Blindfold Chess
essential training
The scope of this book is to make chess players capable of thinking blindfold. There are 131 problems in which the reader has to follow the recorded moves in order to
find the mating move. All problems are based on actual games of masters. Mathematician Dimosthenis Michailidis
Index • chapter 1 ◦ Paul Morphy 4 ◦ Solutions 10 • chapter 2 ◦ Wilhelm Steinitz 16 ◦ Solutions 22 • chapter 3 ◦ Mikhail Chigorin 29 ◦ Solutions 34 • chapter 4 ◦ Aron Nimzowitsch 39 ◦ Solutions 43 • chapter 5
◦ José Raúl Capablanca 47
◦ Solutions 50 • chapter 6 ◦ Alexander Alekhine 53 ◦ Solutions 58 • chapter 7 ◦ Samuel Reshevsky 63 ◦ Solutions 66 • chapter 8 ◦ Mikhail Tal 69 ◦ Solutions 74 • chapter 9 ◦ Bobby Fischer 79 ◦ Solutions 84 • chapter 10 ◦ Garry Kasparov 88 ◦ Solutions 97
Chapter 1
Paul Morphy
18 games
Game 1
Morphy, Paul -- Rousseau, Eugene
16. ... Kd6 17.
Game 2
Mac Connel, James -- Morphy, Paul
23. Rxg1
Game 3
Morphy, Paul -- Mac Connel, James
22. ... b5 23.
Game 4
Morphy, Paul -- Morphy, Alonzo
20. ... Kg8 21.
Game 5
Morphy, Paul -- Morphy, Alonzo
45. ... Kh8 46.
Game 6
Morphy, Paul -- Morphy, Ernest
24. ... Qe8 25.
Game 7
Morphy, Paul -- Morphy, Ernest
36. ... Kh8 37.
Game 8
Morphy, Paul -- Maurian, Charles Amedee
Game 9
Meek, Alexander Beaufort -- Morphy, Paul
25. Kg1 Game 10 Morphy, Paul -- NN 28. ... Ka3 29. Game 11 Morphy, Paul -- NN 32. ... Kh7 33. Game 12 Morphy, Paul -- NN 22. ... Kb6 23. 6
Game 13
Morphy, Paul -- NN
16. ... Kc2 17.
Game 14
Morphy, Paul -- Duke Karl Count Isouard
16. ... Nxb8 17.
Game 15
Morphy, Paul -- Jefferson, BT.
22. ... Rxf8 23.
Game 16
Morphy, Paul -- Smyth, S.
35. ... Kh6 36.
Game 17
Morphy, Paul -- Capdevielle, P.
35. ... Kh7 36.
Game 18
Morphy, Paul -- Dominguez
19. ... Qd6 20.
Game 1 Qc7# Game 2 Nf2# Game 3 Ra3# Game 4 Rf8# 10
Game 5 Qh6# Game 6 Rdxe8# Game 7 Qf8# Game 8 Ng4#
Game 9 Nf3# Game 10 Qb3# Game 11 Qf7# Game 12 Rb1# 12
Game 13 d3# Game 14 Rd8# Game 15 Ne7# Game 16 Rh7#
Game 17
Qxg7#
Game 18
Qxd6#
Chapter 2
Wilhelm Steinitz
18 games
Game 1
Hamppe, Carl -- Steinitz, William
22. ... Qd1+ 23. Rxd1
Game 2
Steinitz, William -- Meitner, Philipp
33. f3+ Kf4 34.
Game 3
Hamppe, Carl -- Steinitz, William
30. ... Rxh2+ 31. Kxh2
Game 4
Reiner -- Steinitz, William
17. ... Qxh2+ 18. Rxh2
Game 5
Steinitz, William -- Strauss
28. Qf3+ Kh4 29.
Game 6
Steinitz, William -- Meitner, Philipp
25. Qg5+ Kf7 26.
Game 7
Steinitz, William -- Lange, Max
28. Rh6+ Qf6 29.
Game 8
Steinitz, William -- Lange, Max
22. Rd1+ Kc2 23.
Game 9
Steinitz, William -- Robey, J.
36. Qg7 Qd7 37.
Game 10
Steinitz, William -- Maas
32. Nxf7+ Kg8 33. Game 11 Steinitz, William -- NN 14. Ng8+ Ke8 15. Game 12
Steinitz, William -- Vines
37. Rb8+ Nxb8 38.
Game 13
Steinitz, William -- Brook, O.
30. Rxd7+ Kxd7 31.
Game 14
Steinitz, William -- Ware, Preston
33. Qc6+ Kxe7 34.
Game 15
Steinitz, William -- Rosenthal, Samuel
36. ... Qg2+ 37. Ke3
Game 16
Blackburne, Joseph Henry -- Steinitz, William
26. Rf8+ Qxf8 27.
Game 17
Baird, David Graham -- Steinitz, William
41. ... Bc6+ 42. Kf1
Game 18
Hanham, James Moore -- Steinitz, William
31. ... Qg1+ 32. Rxg1
Game 1 Rxd1# Game 2 Qe4# Game 3 Rh8# Game 4 Rg1# 22
Game 5 Qh3# Game 6 Qxg7# Game 7 Rxf6# Game 8 Rf2#
Game 9 Bf7# Game 10 Rxg7# Game 11 Bxf7# Game 12 Rxb8# 24
Game 13 Qe7# Game 14 Re8# Game 15 Qf3# Game 16 Qxh7#
Game 17
Qxd1#
Game 18
Nf2#
Chapter 3
Mikhail Chigorin
16 games
let's make four blindfold moves
Game 1
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Davidov, Mikhail
25. ... Kb8 26. Na6+ bxa6 27.
Game 2
Schiffers, Emanuel Stepanovich -- Chigorin
36. Kf2 Qe2+
Game 3
Schiffers, Emanuel Stepanovich -- Chigorin
32. Kd2 Rxf2+ 33. Ke3
Game 4
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Schiffers, Emanuel
26. ... Kg8 27. Re8+ Rf8
Game 5
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Schmid, Carl Friedrich
26. ... Kxh6 27. Qxf6+ Rg6 28.
Game 6
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Alapin, Simon
17. gxf3 Qh2+ 18. Kf1
Game 7
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Fleissig, Bernhard
53. Kxb4 Qb5+ 54. Ka3
Game 8
Englisch, Berthold -- Chigorin, Mikhail
46. ... Kf7 47. Qf5+ Kg8 48.
Game 9
Baird, John Washington -- Chigorin, Mikhail
30. Rh2 Rxf1+ 31. Nxf1
Game 10
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Tarrasch, Siegbert
41. ... Bg8 42. Bh5 Qe6
Game 11
Mason, James -- Chigorin, Mikhail
27. Qe4 Ra3+ 28. Rxa3
Game 12
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Winawer, Szymon
18. ... b5 19. Bxf7+ Kxf7 20.
Game 13
Marco, Georg -- Chigorin, Mikhail
54. Ra6 Kd3 55. Kc1
Game 14
Chigorin, Mikhail -- Rubinstein, Akiba
31. ... Nxf7 32. gxf7 Qe7 33.
Game 15
Marshall, Frank James -- Chigorin, Mikhail
27. ... Ne4+ 28. Bxe4 Bxe4 29.
Game 16
Tarrasch, Siegbert -- Chigorin, Mikhail
60. ... f3 61. Kd6 Kc8 62.
Game 1 Qb4# Game 2 Qg2# Game 3 Qd4# Game 4 Rxf8# 34
Game 5 Rh1# Game 6 Qh1# Game 7 Qa5# Game 8 Re8#
Game 9 Qxf1# Game 10 Qg7# Game 11 Qb2# Game 12 Qe6# 36
Game 13 Ra1# Game 14 Rg8# Game 15 Qh8# Game 16 Rg8#
Chapter 4
Aron Nimzowitsch
10 games
let's make five blindfold moves
Game 1
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Albin, Adolf
36. a5 Qe8 37. Rxa7+ Rxa7 38.
Game 2
Dus Chotimirsky, Fedor Ivanovich -- Nimzowitsch
59. Qxb5 f5
Game 3
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Alapin, Simon
17. Qxd7+ Kf8 18. Qd8+ Bxd8 19.
Game 4
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Alapin, Simon
16. Bxc6+ Kf8 17. Qd8+ Bxd8
Game 5
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Tarrasch, Siegbert
30. ... Qh2+ 31. Ke6 Re8+ 32. Kd7
Game 6
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Tartakower, Saviely
46. Rf7+ Kg4 47. f3+ Kh5 48.
Game 7
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Giersing, Johannes
66. Kc4 Re8 67. b7+ Kd8 68.
Game 8
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Olson, A.
25. Qf4 Kh6 26. Ne6+ exf4 27.
Game 9
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Romi, Massimiliano
34. e7+ Kd7 35. Qd5 Bxf1 36.
Game 10
Nimzowitsch, Aaron -- Romi, Massimiliano
30. Re7+ Kd8 31. Rxd7+ Kc8 32.
Solutions
Game 1 Qb6# Game 2 Qb7# Game 3 Re8# Game 4 Re8#
Game 5 Bb5# Game 6 Rxh7# Game 7 Rd7# Game 8 Bg7# 44
Game 9
Qc6#
Game 10
Chapter 5
José Raúl Capablanca
6 games
let's make six blindfold moves
Game 1
Capablanca, Jose Raul -- Raubitschek, Rudolf 32. ... Qf4+ 33. Kg1 Qd4 34. Rxa7+ Qxa7 35. Game 2
Capablanca, Jose Raul -- Marshall, Frank
Game 3
Capablanca, Jose Raul -- Thomas, George Alan 51. ... Kf8 52. f6 Be1 53. g6 Bg3 54. Game 4
Game 5
Capablanca, Jose Raul -- Vassaux, G.
27. ... Ne4 28. Rxh7+ Kxh7 29. Qh3+ Kg7 30.
Game 6
Capablanca, Jose Raul -- Lewis, J.
34. Kxh5 Qg6+ 35. Kh4 Qg5+ 36. Kh3
Game 1 Qxa7# Game 2 g4# Game 3 Rh8# Game 4 Qb4# 50
Game 5
Qh6#
Game 6
Chapter 6
Alexander Alekhine
16 games
let's make seven blindfold moves
Game 1
Viakhirev, Apollon -- Alekhine, Alexander
33. ... Qh1+ 34. Bg1 Bh4 35. Rh2 Qg2+ 36. Rxg2
Game 2
Alekhine, Alexander -- Tenner, Oscar
12. Bxf7+ Ke7
Game 3
Alekhine, Alexander -- Johner, Paul F
28. ... Qf2+ 29. Kd1 Qf1+ 30. Qe1 Qd3+ 31. Qd2
Game 4
Fridlizius, J. -- Alekhine, Alexander
Game 5
Levenfish, Grigory -- Alekhine, Alexander
40. ... Nh4 41. f4 Nf3+ 42. Kh1 Qh3+ 43. Qh2
Game 6
Rodzinski -- Alekhine, Alexander
12. ... Nd4 13. d3 Qxd3 14. cxd4 Be7 15. Qxh8
Game 7
Lasker, Edward -- Alekhine, Alexander
43. ... Kh6 44. Qa6+ Kg5 45. Qxa7 Qc3+ 46. Qb3
Game 8
Alekhine, Alexander -- Feldt
15. Nf7 Kxf7 16. Qxe6+ Kg6 17. g4 Be4 18.
Game 9
Bogoljubow, Efim -- Alekhine, Alexander
27. ... hxg3+ 28. Nh3 Bxh3 29. gxh3 Rxh3+ 30. Kg2
Game 10
Alekhine, Alexander -- Rojnic, Matko
51. ... g5
Game 11
Alekhine, Alexander -- Vardonenko
25. Qh5+ Kg8 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27. Qxe8+ Kg7 28.
Game 12
Alekhine, Alexander -- Tartakower, Saviely
Game 13
Alekhine, Alexander -- Brunner, Erich
23. Nxd5 Qxd4 24. Rxg6 Qc5 25. Rg7+ Kxh6 26.
Game 14
Alekhine, Alexander -- Baljet, Lindenaar
29. Bxf7+ Kxf7 30. Re7+ Kg8 31. Qc4+ Kh8 32.
Game 15
Alekhine, Alexander -- Alden, J.
38. Qd8 h5 39. h4 Qxb2 40. Qg8+ Kh6 41.
Game 16
Alekhine, Alexander -- Vitoria, C.
29. Ra7+ Kf6 30. Ne5 Kg5 31. Rg7+ Kf4 32.
Game 1 fxg2# Game 2 Rf5# Game 3 Qxd2# Game 4 Rh4# 58
Game 5 Qxh2# Game 6 Bh4# Game 7 Qexb4# Game 8 Nh4#
Game 9 Rh2# Game 10 Qh4# Game 11 Nf5# Game 12 Rb8# 60
Game 13 Rh7# Game 14 Bg7# Game 15 Qh7# Game 16 Rg4#
Chapter 7
Samuel Reshevsky
6 games
let's make eight blindfold moves
Game 1
Reshevsky, Samuel Herman -- Denker, Arnold S 17. ... g6 18. Bxg6+ hxg6 19. Qxg6+ Ke7 20. Qf7+ Kd6 21. Game 2
Horowitz, Israel Albert -- Reshevsky, Samuel
Game 3
Yanofsky, Daniel Abraham -- Reshevsky, Samuel 48. ... Ke6 49. Qf6+ Kd7 50. e8=Q+ Kxe8 51. Qe6+ Kf8 52. Game 4
Game 5
Reshevsky, Samuel Herman -- Evans, Larry Melvyn 35. ... Rxa6 36. Qxa6 Re2 37. Qa7+ Kh6 38. Qxd4 Ne6 39. Game 6
Reshevsky, Samuel Herman -- Ljubojevic
39. ... Rg7 40. Re2 Qxc5 41. Qh8+ Kf7 42. Qe8+ Kf6 43. Game 7
Reshevsky, Samuel Herman -- Shvidler
35. ... Rb8 36. Nxd6+ cxd6 37. Rb3 Rf8 38. Rb7+ Kg6 39. 64
Game 1 c5# Game 2 Qg1# Game 3 Bh6# Game 4 Rh8# 66
Game 5 Qh8# Game 6 Qe6# Game 7 Rg7#
Chapter 8
Mikhail Tal
16 games
let's make nine blindfold moves
Game 1
Ostrauskas, A. -- Tal, Mihail
35. ... Qh2 36. Ne2 Nd3 37. Ng3 Ne5+ 38. Kf4 Qh4+ 39. Kxe5 Game 2
Beni, Alfred -- Tal, Mihail
Game 3
Tal, Mihail -- Hetman
26. Rfd1 Kc8 27. Qf7 Rf8 28. Qxe7 Rf1+ 29. Rxf1 Qxd4 30. Game 4
Game 5
Tal, Mihail -- Tseshkovsky, Vitaly
25. ... Rc2 26. Re2 Bc5+ 27. Kf1 Bxe4 28. Rxe4 Rf2+ 29. Ke1 Game 6
Bronstein, David I -- Tal, Mihail
35. ... Rc5+ 36. Kb6 Na8+ 37. Ka6 Rc6+ 38. Kb5 Rb6+ 39. Ka4 Game 7
Tal, Mihail -- Stean, Michael
30. Qf6+ Kg3 31. Qg5+ Kh2 32. Qh4+ Kxg2 33. Rf2+ Kg1 34. Game 8
Estevez, Guillermo -- Tal, Mihail
33. f5 Re8 34. fxg6 fxg6 35. Ne6 Rg8 36. Qf4 h5 37. 70
Game 9
Tal, Mihail -- Mikhalchishin, Adrian
30. Re1 Rb5 31. Qd1 Rd5 32. Qa1 Rxg5 33. Qa4+ Kd8 34. Game 10
Tal, Mihail -- Rantanen, Yrjo
Game 11
Karner, Hillar -- Tal, Mihail
48. Rf6+ Kg4 49. Rg6 Kf5 50. Rh6 h4 51. f3 Rb5 52. Game 12
Game 13
Tal, Mihail -- Van der Wiel, John TH
70. ... Qf4+ 71. Kg6 Ke6 72. Kh5 Qg3 73. Kh6 Kf6 74. Kh7 Game 14
Tal, Mihail -- Ljubojevic, Ljubomir
38. ... Bd4+ 39. Kh1 Nf2+ 40. Kg1 Kg7 41. c3 Ng4+ 42. Kh1 Game 15
Short, Nigel D -- Tal, Mihail
68. ... Kd3 69. Ka4 Qc6+ 70. Kb4 Kc2 71. Ka3 Qb5 72. Ka2 Game 16
Tal, Mihail -- Sveshnikov, Evgeny
33. Nh5+ Kh6 34. Nxf6 Qc1+ 35. Kg2 Bxe6 36. Qh4+ Kg7 37. 72
Game 1 Qf6# Game 2 Qe1# Game 3 Rf8# Game 4 Qh7# 74
Game 5 Nc2# Game 6 Ra7# Game 7 Ne2# Game 8 Qh6#
Game 9 Qd7# Game 10 Qg7# Game 11 Rf6# Game 12 Rd1# 76
Game 13 Qg7# Game 14 Qxh2# Game 15 Qa4# Game 16 Rg8#
Chapter 9
Bobby Fischer
9 games
let's make ten blindfold moves
Game 1
Byrne, Donald -- Fischer, Robert James
37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Game 2
Surgies, M. -- Fischer, Robert James
Game 3
Fischer, Robert James -- Bennett, J1.
35. ... Rxb2+ 36. Kg1 Qc8 37. h4 Bxc3 38. Rd8+ Qxd8 39. Qxc3+ Qf6 40. Game 4
Game 5
Fischer, Robert James -- McCaskey, E.
47. ... a4 48. Nxc6+ Kc8 49. Ne7+ Kd7 50. Nxd5+ Ke6 51. Ke4 a3 52. Game 6
Fischer, Robert James -- Matulovic, Milan
28. ... Kg6 29. Qf5+ Kh6 30. Qe6+ Kh5 31. Rf5+ Kg4 32. Rf4+ Kxg3 33. 80
Game 7
Greenblatt Programm -- Fischer, Robert James 35. Bxf2 Qd3+ 36. Kc1 Bxe2 37. Nd2 Rxf2 38. Qxd7 Rf1+ 39. Nxf1 Game 8
Greenblatt Programm -- Fischer, Robert James 43. Kg2 Bh3+ 44. Kxh3 Kxf1 45. b4 d1=Q 46. Kh2 Qe2+ 47. Kh3
Game 9
Fischer, Robert James -- Greenblatt Programm 16. ... Rd8 17. Qxh3 Na6 18. Rf3 Qg6 19. Rc1 Kg7 20. Rg3 Rh8 21. 82
Game 1 Rc2# Game 2 Rf1# Game 3 Qxf6# Game 4 Qe5# 84
Game 5 Re7# Game 6 Qg4# Game 7 Qd1# Game 8 Qg2#
Game 9
Qh6#
Chapter 10
Garry Kasparov
16 games
Game 1
Georgiev, Kiril -- Kasparov, Gary
48. gxf4 b3 49. Rb7 Rf2+ 50. Ke1 b2 51. Bg8 g5 52. hxg5+ Kg6 53. Game 2
Kasparov, Gary -- Simon, A.
25. Ng7+ Kf8 26. Ne6+ Ke8 27. Rxb7 Ra8 28. Bh4 g5 29. Bxg5 Rg8 30. 88
Game 3
Kasparov, Gary -- Comp Leonardo Maestro Zuerich 20. Qg4+ Kh8 21. Qh4 Kg7 22. Bd2 Rfd8 23. Bh6+ Kg6 24. g4 Rxd3 25. Game 4
Short, Nigel D -- Kasparov, Gary
40. ... Rce8 41. Rc7 Nd3 42. Bd6 Rg8 43. Rxf7 Be5 44. Rxg8+ Rxg8 45. Rd7
Game 5
Kasparov, Gary -- Cid, D.
8. Qa4 Qd7 9. d5 O-O-O 10. dxc6 bxc6 11. Ba6+ Kb8 12. Qb3+ Ka8 13. Game 6
Kasparov, Gary -- Paleo, D.
11. Bd3 g5 12. Bxg5 Ne7 13. Qc1 Qd7 14. Bf6 Nf5 15. Bxf5 exf5 16. 90
Game 7
Kasparov, Gary -- Rey
37. b7 e5 38. b8=Q Kxh2 39. Qxe5+ f4 40. exf4 Kh3 41. fxg5 Ba4 42. Game 8
Kasparov, Gary -- Kamsky, Gata
26. Re7 Rf7 27. Rhe1 Kf8 28. R7e6 Rd7 29. Rf6+ Kg8 30. Ree6 Nf7 31.
Game 9
Kasparov, Gary -- Wendling, Jens
33. c7 Rxb6 34. cxd8=Q+ Kxd8 35. Bc7+ Kxc7 36. d8=Q+ Kb7 37. Rd7+ Ka6 38. Game 10
Kasparov, Gary -- Michaud, Luois
17. Qh5 Bxd4 18. Bg5 Nf6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Bg6+ Kg8 22. 92
Game 11
Kasparov, Gary -- Guillot, Blandine
18. Nxf6+ Kf8 19. Nxh7+ Kg7 20. g5 Kxh7 21. Qh5 Ng8 22. Qxf7+ Kh8 23. Game 12 Kasparov, G -- Print_It 22. h4 Rf8 23. Rf1 Rf4 24. g3 Ra4 25. Qe8 Bxf2+ 26. Rxf2 Rxa2 27.
Game 13 Kasparov, G -- Rodgaard, J 32. exf6 dxc3 33. Re7+ Kxf6 34. Nd5+ Kg5 35. f4+ Kh6 36. g5+ Kh5 37. Game 14 Kramnik, V -- Kasparov, G 50. ... Bxf3 51. d5+ Kh7 52. Rg1 Re4 53. Qb7 Bxg2+ 54. Rxg2 e1=Q+ 55. Rg1 94
Game 15 Kasparov, G -- Milos, G 48. f4 Qg3 49. Bc4 Nf5 50. Qe8+ Kg7 51. Qxf7+ Kh6 52. Qf8+ Ng7 53. Game 16
Kasparov, G -- Tambasco, Claudia
24. Nd8+ Kb5 25. a4+ Ka5 26. b4+ cxb4 27. cxb4+ Kxb4 28. Nc6+ Kc5 29.
Solutions
Game 1 Bh7# Game 2 Re7# Game 3 Qh5# Game 4 Nf2#
Game 5 Qb7# Game 6 Qg5# Game 7 Qg3# Game 8 Re8# 98
Game 9 Qa8# Game 10 Qh8# Game 11 Ng6# Game 12 Qh8#
Game 13 Nf6# Game 14 Qf3# Game 15 Qh8# Game 16 Rfc1# 100