OT: RUSLAN PONOMARIOV 8 BLINDFOLD GAMES

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On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with the result +19 -4 =9. Edward Lasker was the referee for this event.

Ed Lasker, who was the referee for this event, didnt think Alekhine was the best blindfold player. He said Alekhine made mistakes as though he lost sight of the board. In the Chicago exhibition, Lasker said he sometimes helped Alekhine like so---He would tell Alekhine that board 8's move was 14...a6 and if Alekhine made a bad move he would say---You wish to play 15. Re1??? And of Course Alekhine would change the move.
Lasker said he thought Pillsbury was better. In 1902 he finished 2nd at Hanover. On one of his free days during the tournament, August 2, 1902 in Hanover, he played 21 chess players blindfolded simultaneously. All players were expert or master strength playing in the Hanover tournament.

Perhaps the most impressive display of blindfold skill was Reubin Fine's rapid transit blindfold exhibition 1945 where he played four strong players simultaneously at 10 seconds a move and won all four.

In my opinion no one will ever duplicate the Pillsbury or Fine exhibitions.

I remember reading about the Hungarian player Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents blindfolded in Budapest back in the 1960's. I heard later that this claim or account if you will, was disallowed because he was allowed to look at the score sheets. I don't know if the story about the score sheets is true or not.

[Terry McCracken]

On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with the result +19 -4 =9. Edward Lasker was the referee for this event.

Ed Lasker, who was the referee for this event, didnt think Alekhine was the best blindfold player. He said Alekhine made mistakes as though he lost sight of the board. In the Chicago exhibition, Lasker said he sometimes helped Alekhine like so---He would tell Alekhine that board 8's move was 14...a6 and if Alekhine made a bad move he would say---You wish to play 15. Re1??? And of Course Alekhine would change the move.
Lasker said he thought Pillsbury was better. In 1902 he finished 2nd at Hanover. On one of his free days during the tournament, August 2, 1902 in Hanover, he played 21 chess players blindfolded simultaneously. All players were expert or master strength playing in the Hanover tournament.

Perhaps the most impressive display of blindfold skill was Reubin Fine's rapid transit blindfold exhibition 1945 where he played four strong players simultaneously at 10 seconds a move and won all four.

In my opinion no one will ever duplicate the Pillsbury or Fine exhibitions.

I remember reading about the Hungarian player Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents blindfolded in Budapest back in the 1960's. I heard later that this claim or account if you will, was disallowed because he was allowed to look at the score sheets. I don't know if the story about the score sheets is true or not.

Like the story above about Lasker giving hints to a weak blindfold player such as Alekhine.

[james uselton]

Terry, lets have an agreement---I wont put words in your mouth, and please dont put words in my mouth! I said Lasker didnt think Alekhine was the best. I'm sure he thought he was great but not the best.

Since you inserted the Koltanowski link I will tell you I love the guy. He was great for chess. But, he was not that great a chess player. If he could play as well with his eyes shut as he could with his eyes open---he still wouldnt be that good. And the times you saw him playing a master with his eyes shut are about as rare as a teenager who reads books. He made a reputation playing guys like Bogart blindfolded. Terry, as weak as you are---you could have given Bogart a good game. But, heres my point, The blindfold record was at first 2 games. Then it went to 6 game and 12 games, the 20, 30, 40 etc. etc. Someone is always breaking it. When is somebody going to break Pillsbury's record of sitting down and playing all those masters and experts blindfolded and simultaneously. I'll tell you my friend---NEVER!!!!!

McCracken, have you any idea how difficult it is to play blindfold chess at 10 seconds a move?? Now multiply that four times with four strong players!! One of those players later played in the world champion candidate matches. I can tell you quite honestly---Fine's feat will never be equaled either.
Have a good day pal and read a chess book!!!

[Terry McCracken]

Patzer you are history if you continue false representations of my chess skill!

You better read a good book as Lasker never gave such hints to Alekhine during a blindfold simul!

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Blindfold chess is a way to play chess, whereby play is conducted without the players having sight of the positions of the pieces, or any physical contact with them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are communicated via a recognized chess notation. Considered miraculous for centuries, it is now accepted that any strong player today can play at least one game blindfolded. In simultaneous blindfold play, an intermediary usually relays the moves between the players. The first written commentary to a predecessor of blindfold chess appears in Buddha's mild rebuke to monks. Of course, chess as we know it was not invented until several centuries later.

Blindfold chess was first played quite early on in the history of chess, with perhaps the first game being played by Sa'id bin Jubair (665–714) in the Middle East. In Europe, playing chess blindfolded became popular as a means of handicapping a chess master when facing a weaker opponent, or of simply displaying one's superior abilities. The first known blindfold event in Europe took place in Florence in 1266. The great French player André Danican Philidor was able to play up to three blindfold games simultaneously with great success, with newspapers highlighting his achievement, having taught himself to visualize the board while in bed at night when he had trouble sleeping. Paul Morphy held in 1858 a blindfold exhibition against the eight strongest players in Paris with the stunning result of six wins and two draws. Other early masters of blindfold chess were Louis Paulsen, Joseph Henry Blackburne (he played up to 16 simultaneous blindfold games) and the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, who played in Dundee, in 1867, six simultaneous blindfold games (three wins, three draws). It was seen by these masters as a good source of income.

As time went by the records for blindfold exhibitions increased. In 1900 Harry Nelson Pillsbury played 20 games simultaneously in Philadelphia; not long after having attempted the unusual feat of playing fifteen chess and fifteen checkers games simultaneously (the record for blindfold checkers being 28 simultaneous games). The Czech player Richard Réti and Russian World Champion Alexander Alekhine were the next to significantly further the record. In 1924 at the Alamac Hotel of New York Alekhine played 26 simultaneous blindfold games against very strong opponents (Isaac Kashdan and Hermann Steiner among them), with the score of +16 -5 =5. This was probably the strongest of any blindfold exhibitions ever held. The next year in February in Paris he faced 28 teams of four players each, with the impressive result of 22 wins, three draws and three losses. In the same year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo and amusingly commented on his poor memory after leaving his briefcase behind after the event.

On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with the result +19 -5 =5. Edward Lasker was the referee for this event. George Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 24 games and losing 10, over a period of 13 hours. The record was included in the Guinness Book of Records and is generally accepted as the world record to this day. The last increase in the record was claimed by the Hungarian Janos Flesch in Budapest in 1960, playing 52 opponents and winning 31 games, with three draws and 18 losses. However, this record attempt has been somewhat sullied by the fact that Flesch was permitted to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress. It also took place over a remarkably short period of time, around five hours, and included many short games.

There have been no serious attempts to increase the record since then, due to lack of interest in mere numbers. One other notable blindfold record was set in 1960 by Koltanowski in San Francisco, when he played 56 consecutive blindfold games at a rate of 10 seconds a move. The exhibition lasted 9 hours with the result of 50 wins and six losses. Koltanowski's specialty was conducting a Blindfold Knight's Tour on boards of up to 192 squares. While blindfold chess has been recommended in moderation by many sources as a method of increasing one's playing strength, simultaneous blindfold exhibitions were officially banned in 1930 in the USSR as they were deemed to be a health hazard. Mikhail Botvinnik also warned against it. Blindfold players have reported that it is more tiring than regular play, even if faster time controls are used.

Given that it seems to require extraordinary visuo-spatial abilities and memory, this form of chess has led to considerable research in psychology, starting with the research of Alfred Binet in 1893, continuing with the work of chess grand master and psycho-analyst Reuben Fine in 1965, and culminating in the last two decades with several scientific articles describing experiments on the psychology of blindfold chess. In general, this research shows that what is crucial for blindfold chess are both the knowledge that chess players have acquired and their ability to carry out visuo-spatial operations in the mind’s eye. Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year, with the highest profile event being the Melody Amber Tournament, held in Monte Carlo. This event is partly funded by the billionaire Correspondence Chess Champion Joop van Oosterom and attracts many of the world's chess elite to compete in unique circumstances. Of the modern day players, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov and Alexander Morozevich have proven themselves to be particularly strong at blindfold chess, being alternating winners of the Amber Tournaments between 1996 and 2006. .

http://www.antya.com/wikisearch.php?s=Blindfold+chess
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20th century history
As time went by the records for blindfold exhibitions increased. In 1900 Harry Nelson Pillsbury played 20 games simultaneously in Philadelphia; not long after having attempted the unusual feat of playing fifteen chess and fifteen checkers games simultaneously (the record for blindfold checkers being 28 simultaneous games). The Czech player Richard Réti and Russian World Champion Alexander Alekhine were the next to significantly further the record.

In 1924 at the Alamac Hotel of New York Alekhine played 26 simultaneous blindfold games against very strong opponents (Isaac Kashdan and Hermann Steiner among them), with the score of +16 -5 =5. This was probably the strongest of any blindfold exhibitions ever held. The next year in February in Paris he faced 28 teams of four players each, with the impressive result of 22 wins, three draws and three losses. In the same year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo and amusingly commented on his poor memory after leaving his briefcase behind after the event.
On July 16, 1934 in Chicago, Alekhine set the new world record by playing 32 blindfold games, with the result +19 -5 =5. Edward Lasker was the referee for this event.

George Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 24 games and losing 10, over a period of 13 hours. The record was included in the Guinness Book of Records and is generally accepted as the world record to this day.[1] Later, both Miguel Najdorf and János Flesch claimed to have broken that record, but their efforts were not properly monitored the way that Koltanowski's was. Najdorf's first record in Rosario, Argentina was against 40 opponents (+36 =1 -3)[4] and was organised in an effort to gain sufficient publicity to communicate to his family that he was still alive, as he had remained in Argentina after travelling from his native Poland to compete in the 1939 Chess Olympiad. He increased this record to 45 opponents in São Paulo in 1947, with the result of 39 wins, four draws and two losses.[5] However, he had access to the scoresheets, and there were multiple opponents per board.[1] Koltanowski claimed that he could have managed 100 games under those conditions.[6]

The last increase in the record was claimed by the Hungarian Janos Flesch in Budapest in 1960, playing 52 opponents and winning 31 games, with three draws and 18 losses. However, this record attempt has been somewhat sullied by the fact that Flesch was permitted to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress. It also took place over a remarkably short period of time, around five hours, and included many short games.[6]

There have been no serious attempts to increase the record since then, due to lack of interest in mere numbers.[7]

One other notable blindfold record was set in 1960 by Koltanowski in San Francisco, when he played 56 consecutive blindfold games at a rate of 10 seconds a move. The exhibition lasted 9 hours with the result of 50 wins and six losses.[7] Koltanowski's specialty was conducting a Blindfold Knight's Tour on boards of up to 192 squares.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess

[Zach Wegner]

OK guys, this has gone too far, thread locked...