Blindfold Chess
What is Blindfold Chess?
In blindfold chess, a chess master plays without sight of the board. They must keep all pieces and their positions exclusively in their mind. Moves are announced verbally – the blindfold player "sees" the board only in their imagination.
Particularly spectacular are blindfold simultaneous exhibitions, where a master plays against several opponents simultaneously while blindfolded, keeping dozens of positions parallel in memory. Jacques Mieses was famous for such demonstrations and regularly performed them in chess clubs and at public events.
Das Blindspielen
1918
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| Title | Das Blindspielen (Blindfold Chess) |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | A chess-psychological-historical sketch, with a selection of games played without sight of the board |
| Author | Jacques Mieses |
| Publisher | Hans Hedewig's Nachfolger, Curt Ronniger |
| Location | Leipzig |
| Year | 1918 |
| Category | Chess Psychology, History |
About the Content
Mieses combines in this work historical considerations on the tradition of blindfold play with psychological reflections on the mental performance of blindfold players. The practical section contains a selection of annotated games played without sight of the board – presumably including the author's own blindfold games.
Mieses as Blindfold Player
Jacques Mieses was himself a skilled blindfold player and conducted numerous blindfold simultaneous exhibitions during his long career. These events were extremely popular with audiences and contributed to the popularization of chess. With this book, Mieses shares his practical knowledge and experience in this field with interested readers.