Blindfold Chess - the book

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

    Pillsbury - Mayer Hanover 1902 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 g6 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.Bc3 Nf6 7.Be2 0-0 8.Nd2 d5 9.Ngf3 Re8 10.0-0-0 Ng4 11.Qc5 Bf8 12.Qxd5 Nxf2 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Qxd8 Raxd8 15.Bxe6 Rxe6 16.Ng5 Ree8 17.Rdf1 Nxh1 18.Rxh1 Bh6 19.h4 Bxg5 20.hxg5 Nd4 21.Re1 c5 22.e5 Kh8 23.Nf3 h6 24.Re4 Nxf3 25.gxf3 hxg5 26.e6+ Kg8 27.exf7+ Kxf7 28.Rg4 Re3 29.Rxg5 Rxf3 30.Rg1 g5 31.Bd2 g4 32.c4 g3 33.Be1 Rg8 34.Kd2 g2 35.Ke2 Rf4 36.Bd2 Rxc4 0-1
    Pillsbury's pieces were uncoordinated in the opening and could not withstand the d4 thrust. His position cracked and he limited the damage to loss of the exchange. Just when it appeared that his opponent had given him a chance, it all turned out to be an illusion. His opponent kept simplifying into a winning endgame. The result of bad opening development.

    Comment


    • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

      Pillsbury - Piotrowski Hanover 1902 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 Bb6 8.cxd4 d6 9.Bb2 Na5 10.d5 Ne7 11.Bd3 0-0 12.Nc3 Ng6 13.Ne2 c5 14.Qd2 f6 15.Bc3 a6 16.Ng3 Bc7 17.Nf5 b5 18.Bc2 b4 19.Bb2 Nc4 20.Qc1 a5 21.Nd2 Nxb2 22.Qxb2 a4 23.f4 Ba6 24.Rf3 Qd7 25.Re1 Rab8 26.Nf1 c4 27.N1g3 b3 28.axb3 axb3 29.Bb1 Ba5 30.Rc1 c3 31.Rfxc3 Bxc3 32.Rxc3 Nxf4 33.Rxb3 Qa7+ 34.Kh1 Rxb3 35.Qxb3 Qf2 0-1 All Evans Gambit theory in the opening but unfortunately resulting in a position where White's kingside threats lag behind Black's pawn roller on the kingside backed by the Black beauties (twin B's). The reason for this is White wasting time with imprecise bishop moves and rook moves. In the position at move 27 if White could play Nh5 he would have definite threats on the black king position. Still most players would get a horrible, helpless feeling from the advance of the connected passed pawns by Black. Pillsbury deals with those threats by sacrificing the exchange and neutralises the B's and passed pawns. Unfortunately Black's queen crashes through and White has no time for counterthreats. Definitely another example of Pillsbury having a bad day but the pressure of strong opposition must of also taken its toll. Black demonstrates an efficient finish to the game.

      Comment


      • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

        So Pillsbury finished at Hanover 1902 with 3 wins, 7 losses and 11 draws in his 21 board simul against master strength opposition. A truly amazing result!! (considering also that he had a bad day where he was not on top form) He then broke his 21 board record at Moscow in December 1902 by playing 22 boards. I will report that simul next.

        Comment


        • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

          Hans,
          I do not have time to read all these posts, so forgive me if someone has already mentioned this. In the book about MIles published after his death, It's Only Me, it has an article that he wrote about a blindfold simul he did with about 25 players. It was interesting to hear his prep and game plan. Games 1, 6, 11, etc would be 1.e4 and other sets would start differently also so he could remember the games by opening. He ran into trouble in the opening anyways after some of his 1.d4 games merged with some of the 1.Nf3 games before he realized it! If I remember, he only lost 2 games.
          Brian

          Comment


          • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

            Yes Brian, in my opinion the best article ever written about a blindfold exhibition. Tony Miles was a wonderful writer and the article in many places was hilarious (tongue-in-cheek British humor). As I recall it was many pages in the classy British magazine Chess. I dont recall specifics but in GM Miles next international tournament he scored 3 wins as Black and was 0-5 for White or something equivalent. Coincidence or the brain was strangely affected?? In Rejkjavik 1986 I had the pleasure of being regailed with Tony's amazing stories of chess or should I say anecdotes and humorous quips. Priceless! (the only price was buying him several shots of Black Death - the Icelandic national drink!)

            Comment


            • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

              After a break of a week playing in the Canadian Closed Chess Championship I am happy to get back to Pillsbury. Pillsbury set a new world blindfold record in Moscow of 22 boards scoring 17 wins, 1 loss and 4 draws (86%) and even more noteworthy (in my estimation for the future) excited a young spectator - 10 yr old Alexander Alekhine! Pillsbury - Budberg Moscow December 14th, 1902 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.00 Be7 5.Nc3 00 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Nxe5 Nxe4 8.Nxe4 Qd5 9.Nxc6 Qxc6 10.Re1 f5 11.Nc3 Bg5 12.d4 f4 13.d5 Qh6 14.Ne4 Bd7 15.Qf3 Rae8 16.Bd2 Re5 17.Nc5 Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Bc8 19.Ne6 Rf7 20.Nxg5 Qxg5 21.Re8+ Rf8 22.Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.Bxf4 1-0 Nice piece placing and a picturesque finish by Pillsbury!

              Comment


              • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                Pillsbury - Donde Moscow 1902 Pillsbury - Donde 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Nc3 d6 6.0-0 gxf3 7.Qxf3 Qf6 8.d3 c6 9.Bxf4 Bh6 10.Qe3 Be6 11.Bxh6 Qxh6 12.Qd4 Nd7 13.Qxh8 0-0-0 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Qd4 Nc5 16.b4 e5 17.Qf2 Ne6 18.Qxa7 Nf4 19.Qa8+ Kc7 20.Qa5+ Kc8 21.b5 Ne7 22.Qa8+ Kc7 23.b6+ Kd7 24.Qxb7+ Ke8 25.Qc7 1-0 Lovers of attacking chess know how spicy the Muzio Gambit of the Kings Gambit can be! Pillsbury is up for the attack but his opponent isnt up on defence. Lovers of creative chess will enjoy the maneuver Qd1 x f3 - e3 - d4 x h8 - d4 - f2 x a7 - a8+ - a5+ - a8+ x b7 - c7!

                Comment


                • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                  Pillsbury Permiakov Moscow 1902 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Be7 5.Nc3 d6 6.d4 Nd7 7.Ne2 0-0 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Ng3 Re8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nf5 Nf6 12.Nxe5 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Bd6 14.Nxc6 Rxe4 15.Nxd6 cxd6 16.Bg5 Ne8 17.Re1 Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Bb7 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.Nf5 h6 21.Bf4 Rc8 22.c3 Bd5 23.a3 Be6 24.Nd4 Rb8 25.Nxe6 fxe6 26.Rxe6 Nc7 27.Re2 1-0 This game is like a little chess story. Both white knights wind around and land on f5 before capturing bishops and causing the win of a pawn each. The Bc1 is saved for last to show its dominance of the black squares in the endgame.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                    Pillsbury - Semenov Moscow 1902 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 c6 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Re1 Nb6 9.Ne5 Qxd4? 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Bg6+ 1-0 The only game in this exhibition that Pillsbury won with an opening trap.

                    Comment


                    • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                      Pillsbury - Kasparovich Moscow 1902 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Kf8 9.Bg5 gxf6 10.Bh6+ Kg8 11.Nxd4 Bxd4 12.c3 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 Bf5 14.Qf3 Bg6 15.Nd2 Ne5 16.Qg3 Qd6 17.Ne4 Qe6 18.Kg1 Nd3 19.Re3 f5 20.Nc5 Qb6 21.Nxd3 cxd3 22.Qe5 f6 23.Qe7 Bf7 24.Kh1 f4 25.Bxf4 Rf8 26.Rg3+ Bg6 27.Bh6 1-0 An entertaining slugfest. Black was better earlier but didnt realize it and then both sides missed opportunities. White's kingside attack eventually prevailed but only after some tense moments.

                      Comment


                      • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                        Pillsbury - Urusov Moscow 1902 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d3 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Nf6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.dxe4 Qxe4+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Bxe2 Nc6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.0-0-0 0-0-0 14.Nf3 Nb8 15.Bxd7+ Rxd7 16.Rxd7 Nxd7 17.Re1 Kd8 18.Nd4 a6 19.Kd2 Re8 20.Re3 Nb6 21.b3 Nd5 22.Rd3 Kc8 23.Rh3 Rh8 24.g3 h5 25.Nf5 Rh7 26.c4 Nb4 27.a3 Nc6 28.g4 Nd8 29.Rxh5 Rxh5 30.gxh5 Ne6 31.Ke3 Kd7 32.h6 Nf8 33.h4 Nh7 34.Ke4 Ke6 35.Nd4+ Kd6 36.b4 b6 37.Kf5 c5 38.Nb3 cxb4 39.axb4 Kc6 40.Ke4 Kd6 41.c5+ Kc7 42.Kd5 Nf8 43.Nd4 bxc5 44.Kxc5 Nd7+ 45.Kd5 Nf8 46.Nb3 Nh7 47.Nc5 Kb6 48.Kd6 Kb5 49.Ke7 Kxb4 50.Nxa6+ Kb5 51.Kxf7 Kxa6 52.Kg7 1-0 Pillsbury's best game of this blindfold simul and a very nicely played endgame!

                        Comment


                        • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                          Pillsbury toughest games at Moscow were against the Seleznev brothers, Peter and Paul. Peter played the Chigorin's Defense probably in honor of the great Chigorin and of course Pillsbury played his favorite variation against the Chigorin's, all very nice personally for me to see. (as the Chigorin's Defense is a personal favorite of mine).
                          Pillsbury - Seleznev Peter Moscow 1902 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.cxd5 Bxf3 5.dxc6 Bxc6 6.Nc3 e6 7.e4 Bb4 8.f3 Ne7 9.Bc4 a6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 b5 14.Bb3 Bb7 15.Rac1 Rc8 16.Rfd1 Qd6 17.Qc5 Red8 18.a4 c6 19.Qxd6 Rxd6 20.Rc5 Kh8 21.Rdc1 Rf8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Ra1 Ra8 24.Rxa8 Bxa8 25.Rc1 Nc8 26.Ra1 Bb7 27.Kf2 Rd7 28.Ke2 Nd6 29.Rc1 g6 30.Rc5 Kg7 31.d5 exd5 32.exd5 cxd5 33.Bxd5 Nf5 34.Bxb7 Rxb7 35.Bf2 h5 36.Kd3 Kf6 37.Kc3 Ke6 38.Kb4 Nd6 39.Bg3 Nc4 40.b3 Nd2 41.Re5+ Kf6 42.Rd5 Nf1 43.Bf4 Ke6 44.Rd1 Kf5 45.Rxf1 Kxf4 46.Rc1 Ke3 47.Rc2 Rb6 48.Ka5 Rb8 49.b4 Kd3 50.Rc5 Ke2 51.Rxb5 Ra8+ 52.Kb6 Kf2 53.Rg5 Rb8+ 54.Kc5 Rc8+ 55.Kd5 Rb8 56.Kc4 Ke3 57.b5 Rc8+ 58.Kb4 Kd4 59.b6 f5 60.Rxg6 1-0 Black maneuvered the great Chigorin knight intensely but eventually it was trapped by the black squared bishop. After a lot of wandering by the black king, rook, and knight, Black realized he was doomed and surrendered.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                            Pillsbury had a few lucky escapes in the Moscow simul such as this one: Pillsbury - Aleksandrov Moscow 1902 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Qg4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 a6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0-0 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxe5 11.Qg3 Ng6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.f4 Qc7 14.Nf5 Bxf4 15.Bxf4 Qxf4 16.Nxg7+ Kf8 17.Nh5 Qxg3 18.Nxg3 e5 19.Rf1 Ke7 20.Rae1 f6 21.Na4 Rb8 22.b3 Rf8 23.c3 Kd6 24.b4 f5 25.Nc5 a5 26.a3 axb4 27.axb4 Ra8 28.Ra1 Rxa1 29.Rxa1 f4 30.Nf1 e4 31.Nd2 Ke5 32.Ndb3 f3 33.gxf3 Rxf3 34.Nd4 Rxc3 35.Nxc6+ Kd6 36.Na7 Bd7 37.Ra6+ Kc7 38.Nxd7 Kxd7 39.Nb5 Rc1+ 40.Kf2 Rd1 41.Ke2 Rd3 42.Rd6+ Kc8 43.Rf6 Ne5 44.Re6 Nc4 45.Re7 Rd2+ 46.Ke1 Rxh2 47.Na7+ .5-.5 Perpetual check as the king cannot escape to a8 as Ra7 would be checkmate. Pillsbury sacrificed a pawn in the opening but his opponent defended well and had a very large pawn center. Black had many winning opportunities but allowed Pillsbury counterplay by bringing his rook in behind.

                            Comment


                            • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                              Pillsbury finished his Moscow simul with 17 wins, 1 loss, and 4 draws (86 %) from 22 boards, a new world record. His chess career lasted only 2 more years. His premature death at age 33 makes one wonder what might have been if he had a lengthy career (like Blackburne or Marshall). Certainly the world was deprived of many more beautiful games. Pillsbury's international chess career lasted less than 10 years and his total chess playing years was 16. However in that time he played more than 2000 blindfold games! - a mark only exceeded by Koltanowski (over 50+ years) and recently by the creative Australian GM Ian Rogers (although GM Rogers apparently has never played more than 12 boards at once - he has given hundreds of blindfold exhibitions).

                              Comment


                              • Re: Blindfold Chess - the book

                                from the Toronto Globe, Wednesday, July 15th, 1908: Dominion Tournament (Canadian Championship) " The Chess Weekly (published in Brooklyn, New York) has offered a cash prize of ten dollars to the winner of the most brilliant game played in this tournament. The editors will be the judges and the game, with notes by the winner, will be published in this magazine. Competitors should send us the score of their games, concisely annotated, and marked "Brilliancy Competition". We thank The Chess Weekly for the offer and trust that the contest may evolve some game good enough to separate them from a portion of their wad." (The next game was probably published as a good example of brilliant play.) A BLINDFOLD BRILLIANT "The following game was played at Moscow in a seance of 12 blindfold simultaneous games, the late lamented Master H.N. Pillsbury winning 8, losing 2, and drawing 2."
                                Hamppe Allgaier Gambit - White: H.N. Pillsbury - Black: An Amateur
                                1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng5 h6 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.d4 d5 9.Bxf4 Bg7 10.Be3 Bf6 11.g3 dxe4 12.Bc4+ Kg7 13.0-0 Bxd4 14.Rf7+ Kg6 15.h5+ Kxh5 16.Rg7 Ne5 17.Bxd4 Ng6 18.Kg2 Rh7 19.Qh1+ Nh4+ 20.Qxh4+ Qxh4 21.Bf7# 1-0 A Pillsbury Immortal!

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X