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The club had 50 tables, not all of them set up. I think only once did I see them all set up and it was for a large tournament where we attracted over 100 players. The tables were folding and had pebble grain leather tops and metal clasps at the four corners to keep the legs sturdy. The chairs were metal fold out chairs. The perfect number of opponents for me for a simultaneous blindfold exhibition was four, and I happened on that number by accident. Ray Ebisuzaki was always recruiting members for his high school club and that summer he had two new young guys with him, both beginning tournament players, and he showed up with them and his brother and challenged me to hold a blindfold simul. Ray also agreed to be move messenger as well as playing a board. Why was four the perfect number? Most importantly, it was just enough for me to be able to visualise all the boards and not get into trouble. The games wouldnt last much more than an hour. I averaged about 30 seconds a move and the average game would last about 30 to 35 moves. Four was just the right number to attract spectators and future opponents and also allowed a bit of kibitzing and trash talking. Whats more fun than doing a blindfold simul? A blindfold simul with kibitzing and trash talking! (But not too much kibitzing!)
In that first blindfold simul of four Ray Ebisuzaki was the perfect addition. Not only was he move messenger, but he played his own board, and he was responsible for the kibitzing and trash talking! He was extremely witty and couldnt help sharing and, of course, I had to reply and even though I was busy with four boards my wit was in sync with his.
Sometimes the kibbitzing backfired. In one simul I got my queen trapped in the opening for pocket change.(I think I managed to get a knight and two pawns for it) That game became the focus for kibbitzers and most were barbs about my awful play. Then I started to get counterplay and pulled off a grand swindle where he couldnt avoid checkmate. The kibbitzing (by that point it was mostly trash talking) was the final trigger. My opponent swept the pieces from the table, and for added measure grabbed his chair and smashed it down on the board. As he was leaving he slapped me across the head and said I was nothing more than a swindler and a patzer with pretensions and a Krautkopf.
In that first blindfold simul of four Ray Ebisuzaki was the perfect addition. Not only was he move messenger, but he played his own board, and he was responsible for the kibitzing and trash talking! He was extremely witty and couldnt help sharing and, of course, I had to reply and even though I was busy with four boards my wit was in sync with his.
Sometimes the kibbitzing backfired. In one simul I got my queen trapped in the opening for pocket change.(I think I managed to get a knight and two pawns for it) That game became the focus for kibbitzers and most were barbs about my awful play. Then I started to get counterplay and pulled off a grand swindle where he couldnt avoid checkmate. The kibbitzing (by that point it was mostly trash talking) was the final trigger. My opponent swept the pieces from the table, and for added measure grabbed his chair and smashed it down on the board. As he was leaving he slapped me across the head and said I was nothing more than a swindler and a patzer with pretensions and a Krautkopf.
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