LABIRINTI E CASEMATTE: Blindfold Chess

Showing posts with label Blindfold Chess. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2020

Rap Star

On October 10, during the day off from the 8th Norway Chess, 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen showed both his skill and endurance at a blindfold simultaneous exhibition.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

On Sunday, February 12, 2017 former Women’s World Chess Champion Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk played (and won) a blindfold exhibition game against José García Molina, 11, Spanish Chess Champion Under-12. The event, organised by the chess club Laboratorio SyS and the City Council of Paterna, and attended by dozens of enthusiasts and fans, was held at the Capri Theatre in Paterna (Valencia), Spain. Unlike her sister Anna Olehivna, Mariya Olehivna decided to not take part in the Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament in Tehran, Iran, judging the Asian country to be not suitable for hosting such a contest. Photo: ABC.es.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Prague astronomical clock

Chess-News.ru ‏(@Chess__News)

David Navara and Richárd Rapport play each other using real people in Prague, Czech Republic. Video by Evgeny Surov. See http://chess-news.ru/node/21579 (Russian language) as well as http://chess-news.ru/en/node/21582 (English language).

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Yes We Can

Paul Charles Morphy – Pierre Emile Bonford
Blindfold simultaneous exhibition; New Orleans, March 24, 1858
Evans Gambit C52

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4!? Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. 0-0 dxc3 8. Ba3!? According to chess theory the best move is 8. Qb3 – obviously well-known to Morphy. Given the circumstances, he probably wanted to try something different. 8. ... d6. Here 8. ... Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Qb3 Nge7 11. Nxc3 b5 is another interesting modus vivendi, Blydenstein – Zukertort, London 1874. 9. Qb3 Nh6 10. Nxc3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 0-0 12. Rad1 Ng4. Preventing e4-e5. 13. h3 Nge5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Be2! A move which shows Morphy’s deep understanding of positional concepts. The stereotyped 15. Bb3 after 15. ... Be6 leads nowhere for White. 15. ... f5? Black unwisely opens up the position – in particular the diagonal a1-h8 – while behind in development. Géza Maróczy recommends 15. ... f6 eventually followed by ... Ne5-g6. 16. f4 Nc6 17. Bc4+ Kh8 18. Bb2 Qe7. 18. ... Rf6 loses to 19. e5 Rg6 20. Bf7 (Maróczy’s analysis). 19. Rde1 Rf6 20. exf5 Qf8

21. Re8! More solito, Morphy’s refutation offers the highest standard of aesthetic pleasure. 21. ... Qxe8 22. Qxf6! Qe7. Taking the Queen runs into mate with two Bishops: 22. ... gxf6 23. Bxf6 mate. 23. Qxg7+! Of course White can win prosaically by 23. Qxe7 Nxe7 24. Re1, but Morphy, in his search of the Holy Grail, always looked for a masterpiece. 23. ... Qxg7 24. f6 Qxg2+. Desperation; if 24. ... Qf8 then 25. f7+ Ne5 26. fxe5 would crown Morphy’s grandiose attack, e.g. 26. ... h5 (or 26. ... Kg7 27. e6+ Kh6 28. e7 and wins) 27. e6+ Kh7 28. Bd3+ Kh6 29. Rf6+ Kg5 (or 29. ... Kg7 30. Rg6+ Kh7 31. Rg8+ Kh6 32. Bc1 mate) 30. Rg6+ Kf4 31. Kf2! and mate next move. 25. Kxg2 Bxh3+ 26. Kxh3 h5 27. Rg1 1 : 0.

Simultaneous blindfold chess exhibition, given by Paul Charles Morphy at the Café de la Régence in Paris on September 27, 1858. Courtesy of the John G. White Collection, Special Collections, Cleveland Public Library. Photograph by the Cleveland Public Library Photoduplication Service.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Eyes Wide Shut

Rare Movietone footage from 1937 showing 11-year-old Elaine Zelia Saunders (later Pritchard) playing blindfold chess.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

A Beautiful Mind

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
SportAccord World Mind Games

Pechino (12-19 dicembre 2012)

Awarding Ceremony Blindfold

Foto: ifeng.com

Friday, December 21, 2012

Il bacio della donna ragno

SportAccord World Mind Games

Pechino (12-19 dicembre 2012)

scacchi alla cieca

Hóu Yìfán – Dronavalli Harika

Pechino, 19 dicembre 2012

Spagnola C63

1. e4 e5 2. Cf3 Cc6 3. Ab5 f5. La Variante Jänisch. 4. d3 fxe4 5. dxe4 Cf6 6. Dd3 Ac5 7. 0-0. “Yìf Yìf” non copia “Fab Fab”! Cioè: 7. Cc3 d6 8. Ag5 0-0 9. 0-0-0 Ae6 10. Ac4 De8 11. Axf6 Cb4 12. De2 Txf6 13. a3 Cc6 14. Axe6+ Dxe6 15. Cd5 Tf7 16. Dc4 Dh6+ 17. Rb1 Cd8 18. Cxc7 Tc8 19. Cd5 Cc6 20. b4 b5 21. Dxb5 Axf2 22. Thf1 Ab6 23. Dc4 1 : 0 Caruana – Bravo, 40ª Olimpiade, Istanbul 2012. 7. ... Cd4 8. Cxd4 Axd4 9. Cd2 a6 10. Aa4. L’alternativa è 10. Ac4 De7 11. Cf3 Aa7 (Svidler – Radjabov, Baku 2008) dopodiché 12. Ag5 d6 13. Ch4 con prospettive d’iniziativa (Svidler). 10... b5?! Peter Svidler preferisce 10. ... 0-0 11. Cf3 Aa7 12. Cxe5 De7 (12. ... De8 13. Af4) 13. Ab3+ (13. Af4 d6) 13. ... Rh8 14. Cf3 [14. Dg3 De8! (14. ... Cxe4?? 15. Cg6+! e matto in due) 15. Cf7+! (dopo 15. Cf3 Cxe4 16. Dh4 d6 il Bianco è in imbarazzo) 15. ... Txf7 16. Axf7 Dxf7 17. Dxc7 De8 18. Ae3 Ab8 19. Db6 d5∞] 14. ... Cxe4 (oppure 14. ... Dxe4 15. Te1 Dxd3 15. cxd3 con preferenza per il Bianco) 15. Ae3 Cc5 16. Axc5 Dxc5 17. Tae1 d6 18. Dd2 Af5 19. Cg5 h6 20. Ce6 Axe6 21. Txe6 Df5 22. De2 con un “più” per il Bianco. 11. Ab3 Ab7 Se 11. ... c5 allora 12. c3 c4 13. Cxc4 bxc4 14. Dxc4 d5 15. exd5 Ab6 16.d6± (Svidler). 12. a4 c5 Oppure 12. ... Ac6 13. axb5 axb5 14. Txa8 Txa8 15. Dg3± (Svidler) 13. axb5 axb5 14. Txa8 Dxa8 15. Dxb5 Cxe4 16. Cxe4 Axe4

17. c3 Axg2 18. cxd4 Axf1? Un pernicioso automatismo. Avremmo preferito l’intermedia 18. ... Ah3!, benché dopo 19. f3! Axf1 20. Dxc5! Ad3 21. Dxe5+ Rd8 22. Rg2! il Bianco serbi un vantaggio solare. 19. Dxf1 cxd4? È se non altro meno compiacente 19. ... De4! 20. dxc5! (20. Db5 De1+ 21. Rg2 Dxc1 22. Db8+ Re7 23. Dxe5+ Rd8 24. Dxb8+ Re7 25. Dxh8 Dg5+ è controversa) 20. ... Tf8 21. Dd1! Tf6 22. Ad5 Tg6+ 23. Rf1+-. 20. Db5+- (Δ Ac1-g5) 20. ... Da1 21. Dxe5+ Rd8 22. Dg5+ Rc8 23. Dc5+ Rd8 24. Rg2 h6 25. Af4 Da8+ 26. Ad5 Da6 27. Dc7+. Un altro modus mattandi è 27. Ad6!+- (Δ Dc5-c7+). 27. ... Re7 28. De5+ Rd8 29. Db8+ Dc8 30. Ac7+ Re7 31. Db4+ 1-0. Giacché se 31. ... Rf6 allora 32. Dd6+ e matto in quattro.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Strawberry Fields Forever

Pia Cramling – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2nd SportAccord World Mind Games; Women’s Blindfold Event; 北京 (Běijīng), December 18, 2012

Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 c5 8. Qc2 Qa5 9. Bd3 c4 10. Bf5 0-0 11. 0-0 Re8 12. Nd2 g6 13. Bxd7 Nxd7 14. e4 Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Qxc3 16. bxc3 f6 17. Bf4. Curiously enough, only one day later, elsewhere in Croatia, a game with “eyes wide shut” continued: 17. Bh4 g5 18. Bg3 Nb6 19. f4 g4 20. e5 Na4 21. Rac1 b5 ½ : ½ Šarić – Brkić, 19th Open, Zadar 2012. 17. ... Nb6 18. f3 Bd7 19. Rab1 Bc6 20. Rfe1 Na4 21. Re3 g5 22. Bd6 Re6 23. Bb4 a5 24. Bc5 Rae8 25. Bb6 Ra8 26. g4 Kf7 27. Kf2 Ra6 28. Bc7 b5 29. a3 Ra7 30. Bg3 Rb7 31. exd5 Bxd5 32. Ne4 Kg6 33. h3. 33. h4! was much more to the point. 33. ... Rbe7 34. Rxb5? This leads to troublesome consequences; hence White ought to prefer 34. Bd6. 34. ... Bxe4 35. fxe4 Rxe4 36. Rxe4? Of course, after 36. Rf3 Re2+ 37. Kf1 R7e3 White’s game is anything but easy, but the text will cost even dearer. 36. ... Rxe4 37. Rxa5 Nxc3 38. Kf3 Rxd4 39. Rc5? This loses immediately.