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From	Message
qiwi 23-Nov-06, 20:34	BLINDFOLD CHESS... Reading the reviews of 'The Chess Artist' got me to thinking about playing chess without sight of the board..... we have a player down here by the name of Ewen Green who held the Australasian record for the most games at a single sitting.... I played him once about twenty years ago when he was trying to break his own record of 20 games simultaneously... He wasn't actually blindfolded but sat with his back to the boards while the moves were relayed to him... It was staged as part of a Telethon raising money for some cause or other and what made it totally surreal was that it was played in a large room that had other events going on at the same time.... e.g. directly in front of him were some girls belly-dancing while off to the side some crazy guy was blowing up rubber hot water bottles until they burst.... For the record to be valid Ewen had to win a certain percentage of games, I think it was a minimum of 60% or something like that... The simul went all night, something like 11 hours in total. I held out for a draw and felt a bit guilty afterwards when he didn't make the required percentage.... He was a hell of a player though....
bobbynox 24-Nov-06, 13:21	I have only been playing chess consistently for two years. 2005 was totally OTB. 2006 has been 90% GK. I have found that the OTB chess is very good for keeping up the skill of using the algebraic nomenclature. However, on GK, that skill is performed by the software, thus the human skill goes in the toilet. Have 'oldtimers' here on GK come to a similar conclusion?
soulcrates 24-Nov-06, 13:38	I have found that my opponents on Gameknot are tougher than my opponents in real life. I give it to using the database for the openings, and also those cheaters out there that use computer programs to make their moves for them.
saintinsanity 24-Nov-06, 13:46	I notice the same thing Soul. And I think you are right...databases help improve scores. I myself use databases to study my openings. I hate getting stuck in a huge book line, though, so often times I will deliberately depart on a crazy variation that ends up badly for me. But...when I think another reason my opponents are better on gameknot, and they always punish my deviations from standard book lines, is because they get 2 weeks to make every move.
saintinsanity 24-Nov-06, 13:52	Oh yeah And not to ignore qiwi, I have always been impressed with stories of blindfold play. We have probably all heard the amazing feats of the greats of the past. But even so, for a player to have the vision to see 20 boards inside their head, that is truly amazing. I feel I didn't start playing chess at a young enough age. I have difficulty visualizing the board sometimes, while at other times I can see clearly. When I try to play blindfolded, I usually lose track of things around moves 10-15, unless it is a line I am very familiar with. I am so impressed by those blindfold players. In a complicated opening or middlegame, sometimes I will stare at the board looking at different lines for an hour....to be able to go over all possibilities in your head....why can't I do that? WHY GOD< WHY???? I think if I was playing against someone who was blindfolded, I would make unusual moves that aren't natural opening book moves, like Nb1-a3-c2, and keep moving my bishop back and forth so he would forget where I left it. heh heh, nah, I probably wouldnt' do that.
soulcrates 24-Nov-06, 13:54	lol I feel the same. With the potential to have as many vacation days as there are, and no punishment for playing during vacation, except to lose your postponement for that game only, people are capable of extending a 3 day per move to easily over 2 weeks.
gloomy_den 24-Nov-06, 21:40	surprisingly not visualizing the board is a problem typical for American players. For instance, in Russia coaches try to develop this skill while teaching chess. Normally, even mediocre players can show their just finished game without the board. Once in a while you can see chessplayers playing blinfold just for fun or analyzing some position without a board. But I never seen anything like this here. I was a witness of one funny bet in the chessclub I regularly attend. One player was complaining about his poor tactical skills to old international master, who emigrated from former Soviet Union. The old guy listened to him very carefully and said: "Visualizing the board full of pieces is way to difficult task for you. I bet you can't even see the empty board. Can you tell me what color is the square c5?". The young guy said it was white... 2071 rating didn't help him to figure that out.

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