Ah got it, oops, ty.
I have recently discovered that you can turn the pieces off on chess.com and just have a blank board and I am trying to learn to play blindfold. Itās incredibly difficult, I am a very poor visualizer. Iām playing the lowest rated bot there is. I just won my first ever game, all the others have ended with me losing track of the position. This typically happens after about 20 moves, in this game I managed mate in 18 moves. I have to admit to not realising the final move was checkmate when I played it.
Hereās the game (I was Black):
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Dudes who are capable of playing large blindfold simuls (and crush them) seem inhuman. I canāt even imagine it.
Yeah I think it illuminates how we all assume that are inner lives are pretty much the same but they are probably radically different. Itās like āoh yea we all know how to remember and visualise thingsā but the capabilities of someone who can play 20 games at once are so different from mine as to not actually be the same thing at all.
When Iāve heard masters talk about playing blindfold they are like āthatās just something strong players can do, no big dealā and Iām not sure thereās a lot of recognition that itās the other way around, i.e. that youāre a strong player in large part because you can do that. The reason Iām trying to learn to do it is that I hope it will improve my calculation skills.
Edit: Also it would be a fun party trick to whip out.
afaict simuls are trained in the russian chess school like everything else. karpov described it in his memoir. basically they are trying to identify the strongest kid among like 100-500 kids. and when they find him, he can already beat everyone, so heās just not learning enough if he just does the same lessons and studies as every else. so they turn up the degree of difficulty for the prodigy. they have 5 kids play the strongest one in rapid succession, then 10, then 20. two boards, five, etc. at some point to try to win any games off of a 10 year old karpov, kids were rotating taking naps so that theyād be more of a challenge, while he was getting tired.
another fun story was that heād learn to play ultra fast to save energy, but it prevented him from thinking deeply about a position and seeing a better move. so his teacher forced him to sit on his hands and stare at the board without touching any pieces.
Another factor here is that the really great players can and do calculate so many moves ahead that their brains are highly trained to visualize the board in a future state after several moves that have not happened. Iām not saying that makes it less impressive, but to me it is similarly impressive to sit there and look at the board in a classical match and calculate several moves ahead under several different lines. Just amazing concentration and memory skills every which way with this guys (and girls).
Had to check that rating for Gukesh was right. Apparently it is. Blitz and std ratings more in line.
I was about to go do the same thing and then I read your post.
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Daniil Dubov failed to show up for his game against Giri today in Wijk aan Zee and was forfeited.
Someone in his circle tested positive for COVID, and since Dubov tested negative on a rapid test (awaiting PCR results) he refused to wear a mask āon principle.ā
Heās learning well from Sasha Grishuck.
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Giri shouldāve played A3 come on man
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Itās Giri. Iām surprised he didnāt offer a draw.
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To make the whole Dubov situation weirder, heās playing today with a mask (MUH RIGHTS THO!) and it seems like he even had his second test come back negative too so I guess yesterdayās insane toddler tantrum was totally self defeating?
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Dubov tested positive for covid
the end of tata steel gonna be a mess out of this now sigh
of course magnus gets a free win, totally needed that
Heās pretty funny, and many of his impressions are spot-on,
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The Norwegian poker main event is being played in Dublin, Ireland?
My guess is that Norwegian gambling laws are pretty strict.
He ended up coming 29th of around 1,050 players. Also:
Five players were drawn to play against Magnus Carlsen in chess, with a buy-in in next yearās poker NM as a prize to the one of the players who managed the most moves before it - presumably - was a loss.
Pretty cool. Wonder what the strat should be to get the longest game. Maybe a London System if youāre White.