Blindfold chess

Paul Morphy held in 1858 a blindfold exhibition against the eight strongest players in Paris with the stunning result of six wins and two draws.

In 1924, at the Alamac Hotel of New York, Alekhine played 26 simultaneous blindfold games against very strong opponents (Isaac Kashdan and Hermann Steiner among them), with the score of 16 wins, 5 losses, and 5 draws.

In the same year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo, and commented on his poor memory after leaving his briefcase behind after the event.

Then the world record was set by George Koltanowski on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, who played 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded.

A new European record was set in November 2010 by German Marc Lang in Sontheim, Germany, playing 35 opponents with 19 wins, 13 draws, and 3 losses over a period of 23 hours.

[15] Lang improved the world record a year later in November 2011 once again in Sontheim by playing 46 opponents simultaneously and blindfolded, with 25 wins, 19 draws, and just 2 losses.

[15][16] On December 3, 2016, Timur Gareyev played 48 opponents with a mask before his eyes and sitting on an exercise bike, resulting in 35 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses.

[20] In general, this research shows that the crucial attributes of blindfold chess players are their acquired knowledge and their ability to carry out visuo-spatial operations in the mind's eye.

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.

In 2009 the book Blindfold Chess, History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records and Important Games, by Eliot Hearst and John Knott was published.