have knowledge of).

[Craig Sadler]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Hans Jung, what do you think about the Amber tournament?

**
There was a rumuor (joke) that Kasparov and Carlsen split because Magnus wants to play blindfold but Garry thinks that it is waist of time and energy (He never played in Amber tournaments)

Kasparov didn't play in the Amber not because of the time and energy, but rather that his ego couldn't stand the thought of dropping a piece blindfold (and it happens...even to Karpov if memory serves). there will most likely be losses for every player in a tournament like this and kasparov didn't want any part of that.

[Craig Sadler]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Kasparov didn't play in the Amber not because of the time and energy, but rather that his ego couldn't stand the thought of dropping a piece blindfold (and it happens...even to Karpov if memory serves). there will most likely be losses for every player in a tournament like this and kasparov didn't want any part of that.

case in point, can you imagine Garry's head exploding after something like this?

Grischuk, Alexander - Carlsen, Magnus
19th Amber Blindfold Nice FRA (11), 2010.03.25

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bg5 O-O 6.Qd2 Na6 7.Bd3 e5 8.d5 Qe8 9.Nge2 Nh5 10.f3 f5 11.O-O-O Nc5 12.Bc2 Bd7 13.Rde1 fxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.fxe4 b5 16.cxb5 Rf2 17.Rhg1 Nf4 18.Qe3 Rxg2 19.Nxf4 exf4 20.Bxf4 Rxg1 21.Rxg1 Qe7 22.Bd3 Rf8 23.Rf1 Qh4 24.Bg3 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 Qxe4 26.Qxe4 1-0

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Now a little entertainment from Alekhine in his Paris blindfold exhibition where he trades off his bishops in what looks like an odd Chigorin Defence in order to see his knights triumph (on the white side). His opponent(s) blindly helps him along beyond the point of absurdity. Alekhine - Cercle de la Saint-Germain, Paris 1925 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bf5 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Ne7 5.Bxf5 Nxf5 6.Nf3 f6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.Nbd2 Nc6 10.c4 dxc4 11.Nxc4 Qd7 12.Qb3 b6 13.Rac1 Kf7 14.Rfd1 Rad8 15.Qb5 Qd5 16.Qxc6 Rd7 17.Qxd7+ Qxd7 18.Nce5+ Ke7 19.Nxd7 Kxd7 20.e4 Ne7 21.d5 exd5 22.exd5 Kd6 23.Nd4 a6 24.Ne6 Re8 25.Nxc7 1-0