Blindfold Chess - the book

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  • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

    A fairly common occurrence in blindfold simuls is the player who thinks they will achieve a playable position out of the opening by playing identical moves with the master and the only challenge is when to break symmetry. Often what results is the win of a pawn and it is then up to the exhibitor to demonstrate sufficient technique to win the ending. Kolty's endgame technique was usually very good and in the following example he gets extra help from his opponent. Koltanowski - Granger, Edinburgh 1937, 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.e4 e5 8.exd5 exd4 9.Ne4 Ne5 10.Bg5 Bg4 11.Bxf6 Bxf3 12.Bxd8 Bxd1 13.Nxd6 Nxd3 14.Raxd1 cxd6 15.Rxd3 Raxd8 16.Rxd4 Rfe8 17.Rfd1 h5 18.Kf1 Re7 19.Re1 Rxe1+ 20.Kxe1 Re8+ 21.Kd2 Kf8 22.f3 f5 23.Rd3 g5 24.Re3 Re7 25.Rxe7 Kxe7 26.Ke3 Kf6 27.Kd4 Ke7 28.c4 b6 29.b4 a6 30.c5 b5 31.cxd6+ Kxd6 32.h4 1-0

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    • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

      Koltanowski-Kessen, Edinburgh 1937, 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.d4 e6 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.Ne2 Nf6 6.0-0 d5 7.e5 Nd7 8.f4 f6 9.Kh1 Be7 10.g4 0-0 11.Nd2 a5 12.Nf3 Nb6 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.g5 Be7 15.Ng3 Bd6 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.g6 Rf6 20.fxe5 Rxf1+ 21.Nxf1 Kf8 22.Qh8+ Ke7 23.Qxg7+ Ke8 24.Qf7# 1-0
      A nice kingside attack in the Wing Gambit of the Sicilian Defence. Kolty's 17.Bxh7+ is an example of his alertness to tactics, amazing considering his playing of a large number of other positions blindfolded at the same time.

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      • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

        Kolty was greatly helped by his opponents in this simul in that they would often miss tactics in the openings and also played various coffeehouse openings which led (because of Kolty's tactical alertness) to some very short miniatures. Of the 34 games 19 were miniature wins and 9 were draws of 16 moves or less. The quality of his opposition in this simul was far less than in his 30 board exhibition in Antwerp 1931. Here are some examples of his very short wins out of the opening. Koltanowski - M'Robbie, Edinburgh 1937, 1.e4 g5 2.d4 h6 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bc4 Nd7 5.Qh5 e6 6.Bxe6 Qe7 7.Nd5 1-0 Black resigns, not seeing that Ngf6 (or Ndf6) exchanges queens or saves his queen. Koltanowski - Tweedie, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ Ke7 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 6.Bc4+ d5 7.Bxd5+ Kg6 8.d4 Qf6 9.Qg3+ Kh5 10.e5 Qh4 11.Qf3+ Bg4 12.Qf7+ g6 13.h3 Bb4+ 14.c3 Nh6 15.hxg4+ Kxg4 16.Qf3# Koltanowski - Prenter, 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 d5 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxd5 Qxd5 8.Nxd5 Bd6 9.Nxf6+ Kf7 10.Nxe4 Re8 11.f3 Bf5 12.Bd3 Nd7 13.Ne2 Nf6 14.Nxd6+ cxd6 15.Bxf5 gxf5 16.Kd2 1-0 Looks like Black just got tired of the position. Of course its just an easy endgame win for White.

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        • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

          Koltanowski - Ritchie, Edinburgh 1937, 1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.d4 c4 6.e4 Be6 7.exd5 Bxd5 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Bxc4 Bxc4 10.Qxc4 Nf6 11.0-0 Be7 12.d5 Na5 13.Qb5+ Nd7 14.Re1 0-0 15.Rxe7 Qxe7 16.Qxa5 Nf6 17.Bg5 Rfe8 18.h3 h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Rd1 b6 21.Qa3 a5 22.d6 Rad8 23.Nd5 Qe6 24.Nxb6 Kh7 25.Qxa5 Rxd6 26.Re1 Qf6 27.Rxe8 Rxb6 28.Qa8 Rxb2 29.Rh8+ Kg6 30.Qe4+ Qf5 31.Nh4+ Kg5 32.Qxf5+ Kxh4 33.Qg4# 1-0 Twice the move Re1 pays big dividends. A smooth finish by Kolty.

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          • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

            Koltanowski - Todd, Edinburgh 1937, 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.e4 Qf6 4.Nf3 Qc6 5.Nxe5 Qb6 6.Qf3 Qf6 7.Qxf6 gxf6 8.Nf3 c6 9.d4 Bb4 10.Bd2 Ne7 11.0-0-0 a5 12.Re1 0-0 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 b5 15.cxb5 cxb5 16.Bxb5 d5 17.e5 f5 18.Ng5 h6 19.Nh3 Bd7 20.Bxd7 Nxd7 21.Nf4 a4 22.Bb4 Rae8 23.Bxe7 Rxe7 24.Nxd5 Re6 25.Re2 Rc6+ 26.Rc2 Rxc2+ 27.Kxc2 Kg7 28.f4 Rc8+ 29.Kd3 1-0 This was one of the more bizarre games of the exhibition. Black plays 4 queen moves in the first 6 moves only to offer a queen exchange. He then plays 7...gxf6?!? (instead of the natural Nxf6) and succeeds in temporarily frustrating the white knights. Kolty slowly and surely builds his position and Black slowly and surely gives away pawns. Just when the viewer expects some nice endgame technique Black mysteriously resigns.

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            • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

              Koltanowski-Wells, Edinburgh 1937, 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Nbd7 5.Nbd2 c5 6.0-0 cxd4 7.exd4 Bd6 8.Re1 0-0 9.Nf1 Re8 10.Ne5 Qc7 11.f4 b6 12.g4 Bb7 13.Ng3 h6 14.c3 Nh7 15.g5 Nxe5 16.fxe5 Bf8 17.gxh6 gxh6 18.Qg4+ Kh8 19.Bxh7 Kxh7 20.Nh5 1-0 Kolty plays a standard kingside attack in the Stonewall Attack (11.f4, 12.g4, 15.g5) having transposed from the Colle System. Black resigns knowing that Nf6 and Q to the H-file are coming followed by quick checkmate.

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              • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                Koltanowski- ?, Edinburgh 1937, 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Be7 11.Qe2 b6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Qe4 g6 14.Bh6 Bb7 15.Bxf8 Qxf8 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.Qe2 e5 18.Rfe1 Bg7 19.Be4 Qc7 20.Qc4 Re8 21.b4 Re7 22.b5 Na5 23.Qxc7 Rxc7 24.Bxb7 Nxb7 25.Nxe5 Nc5 26.Rd8+ Bf8 27.Nc6 Ne6 28.Ra8 1-0 Another Colle System. The most remarkable thing about this game to my mind is that Kolty must have calculated 14.Qxc6 but rejected it because of 14.Qxc6 Qxd3 15.Qxa8 Ba6 which shows that he had good board vision despite playing 34 boards blindfolded. The oddity of this game was it was amongst the scoresheets provided by Koltanowski but it was labelled with the opponent name of Geddes. Further research has shown that the Geddes game ended in a draw.

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                • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                  Koltanowski-Thompson, Edinburgh 1937, 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 Ne4 7.0-0 Bg4 8.d3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Bxg3 10.Bg5 Qd6 11.Bh4 Bxf3 12.Bxg3 Bxe2 13.Bxd6 Bxd1 14.Bxf8 Bxc2 15.Bxb7 Bxd3 16.Bxa8 1-0 A From's Gambit where Black attacks only with pieces (not using the G-pawn - doomed to failure). The position after move 10 shows all bishops lined up on the G-file (very picturesque but not very effective for Black). There is a bit of humour involved as the last 10 moves are bishop captures and bishop moves dominate the game.

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                  • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                    Koltanowski-Gilchrist, Edinburgh 1937, 1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.e5 Nc6 5.d4 e6 6.axb4 Nxb4 7.c3 Nc6 8.Bd3 Nge7 9.Ne2 Ng6 10.0-0 Be7 11.f4 0-0 12.Ng3 Bd7 13.f5 exf5 14.Nxf5 Be6 15.Qh5 Re8 16.Rf3 f6 17.Rh3 Nf8 18.Nxe7+ Nxe7 19.Bxh7+ Nxh7 20.Qxh7+ Kf7 21.exf6 Bxh3 22.Qxg7+ Ke6 23.fxe7 Rxe7 24.Qh6+ Kf7 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Bg5 Re1+ 27.Kf2 Qf8+ 28.Kxe1 Re8+ 29.Kd1 Qf1+ 30.Kc2 Re2+ 31.Nd2 Bf5+ 32.Kb2 Qxg2 33.Kb3 Rxd2 34.Bxd2 1-0 Kolty breaks thru to the king but misses 24.Qxh3+ and the game turns on him. A bad move order in Black's counterattack allows Kolty to save the game. Instead 30...Bf5+ 31.Kb3 Re6 would have doomed the white king.

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                    • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                      From November 27th, 2010 (starting 9 am thru the day and night to 8 am the next morning) to November 28th, FM Marc Lang took on 35 players in a blindfold simul exhibition in Sontheim (near Stuttgart) in southwestern Germany. Sontheim has a very active club and enough players to support such a large simul. Marc scored 19 wins, 13 draws, and 3 losses or 73% and the 23 hours of play made it a real marathon. The exhibition was a real marvel of modern technology. Marc sat in front of a laptop computer where only his opponents last move showed on the screen. Behind him was a large display screen which showed the position on his current board of play and eventually his reply (of course he could not see this screen but it was for the viewing of the audience). The opponents were arranged so he could see their faces but not their boards. An arbiter made sure the moves were correctly carried out on the playing boards. Marc's opponents ranged in rating from 1000 to 2100.
                      To prepare for the event Marc exercised regularly with one hour swimming sessions and 50 kilometer bike rides almost daily and was in good shape. This was extremely important as he is the oldest player ever to successfully attempt more than 30 boards blindfold simultaneously. He plans to break the world record of 45 boards held by Miguel Najdorf sometime in 2011. I wish him good luck and success. Marc did a lot of blogging both before and after the event and has maintained good records online (however a lot of it is in German). For a detailed report of this event and a link go to: www.blindfoldchess.net

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                      • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                        Lang-Mueck, Sontheim, Germany, Nov 28,2010 1.e4 g5 2.d4 h6 3.h4 g4 4.Qxg4 d5 5.Qf4 dxe4 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.Nxe4 Nd5 9.Qg3 Kf8 10.Nf3 c6 11.Bd2 Bf5 12.Nc3 Nb4 13.0-0-0 Bxc2 14.Qf4 Nd3+ 15.Bxd3 Bxd3 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.Qxe5 f6 18.Qh5 Kg7 19.Rh3 Bg6 20.Rg3 Qe8 21.Re1 1-0 Marc's highest rated opponent (2100) here provided Marc with one of his easiest games. Not only because of the poor opening choice but mainly he was too eager in starting his counterattack. White had control of the resulting tactics all the way. In the final position the threat of Rxg6+ and then Rxe7+ is just too much.

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                        • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                          Lang - Fuchs, Sontheim, Germany, Nov.28, 2010. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Ne5 8.e3 h6 9.Bh4 Ng6 10.Bg3 Ne4 11.Qc2 d5 12.cxd5 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Qxd5 14.Bd3 Ne5 15.Be4 Qc4 16.Rh5 f6 17.f4 Ng4 18.Bd5 Qa6 19.Qe4+ Kd8 20.Rd1 1-0 White uses all his pieces in a beautiful display in the center and threatening the king.

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                          • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                            Lang - Ott, Sontheim, Germany, Nov 28, 2010 1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0-0 d6 5.d4 e6 6.c4 g6 7.d5 Ne7 8.Nc3 e5 9.e4 Bg7 10.Ne1 0-0 11.Nd3 Rb8 12.f4 exf4 13.gxf4 Ng4 14.h3 Bd4+ 15.Kh1 Ne3 16.Bxe3 Bxe3 17.Qe2 Bd4 18.Nb5 Bg7 19.Nxa7 Qa5 20.Nb5 Qa6 21.a4 Bd7 22.Kh2 f6 23.Bf3 Rbc8 24.Rg1 f5 25.e5 Bxb5 26.axb5 Qb6 27.Rge1 Ra8 28.Rxa8 Rxa8 29.exd6 Bf8 30.dxe7 1-0
                            From the four castle opening (thats what I call these first 4 moves when I teach them to my students) White builds into the Kings Indian with Ne1. Black plays a misconceived Ng4/Bd4 attack which allows White a dominating Nb5. Still further nice moves are needed to win the game and White continues until he is allowed the e5 breakthru. A good resourceful game by White.

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                            • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                              Lang - Diepold-Weiss, Sontheim, Germany, Nov 28, 2010 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Qf6 5.Qd1 h6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Bb5 a6 8.Ba4 Qd8 9.0-0 b5 10.Bb3 Nf6 11.a4 b4 12.Nd5 Be6 13.a5 Nxe4 14.Ba4 Bd7 15.Re1 f5 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Qh5+ 1-0 It seems all large exhibitions have at least one game like this. Black doesnt put much thought into their moves but White on the other hand finds creative ways to use his pieces well. (especially the last 5 moves of the game)

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                              • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                                Lang - Schanz, Sontheim, Germany, Nov 28, 2010 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.0-0 a6 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Ne5 Qd6 8.b3 h6 9.Bb2 Qe6 10.Nc3 Qf5 11.Ne2 Ne4 12.Nd4 Qf6 13.Qe2 e6 14.d3 Nd6 15.Ndxc6 bxc6 16.e4 dxe4 17.dxe4 Nb7 18.Rad1 Bd6 19.Ba1 Qe7 20.Nxc6 Qd7 21.Ne5 Qb5 22.c4 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 0-0 24.Nd7 Qc6 25.Qg4 f6 26.Nxf6+ Kf7 27.Nh7 Rg8 28.f5 1-0 White's planned play after 24.Nd7 is masterful. Rather than the mundane capture of the rook on f8 he plays to attack the king and finishes with a nice breakthru move f5!

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