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2011-09-28 10:25:23
20 votes, rating 5.3
20 votes, rating 5.3
Blindfold Fun
Now, for something completely outside the blood bowl world – chess. I want to share with those interested a really cool experience I was lucky to make recently. Those not interested I will try to penetrate with boredom.
End of November 2011, FM Marc Lang will try to set a new world record in simultaneous blindfold chess, playing against 46 opponents at the same time. He will not see any of the 46 positions on his opponents’ boards at any time. He won’t be allowed any sort of notation and has to play all matches solely inside his brain – simultaneously. The little chess playing social club in our company invited him for last Friday to a simultaneous blindfold chess competition on 8 boards – training for the master and a really cool event for the spectators and especially for the players from our midst. Most of our matches were taking comparably long (around 30 moves) for blindfold chess and while playing all matches without any serious problem blindfolded (but neither chess blind nor blind of any other kind of course) Marc Lang turned out to be very communicative and even joined in our frequent and loud chit-chat about him, chess, life, universe – and all the rest. We were able to snatch two draws from the master but the entire competition ended in a devastating 7-1 defeat. The mental exercise by Marc Lang was remarkable in many ways and I was more than just mildly impressed. Without me being a good chess player at all I might have to admit ...
In case you understand German, you may want to have a look at his blog.
In case you are interested in what a renowned expert on blindfold chess says about Marc's european record from 2010, have a look at this site (in English fortunately).
End of November 2011, FM Marc Lang will try to set a new world record in simultaneous blindfold chess, playing against 46 opponents at the same time. He will not see any of the 46 positions on his opponents’ boards at any time. He won’t be allowed any sort of notation and has to play all matches solely inside his brain – simultaneously. The little chess playing social club in our company invited him for last Friday to a simultaneous blindfold chess competition on 8 boards – training for the master and a really cool event for the spectators and especially for the players from our midst. Most of our matches were taking comparably long (around 30 moves) for blindfold chess and while playing all matches without any serious problem blindfolded (but neither chess blind nor blind of any other kind of course) Marc Lang turned out to be very communicative and even joined in our frequent and loud chit-chat about him, chess, life, universe – and all the rest. We were able to snatch two draws from the master but the entire competition ended in a devastating 7-1 defeat. The mental exercise by Marc Lang was remarkable in many ways and I was more than just mildly impressed. Without me being a good chess player at all I might have to admit ...
In case you understand German, you may want to have a look at his blog.
In case you are interested in what a renowned expert on blindfold chess says about Marc's european record from 2010, have a look at this site (in English fortunately).
Comments
Posted by pythrr on 2011-09-28 11:07:17
this is insane
his brain will explode
his brain will explode
Posted by Garion on 2011-09-28 11:14:29
Lol pythrr, you took the words out of my mouth.
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 11:16:36
he actually said that he remembers the games about 4-6 weeks after ... but different from other blindfold crazy guys he has no trouble to sleep afterwards e.g. ... his main problem with the 46 people actually is the time it takes for this competition. he estimates something between 30 and 40 hours (straight!) - given the necessary focus i do not understand how this can be done ...
his record of 35 games last year took 23 hours btw ...
his record of 35 games last year took 23 hours btw ...
Posted by Hitonagashi on 2011-09-28 11:33:28
That's a seriously crazy number.
I wonder how he manages to remember that many boards? The opening must be the hardest bit there, because once you get into the middle game, you've got distinct positions to remember. I suppose you could just remember the names to get started with, so "Ruy Lopez followed by a qd2 attack", but that will only get him into early game.
Will be interesting to see how many of those 42 go over about 20-25 moves..I think I'd be trying for a sharp sicilian variant to kill off all the weaker players as soon as possible so that I could get the number of games down. :S.
Impressive stuff.
I wonder how he manages to remember that many boards? The opening must be the hardest bit there, because once you get into the middle game, you've got distinct positions to remember. I suppose you could just remember the names to get started with, so "Ruy Lopez followed by a qd2 attack", but that will only get him into early game.
Will be interesting to see how many of those 42 go over about 20-25 moves..I think I'd be trying for a sharp sicilian variant to kill off all the weaker players as soon as possible so that I could get the number of games down. :S.
Impressive stuff.
Posted by GAZZATROT on 2011-09-28 11:33:52
He's a Witch.
Posted by RandomOracle on 2011-09-28 11:40:22
That's incredibly impressive!
Posted by Overhamsteren on 2011-09-28 13:44:39
Scary! O.o
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 14:13:11
@hito: you are right, he needs some quick and aggressive matches to reduce the amount of running games in the beginning of the competition. otherwise the duration will be extended too much. problem is, he doesn't know which opponents are the weakest. ;-)
Posted by Hitonagashi on 2011-09-28 14:35:24
Doesn't matter to a point Blizz. Pick a sharp enough opening, one with loads of tactical traps in it. No sub 1500 player knows a dangerous sicilian line enough to fend off a FM, and he probably has the book variants for all those memorised.
You can catch about 90% of the weaker players by seeing how well they stick to the openingbooks, whilst not having to change concentration yourself.
I noticed that he's playing C4 for 4 matches in a row in the examples given...that looks like he's trying that tactic. The English can be lethal if you don't know how to face it, and easily turns into a reversed Sicilian...
You can catch about 90% of the weaker players by seeing how well they stick to the openingbooks, whilst not having to change concentration yourself.
I noticed that he's playing C4 for 4 matches in a row in the examples given...that looks like he's trying that tactic. The English can be lethal if you don't know how to face it, and easily turns into a reversed Sicilian...
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 14:41:19
yeah, i would tend to agree ... but then again, i can't play blindfold simultaneous games. he can though, and he said that he prefers games that are not a tactical firework on the board, because with so many games and everything only in your head, the seeing players have a serious advantage.
btw, his opponents are presumably in the elo-range of 1600-1900, some weaker young players amongst them as well likely, but they are probably also just as dangerous.
btw, his opponents are presumably in the elo-range of 1600-1900, some weaker young players amongst them as well likely, but they are probably also just as dangerous.
Posted by Hitonagashi on 2011-09-28 15:43:06
1600-1900? 42 of them? The guy is officially a maniac :D. And a genius.
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 15:48:23
46 of them to be precise. and yes, this competition is sort of a freak show really. i seriously consider to participate as a player, i am just afraid of the duration myself. ;-)
Posted by bghandras on 2011-09-28 15:53:31
Just 1 example of myself. I used to be able to play the starting of a chess game, but lost track after 10-15 moves. So i think the middle game is more daunting than the beginning.
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 16:03:19
he actually said that the opening is more difficult (in order to mix up positions since they are so much alike) - whereas after 10-15 moves the matches kind of "settle" in his mind and become more tangible. he compared his virtual board representation in his memory to "rooms" that he can then visit (but only after all pieces have settled somewhere, i.e. after the opening). opening the door to these mental rooms will allow him a view on the board in this room and everything is just "there". no idea how that feels like really ...
Posted by Fela on 2011-09-28 16:22:39
I think i remember the anecdote of a player going insane after playing a lot of people simultaniously blind. I'm not sure if that's just an urban legend, though :).
If not it sounds like a dangerous experiment ;).
If not it sounds like a dangerous experiment ;).
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 16:29:19
rumours say that blindfold simultaneous chess was for a certain period forbidden in russia since serious malicious effects on the brain were feared ... i haven't yet found any proof for that statement anywhere yet though.
but najdorf (current world record holder since 64 years) reported that he couldn't sleep properly for quite some time after his event.
but najdorf (current world record holder since 64 years) reported that he couldn't sleep properly for quite some time after his event.
Posted by pythrr on 2011-09-28 17:52:39
as i said
brain
explode
this man must be stopped
brain
explode
this man must be stopped
Posted by garyt1 on 2011-09-28 18:32:22
Multiple Bloodbowl games blindfolded is the next step.
Posted by BlizzBirne on 2011-09-28 18:39:03
playing ONE bb-game blindfolded would be a good start ... ;-) any volunteers?
Posted by KenThis on 2011-09-28 23:29:30
I've seen scanners.... and carrie...
I'm glad I won't be in the room when everybody's heads explode.
I hope he makes it though.
I'm glad I won't be in the room when everybody's heads explode.
I hope he makes it though.