Sick of Losing at Chess? Get TOP Chess Courses at a Discount! Click here!
Get Chess Course -Self-taught Grandmaster- at a Discount!

Chess Board Visualization in Mind – Blindfold Chess

by Rohan (India)
Dear Sir,

I have played chess now for 3 years and I am really interested to play blindfold chess. What kind of board do you see in your mind sir?

Is it a 3d or a 2d board and what is its color?

If I want to play blindfold chess do you suggest me to try visualizing a 2d or a 3d board and which color according to you works best.

Please do the needful sir. And do all other GM’s have the same kind of board in their mind or is it completely different for different chess players?

I was not able to find this answer anywhere on the internet and that is why I asked you sir. Please please do the needful.

Thanking You
Best Regards
Yours sincerely

Rohan Chitale

———Admin—————————–
Hi Rohan,

I played a few blindfold games for fun many years ago. I just tried to visualize the ordinary chess board that we used in the chess club. It was very difficult for me to hold the position in my mind.

Just imagine a black and white 3 D board and try to keep remembering where each piece is placed.

When I played a blindfold game I didn’t see the board but just remembered where the pieces were placed.

For example: I just knew that a bishop that is placed on b7 controls the squares a8, c6, d5, e4, f3, g2, h1 by experience. If you play a lot of chess you just know this.

However, it all depends what kind of brain you got. For some people it is easy to visualize a position, for others it is difficult. A very important point is to remember where the pieces are placed. I think this is the hardest part. You should have a very good memory.

There are players who can play move after move on many boards at the same time.

In November 2011 the German Marc Lang played versus 46 opponents simultaneously and blindfolded in Sontheim/Germany.

It is very important that you know each square of the board. When I say Bb7 you should know immediately on which square this bishop is placed and you should not forget it a few moves later.

Blindfold chess is more tiring than regular chess and some people think it is not healthy. I agree because after the games I played, I felt tired and it was hard to get rid of the positions in my mind. I wouldn’t do it again.

However, it is fun to play a few games to see how it works, but I wouldn’t overdo it. Read more about Blindfold Chess at Wikipedia


Back to – How to play Chess – Chess Questions

How Chess Grandmaster Igor Smirnov developed his chess teaching system.