Blindfold Chess
History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games
Eliot
Hearst
and John Knott
ISBN
978-0-7864-3444-2
62 photos, diagrams, appendices, bibliography, indexes
445pp.
library binding
(7 x 10)
2009
Available for immediate shipment
Description
During the 18th century, when Philidor played two blindfold games of chess simultaneously, eyewitnesses were asked to swear affidavits attesting to this remarkable feat. Since then, blindfold chess--the art of playing without sight of the board or pieces--has produced some of the greatest feats of human memory, progressing to the extent that the world record is 45 simultaneous blindfold games.
This work provides the first extensive coverage of blindfold chess from its earliest known instances through the present day. It describes the personalities and achievements of some of blindfold chess’s greatest players--including Paulsen, Morphy, Blackburne, Zukertort, Pillsbury, Reti, Alekhine, Koltanowski, Najdorf and Fine, as well as present-day grandmasters such as Anand, Kramnik and Morozevich, who play in regular tournaments with all players blindfolded. Including some never before published, 444 games scores are presented, peppered with diagrams and annotations. Hints for playing blindfold chess, the benefits of playing blindfold, and a readable summary of psychological research on blindfold chess ability are also included. Appendices offer a chronology of world-record simultaneous blindfold performances since the 18th century, and proposed rules for serious simultaneous blindfold play.
About the Author
A United States Olympic Chess Team captain in 1962, Eliot Hearst is a U.S. Life Senior Master. A former columnist for Chess Life, he has written extensively about the psychology of sports and games, computer chess, learning, memory and conflict. A distinguished professor emeritus at Indiana University, Hearst currently serves as an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Arizona. John Knott has written numerous legal articles, has a nonfiction book under way, and is a consultant at the London head office of an international law firm. Each author has had a particular interest in blindfold chess and has studied the subject for more than 30 years. Visit their website at www.blindfoldchess.net.
 Award Winner
Book of the Year--United States Chess Federation. Finalist, Book of the Year--English Chess Federation
Reviews
"this is not your typical chess book...an interesting and complex history...it’s not often that a chess book comes along that doesn’t more or less cover the same ground as countless books before it, but this is such a book. The authors combine intellectual curiosity, scientific investigation, and a love of chess to produce what truly can be called the magnum opus of blindfold chess"--ChessCafe.com
"we are dealing with no ordinary book. This is a classic McFarland book, a deeply researched, lovingly produced and definitive enquiry into an area of chess with a view to being the last word on the subject. The book goes into every area of blindfold chess, its history, the philosophy and mind techniques involved, the statistics and 444 annotated games."--British Chess Magazine
"meticulously documented...provides the first extensive coverage of blindfold chess from its earliest known instances through the present day. A truly magnificent and beautiful book!"--New In Chess
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Table of Contents & Excerpts
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