Answers.Body: <p>Prashant what you describe is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess" rel="nofollow noreferrer">blindfold chess</a> and I've edited your question accordingly.</p>
  <p>Humans have been playing blindfold chess for more than a thousand years and there are even blindfold tournaments. From Wikipedia:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year,
  with the highest profile event previously being the Melody Amber
  Tournament, held in Monte Carlo until 2011. 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 2007. Levon Aronian won Amber 3 times since then and
  won the blindfold event at the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>Not only are blindfold games and tournaments commonplace but there is competition to see who can play the most blindfold games at the same time.</p>
  <p>In the 20th century the record was held by George Koltanowski who played 34 simultaneous blindfold games on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh.</p>
  <p>The current world record is 48 blindfold games played simultaneously by Timur Gareyev. This was sufficiently big news to make the regular press and was reported in Leonard Barden's chess column ion the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/10/timor-gareyev-48-chess-games-blindfolded-riding-exercise-bike-leonard-barden" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Guardian newspaper</a>.</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning
  shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards
  and win?</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>Neither Koltanowski nor Gareyev are anywhere near world champion level although Koltanowski was a GM and Gareyev is currently a GM. Giving a blindfold simultaneous display is a party trick. It is impressive and difficult but nowhere near as difficult as beating the world champion.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-08-28T17:32:36.847Z
Answers.Text: Thank you Brian and Pranav. I would like to ask the second question regarding : Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards and win?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Prashant Akerkar
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Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-08-28T17:58:59.957Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-08-28T17:58:59.957Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.Body: <p>Yes! That is what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess" rel="nofollow noreferrer">blindfold chess</a> is. If you improve your memory and practice your ability to imagine the board based on the notation, you too can play such games! <a href="https://www.chess.com/news/view/timur-gareyev-plays-blindfold-on-48-boards-5729" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here's</a> an article about GM Timur Gareyev setting a world record by playing 48 simultaneous blindfolded chess games. I'm sure you can find many more about others too.</p>
  <p>From your response to Brian's answer:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards and win</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>No. It shows more mastery over being able to visualize the board than someone who cannot play blindfolded, but I don't think any high-level players fall into that category. One could be the best at visualizing the board from the notation, but if one doesn't know <em>what moves to make</em> after visualizing the board, one would be pretty poor at <em>the game of chess</em>.</p>
  <p><em>Note: When I started typing my answer to this question, it asked &quot;Do you feel notation chess games can be played...&quot;</em></p>
  
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Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-08-28T18:06:04.063Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: pho
Answers.Body: <p>When I played for my university against teams in London we would sometimes play blindfold on the return train journey. The four players facing forward on the train would take turns to move against the four players facing backward. There was actually very little correlation between having facility at this and regular playing strength. One of our strongest players was quite helpless, whereas some of our weaker players had no difficulty. It seems to depend on whether you are a visual thinker.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-08-29T17:34:52.033Z
Answers.Text: Thanks Philip. Do you feel players who can play Blind chess games in winning have more mastery over chess game on over those players who look at the chess board and win? What are the skills required to win blindfold chess games?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Prashant Akerkar
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
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Answers.Text: Thanks. I mean all Chess world champions and Chess grandmasters can play blind chess? If Not, Why? What are the different skills required for winning Blind chess games?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Prashant Akerkar
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Philip Roe
Body: <p>Are blindfold chess games playable for  chess world champions and grandmasters? Does the ability to do so show mastery for a player?</p>
  <p>Blindfold chess is, without looking at board, the player will just say the move. Is this possible for a human?</p>
  <p>For example, the moves 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d6 and so on. The moves will be recorded and played on a board in the background by a computer or human.</p>
  
Tags: <grandmaster><notation><blindfold-chess>
Title: Blindfold chess games
ThreadText: # Blindfold chess games
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-08-28)
  
  Are blindfold chess games playable for chess world champions and grandmasters? Does the ability to do so show mastery for a player?
  
  Blindfold chess is, without looking at board, the player will just say the move. Is this possible for a human?
  
  For example, the moves 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d6 and so on. The moves will be recorded and played on a board in the background by a computer or human.
  
  **Tags:** grandmaster, notation, blindfold-chess
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-08-28. Score: 3
  
  username_0 what you describe is called [blindfold chess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess) and I've edited your question accordingly.
  
  Humans have been playing blindfold chess for more than a thousand years and there are even blindfold tournaments. From Wikipedia:
  
  > Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year,
  > with the highest profile event previously being the Melody Amber
  > Tournament, held in Monte Carlo until 2011. 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 2007. Levon Aronian won Amber 3 times since then and
  > won the blindfold event at the 2012 SportAccord World Mind Games.
  
  Not only are blindfold games and tournaments commonplace but there is competition to see who can play the most blindfold games at the same time.
  
  In the 20th century the record was held by George Koltanowski who played 34 simultaneous blindfold games on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh.
  
  The current world record is 48 blindfold games played simultaneously by Timur Gareyev. This was sufficiently big news to make the regular press and was reported in Leonard Barden's chess column ion the [Guardian newspaper](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/10/timor-gareyev-48-chess-games-blindfolded-riding-exercise-bike-leonard-barden).
  
  > Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning
  > shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards
  > and win?
  
  Neither Koltanowski nor Gareyev are anywhere near world champion level although Koltanowski was a GM and Gareyev is currently a GM. Giving a blindfold simultaneous display is a party trick. It is impressive and difficult but nowhere near as difficult as beating the world champion.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thank you username_1 and Pranav. I would like to ask the second question regarding : Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards and win?  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2020-08-28. Score: 2
  
  Yes! That is what [blindfold chess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess) is. If you improve your memory and practice your ability to imagine the board based on the notation, you too can play such games! [Here's](https://www.chess.com/news/view/timur-gareyev-plays-blindfold-on-48-boards-5729) an article about GM Timur Gareyev setting a world record by playing 48 simultaneous blindfolded chess games. I'm sure you can find many more about others too.
  
  From your response to username_1's answer:
  
  > Do you feel chess masters who can play Blind chess games by winning shows more mastery over chess game than who can look at chess boards and win
  
  No. It shows more mastery over being able to visualize the board than someone who cannot play blindfolded, but I don't think any high-level players fall into that category. One could be the best at visualizing the board from the notation, but if one doesn't know *what moves to make* after visualizing the board, one would be pretty poor at *the game of chess*.
  
  *Note: When I started typing my answer to this question, it asked "Do you feel notation chess games can be played..."*
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2020-08-29. Score: 0
  
  When I played for my university against teams in London we would sometimes play blindfold on the return train journey. The four players facing forward on the train would take turns to move against the four players facing backward. There was actually very little correlation between having facility at this and regular playing strength. One of our strongest players was quite helpless, whereas some of our weaker players had no difficulty. It seems to depend on whether you are a visual thinker.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thanks username_3. Do you feel players who can play Blind chess games in winning have more mastery over chess game on over those players who look at the chess board and win? What are the skills required to win blindfold chess games?  
  > **username_0**: Thanks. I mean all Chess world champions and Chess grandmasters can play blind chess? If Not, Why? What are the different skills required for winning Blind chess games?  
  
  ---
  
  