Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Traditional chess games and chess topics in general

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Henk
Posts: 7251
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 10:31 am

Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Post by Henk »

Don't understand how people are able to play blindfold chess. Visualizing diagonals and knight moves seems to me very difficult. Also if your opponent puts his pieces on unusual positions it may be very difficult to memorize.

whereagles
Posts: 565
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:03 pm

Re: Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Post by whereagles »

I played a few blind games. It's not that hard if you get used.

But of course, blunder rates increase :)

One funny story was in college.. I gave blind odds vs a weak player. We sat down, him facing the board, me looking the other way. Our friends couldn't believe what was about to happen and quickly 20 kibitzers flocked the table.

At move 5 my opponent was already lost. A couple of moves more and he lifted the board, scattering the pieces, and saying "lemme check the solutions on the back" :D
Lyudmil Tsvetkov
Posts: 6052
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:41 pm

Re: Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Post by Lyudmil Tsvetkov »

Henk wrote:Don't understand how people are able to play blindfold chess. Visualizing diagonals and knight moves seems to me very difficult. Also if your opponent puts his pieces on unusual positions it may be very difficult to memorize.

takes much more energy. os, if you are low on energy, better not play blindfold.

on the other hand, you do not have to move those stupid wooden pieces on the board, or even shuffle the mouse.

just mated myself blindfold in 27 moves, but I am certain my opponent had better to offer. :) ...
Henk
Posts: 7251
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 10:31 am

Re: Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Post by Henk »

I wonder if you have to calculate a position very deep there may not be much difference between normal chess and blindfold chess because the current position has nothing to do with the end position you are calculating.

Only difference is that you do see the squares but also the annoying pieces on wrong positions. So maybe better not to look at the chessboard at all in these cases.
Lyudmil Tsvetkov
Posts: 6052
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:41 pm

Re: Playing blindfold for dummies ?

Post by Lyudmil Tsvetkov »

Henk wrote:I wonder if you have to calculate a position very deep there may not be much difference between normal chess and blindfold chess because the current position has nothing to do with the end position you are calculating.

Only difference is that you do see the squares but also the annoying pieces on wrong positions. So maybe better not to look at the chessboard at all in these cases.
I never go deeper than 1 ply: just evaluate extensively the current position and play the best move.