Guinness Book of World Records

[Sean Evans]

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/wor ... chess-wins

Most simultaneous blindfold chess games (total games) now recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

On 3–4 December 2016, US-based grandmaster Timur Gareyev (b. UZB) played 48 opponents whilst blindfolded at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The simultaneous match lasted for 19 hours 9 minutes (including a half-hour interruption caused by a fire alarm) and ended with Gareyev – who rode an exercise bicycle throughout – winning 35 games, drawing seven and losing six for a win percentage of 80.2%. Gareyev eclipsed the mark of 46, achieved by German Master Marc Lang in Sontheim-an-der-Brenze, Germany, on 27 November 2011.

In blindfold chess matches, the player is told what move his opponent has just made, but has no ability to go back and see what they did before. This means that the player has to keep a mental image of the board, complete with the position of every piece, in order to make sound tactical decisions. Multiple simultaneous games represent a immensely difficult test of memory and skill.

One of Gareyev's online opponents was 92-year-old Luciano de Nilo Andrade, who had also been one of Miguel Najdorf's opponents when the Polish-Argentine grandmaster had set the long-standing blindfold record of 45 on 21 January 1947.