Blindfold Chess - the book

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

More from Blackburne: Blackburne Amateur, Manchester England 1875 (from a 10 board blindfold simul) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.00 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qf6 9.e5 Qg6 10.Nxc3 Nge7 11.Ba3 b5 12.Nxb5 Rb8 13.Qa4 a6 14.Nd6+ cxd6 15.exd6 Nf5 16.Rae1+ Bxe1 17.Rxe1+ Kf8 18.Qxc6 dxc6 19.d7+ and mate next move. 1-0 This game was included in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, the only blindfold game I know of to be used in ECO.
Blackburne - Jebson Manchester England 1862 ( from Blackburne's first blindfold simul - a 4 board exhibition - just a year after he started tournament chess) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 f5 4.e5 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 (I have never before or since seen this move order in the Sicilian Defence) 6.Qa4 Bc5 7.Bd3 Qb6 8.00 Nge7 9.Nc3 00 10.Qh4 Ng6 11.Qg3 f4 12.Qh3 Nce7 13.Ng5 h6 14.Nce4 d5 15.Nf6+ Kh8 16.Qh5 Nxe5 17.Bxf4 Nxd3 18.Qf7 Qd8 19.Bc7 1-0
Blackburne Evelyn London England 1862 (from a 10 board simul) 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qd5+ Kg7 7.Qxc5 d5 8.Qxd4+ Nf6 9.Bg5 dxe4 10.Bxf6+ Qxf6 11.Qxf6+ Kxf6 12.Nc3 Kf5 13.Nge2 Be6 14.Ng3+ Kf4 15.Ngxe4 Nc6 16.00 Rad8 17.g3+ Kf5 18.f4 Nd4 19.Rf2 h5 20.h3 Bc4 21.Re1 Rhf8 22.Nd2 Be6 23.Re5+ Kf6 24.Nde4+ Kg7 25.Ng5 Bf7 26.Re7 Rc8 27.Rd7 c5 28.Nce4 Rcd8 29.Rxb7 Kg8 30.Nf6+ Kg7 31.Nd7 Bd5 32.Nxf8+ 1-0

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Blindfold Chess

Amber 2009 with blind and rapid tournaments: almost all top players.
www.amberchess2009.com

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

More from Blackburne: Blackburne-Pigott London 1862 from 10 board simul
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Qe7 5.Nc3 c6 6.Bxf4 h6 7.Bd3 d5 8.00 Nf6 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Re1 Be6 11.Nxd5 cxd5 12.c4 Qd8 13.cxd5 Qxd5 14.Re5 Qd8 15.d5 Qb6+ 16.Kf1 Bd6 17.dxe6 Bxe5 18.exf7+ Kf8 19.Nxe5 Qf6 20.Bc4 g5 21.Ng6+ 1-0
Blackburne Chinnery London 1862 from 10 board simul
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.00 Bc5 5.d3 Qe7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nc3 a6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.Ba4 b5 11.Bb3 d6 12.c3 Bg4 13.Ne3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 00 15.Bd5 Qd7 16.Nf5 Kh7 17.d4 Bb6 18.Qg4 Rg8 19.Nxh6 Qxg4 20.Nxg4 Ne7 21.Bxa8 Rxa8 22.dxe5 dxe5 23.Nxe5 f6 24.Ng4 Re8 25.Kh1 Ng6 26.Rfe1 Nf4 27.g3 Nd3 28.Re2 f5 29.Rd1 Nc5 30.Ne3 Nxe4 31.Kg2 Nf6 32.Ree1 g5 33.Nd5 Rxe1 34.Nxf6+ Kg7 35.Nh5+ Kh6 36.Rxe1 Kxh5 37.f4 Bc5 38.Re8 Kh6 39.Ra8 Bd6 40.Rxa6 1-0
Blackburne Amateur 1863 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.f4 Qc5 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.00 h6 15.Be8 Be6 16.Rxf6 gxf6 17.Rd7+ Bxd7 18.Qf7+ Kd6 19.Qxd7+ Kc5 20.Be3+ Kb4 21.Qxb7+ Ka5 White announced mate in 3 22.b4+ Bxb4 23.Bb6+ axb6 24.Qxa8# 1-0
Blackburne West 1885 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.00 Bxc3 8.bxc3 00 9.Ne5 Be6 10.f4 Ne4 11.f5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bd7 13.f6 g6 14.Ba3 Re8 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Qd2 Kh8 17.Qg5!! c6 18.Rf4 Qa5 19.Qh6 Rg8 20.Qxh7+ Kxh7 21.Rh4# 1-0

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Moving on to Zukertort. Johannes Zukertort was the student of Adolf Anderssen (the best attacking player of the 19th century).
Zukertort - John Berry Montreal 1884
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Bg4 6.d3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nbd7 8.Na4 Bb6 9.Nxb6 axb6 10.00 00 11.c3 h6 12.Bb3 Kh8 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.Qe2 Qe7 15.Bd2 Nh7 16.d4 Nd7 17.Qd3 f6 18.Rae1 Rfe8 19.Bc2 Nhf8 20.a3 Qf7 21.Rf3 Re7 22.Rh3 Qg8 23.Rf1 c5 24.Bf4 c4 25.Qd2 d5 26.e5 fxe5 27.dxe5 Nxe5 28.Bxh6 gxh6 29.Qxh6+ Nh7 30.Qf6+ Rg7 31.Bxh7 Qb8 32.Bf5+ Kg8 33.Be6+ 1-0
Zukertort-Max Judd St. Louis 1884
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 00 6.d3 c6 7.Bb3 b5 8.Ne2 a5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.Nxe5 a4 11.Bxf7+ Rxf7 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.d4 Bb6 14.00 Kg8 15.e5 Nd5 16.c3 Nd7 17.Kh1 Nf8 18.Qe1 Be6 19.Qg3 Ng6 20.Bg5 Qd7 21.h4 Rf8 22.h5 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Nge7 24.Qf3 Nf5 25.g4 Nde7 26.Nf4 h6 27.Nxe6 hxg5 28.Nxg5 g6 29.hxg6 Nxg6 30.Qxf5 Qg7 31.Qe6+ 1-0
Zukertort - Wilson
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.d3 Bb4 5.fxe5 d4 6.a3 Ba5 7.b4 Ng4 8.Nd5 Bb6 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.Bf4 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Bg5 00 13.Be2 Qd6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.00 Qd6 17.Kh1 a6 18.Qe1 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Qf2 Be6 21.Bg4 c5 22.Qf4 1-0

[Patrick Mayhew]

Re: MCO 10th edition

Hi Gordon,

Indeed lots of evenings playing speed chess...the Saskatoon News Agency where I got my MCO 10th...$4.95! And I too glanced across the room to the bookshelf where it still resides.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Zukertort - John Berry Montreal 1884

AFAIK, I am not related to any of them, all over the world and from all epochs, the Berry chess players. I asked Lionel Berry Joyner where the name came from, and he was vague in his reply. Often it is a family name from the mother's side. Despite the name printed in a biographic article, Canada's top ranked player turned out to be Kevin Barry Spraggett, after the Irish patriot Kevin Barry.

I am related to some Berry's who were involved in chess. Not players, but rather that rarest of relationships ....

Them's the berries.

[Stephen Wright]

Zukertort - Berry

Sorry to disappoint, but reports of the event indicate Black was actually John Barry, there was also a George Barry among the twelve that Zukertort took on that evening. On a related matter, does anyone have a source for the "Berry" game, other than one of the mega databases?

[Hans Jung]

Re: Zukertort - Berry

Sorry to disappoint, but reports of the event indicate Black was actually John Barry, there was also a George Barry among the twelve that Zukertort took on that evening. On a related matter, does anyone have a source for the "Berry" game, other than one of the mega databases?

Hi Stephen, Thanks for the correction. I think I do have a source but I would have to do alot of digging (some old German magazines that I have)

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

My excitement of the day is the arrival of the new issue of New In Chess magazine (2009 Issue 2) with Hans Ree doing a review of Blindfold Chess - the book in his profound and colorful way - not only going through highlights of the book's research in detail but adding a colorful Dutch history of blindfold chess as well. Captivating reading!

[Henry Blaszczak]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

I thought George Koltanowski had the record for most simul blindfolded games.
He must have been here in Ottawa because I picked up a little old book with typewritten text on "The Colle System" and when I opened it there was "Kolty's" autograph.
________
NX125

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

George Koltanowski should be known as Mr. Blindfold Chess, or Master Blindfold Chess, or Grandmaster Blindfold Chess. He physically did more blindfold simuls than anyone else in the world (x 10 or more ahead of the next player - probably Alekhine). Koltanowski was the last grand old showman of chess. I was privileged to see his blindfold knights tour but alas never one of his blindfold simuls. I wish I could see a video of one. Koltanowski promoted the game of chess tirelessly - doing more tours than any other master in history and in fact promoting to the very end of his life at age 96. Having said all that until this year blindfold chess did not have proper extensive research done (I wish some chess historian would do research on Koltanowskis extensive exhibitions and draw a somewhat complete history and conclusions) and its records were communicated by word of mouth, odd corners of websites, and the odd sentence or two in general chess articles and chess books. The only one who did major writing on blindfold chess was George himself.
Now in terms of the world record George Koltanowski broke Alekhines amazing feats in 1937 and this was accepted as the world record (34 boards) for many years due mainly to lack of any other information. Najdorf's exhibitions were not that well publicized and when Koltanowski found out about them he challenged them due to erroneous accounts that Najdorf had "looked" at scoresheets during those exhibitions. Koltanowski was wrong. Then along came Janos Flesch with his televised exhibition in 1960 where he played 52 boards. So in terms of sheer numbers this was the one. However there were many discrepancies and problems with this exhibition that came to light later.
Koltanowski was aware of this exhibition. However he was 56 years old - too old to do 50+ boards at the same time. It would have taken him 20 hours at least to complete and would have been a knightmare to organize. So he played 56 blindfolded speed games one after the other and published this as his own world blindfold record. The book Blindfold Chess lays this out completely (after extensive years of research by the two authors) and most importantly is the only complete book of blindfold chess out there. In my opinion if there were a Hall of Fame for Blindfold Chess 5 very worthy individuals would be in there: Alekhine, Koltanowski, Najdorf, Reti, and Flesch. Than one could add: Pillsbury, Blackburne, Zukertort, Paulsen and Morphy.
These were the Iron Men of the blindfold chess world. Also Alekhine, Koltanowski,Najdorf,Reti, and Flesch were all grandmasters. 4 of those 5 (and only these alltime in history) passed an amazing milestone in blindfold chess simultaneous exhibitions - they all did 30 boards or more simultaneous!!! I include Richard Reti because he was next with 29 and would have done more than 30 if he had lived long enough. - and getting back to George Koltanowski one of my keepers is his blindfold chess book with the flourish of his signiature on the inside front cover. (if I had been bolder and more witty in those days I would have "swindled" a personal autogragh from the grand old man) - and yes he did tour Canada extensively back in the 30's and returned many times. He even had newspaper columns here in Canada and a regular TV program.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Who is the strongest blindfold player today?

Going into the final round 11 of the Melody Amber Rapid/Blindfold Tournament, Magnus Carlsen leads the blindfold section of the tournament on 7/10 half a point clear of Levon Aronian and a point clear of Anand and Kramnik. Carlsen seems to have the nod as the current strongest, depending on how he does in the last round.

Bob

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

Magnus Carlsen also did a 10 board exhibition a couple of years ago and Topalov has also done some multi-board exhibitions. Apparently Kramniks exceptional abilities with just one game has been noted on different chess sites. Same with Aronian.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

More from Zukertort: Winawer-Zukertort (both blindfolded) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.00 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qf6 9.e5 Qg6 10.Nxc3 Nge7 11.Ne2 b5 12.Bd3 Qe6 13.Qc2 Nb4 14.Qc3 Nxd3 15.Qxa5 Nxc1 16.Raxc1 Qb6 17.Qc3 Nd5 18.Qd2 Bb7 19.Nfd4 00 20.f4 c5 21.Nf5 c4+ 22.Nfd4 Rfe8 23.Kh1 Rac8 24.Rf3 b4 25.Rh3 c3 26.Qd3 Qg6 27.f5 Qg5 28.Rg3 Nf4 29.Nxf4 Qxf4 30.Rf1 Qe4 31.Qd1 Rxe5 32.f6 g6 33.Nf3 Rd5 34.Qc1 Rh5 35.Re1 Qf5 36.Re5 Qxe5 37.Nxe5 Rxe5 38.h3 c2 39.Kh2 Re1 40.Qh6 Rh1+ 41.Kxh1 c1=Q+ 42.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 43.Kh2 Rc2 44.h4 Rxa2 45.Rd3 Bc6 0-1
Amateur Zukertort 1872 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Bg7 6.Nxg4 d5 7.Nf2 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Qe7 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.c3 Nh6 11.d4 Bg4 12.Qd3 f5 13.Bxf4 fxe4 14.Qb5 000 15.Nd2 Nf5 16.d5 e3 17.Nc4 Ncd4 18.cxd4 Nxd4 19.Qa4 Qb4+ 20.Qxb4 Nc2# 0-1
Martin Zukertort (one of 16) 1876 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 Nc6 5.d4 g5 6.Nf3 Qh5 7.Be2 Qg6 8.d5 Nce7 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Qd3 d6 11.Bd2 Bd7 12.Nb5 Kd8 13.Bc3 Bxb5 14.Qxb5 Bxc3 15.Qxb7 Rc8 16.bxc3 g4 17.Nd2 Nf6 18.Qb4 Rg8 19.Qd4 Qh6 20.Ke1 f3 21.Ba6 fxg2 22.Rg1 Qxh2 23.Bxc8 Kxc8 24.Ke2 Qe5 25.Rxg2 Ng6 26.Rf1 Nh5 27.Kd1 Qxd4 28.cxd4 Ngf4 29.Rh2 g3 30.Rh4 g2 31.Rg1 Rg3 32.Rh2 Nf6 33.Nf1 gxf1=Q+ 34.Rxf1 Ng4 35.Rhf2 Nxf2+ 36.Rxf2 Rg4 37.Kd2 Rg2 38.Rxg2 Nxg2 39.Ke2 Kd7 40.Kf2 Nh4 41.Kg3 Ng6 42.Kg4 Ke7 43.c4 Kf6 44.a4 Ne5+ 0-1

[Alexander Makhaev]

Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

I think, that the key to successful blindfold play is a board. I could easily play without peaces, but it is much harder to do without a board.

Anyone tried exercises to improve board "feeling"? And, if yes, what exercises?

I did some search and found following trainers available online:

• http://www.dhtmlgoodies.com/scripts/...d-trainer.html
• http://38i.biz/blindchess/ (based on trainer from dhtmlgoodies.com)
• http://chesseye.alexander-fleischer.de/o/ (free registration is required).