Blindfold chess — the story of two times it shocked me

Or why the skills that seem fantastic are within your reach

Magnus Carlsen playing blindfold chess

What you see in the photo above is blindfold chess. This unusual activity is when a chess player does not look at the chessboard and dictates the moves using chess notation (which is a way to describe chess moves using the names of the piece moved and the square to which it is moved). Imagine that. Chess is already widely regarded as a pinnacle of intellectual competition and some people don’t even need to look at the board to play it?

The first time blindfold chess shocked me was in the early 90s. I remember I was 14 years old, living in Baku, Azerbaijan and at that time, my friends and I would often come out to play chess with each other in the garden in front of the building where our apartment was. There were a few benches and tables, we would bring our chessboards and spend a few hours there every evening. There was this one boy, my age, who would regularly crush all of us. He was already a strong player then and went on to become a chess grandmaster.

That day, it was just him and I out there. After defeating me a couple of times, he looked bored. Then he suggested he would play blindfold. I did not even know what that meant. So he explained. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor, for I did not even think that was possible. He then turned his chair around and sat with his back to the chessboard. After losing two games to a kid who was not looking at the board, I was stunned. How was this even possible? This had to be some kind of incredible talent. I thought I was a decent player and for him to not even look at the board, he must have been not just stronger, but also in possession of some skills that I would never ever have.

Since then, I continued to play chess. With my father, my friends. I won more often than I lost. But I never forgot that experience and was convinced that you can only learn so much and some people are just way more gifted.

Fast forward to 2006. I am working for the United Nations in Darfur, Sudan. In the two and a half years I spent in that assignment, there was not much to do other than be at the office, on the road, or sit at home. It was work, work, work and I desperately needed a non-work activity to keep me sane.

And so I picked chess. The reason for the choice was quite trivial — the summer of 2007, my father handed me a devastating 3–0 in a match we had. I found out later that he had started playing against a chess program and had inevitably gotten stronger. But to me, it felt like it was me who had gotten worse. So I decided to catch up. Baku is a perfect place to look for chess books, of which some of the best are in Russian language. I bought a few books, installed a strong chess program (Fritz8) on my computer, opened an account on an online chess playing site and off I went. Every day I studied and played chess for a couple of hours and this went on for almost two years.

Specifics of how I trained are not really the point. What mattered was that I practiced daily. The progress was slow, but consistent and continuous. My online rating was steadily growing, my skills were improving and while I was not going to be a world champion any time soon (or rather ever), the progress was evident.

We come to 2009. I returned to Baku after my assignment in Darfur ended. A few days later, I met a friend of mine with whom I used to play chess a lot. It did not take much for the chessboard to show up on the table. Now, note that our matches were always more or less equal. I would win some games and he would win some. We had not played for over two years and this time, the difference in playing strength was obvious. After I won three games in a row, he threw his hands in the air: “What is going on? You are too strong, man!”. He then thought for a few seconds and said: “Why don’t you try playing blindfold? Maybe then I would have a chance?” I just laughed. No way I could replicate the amazing feat I had seen all those years ago in Baku. But my friend convinced me to give it a try. I reluctantly agreed, thinking I would only be able to see a few moves ahead and would then be forced to abandon that and go back to playing chess as mere mortals should.

Enter the second time blindfold chess shocked me. I PLAYED THE WHOLE GAME WITHOUT HICCUPS. I won. My friend was shocked. I was shocked. We played the second game, again, blindfold. I won again. I could not believe it. I AM DOING IT. The same thing that had stunned me when I was a teenager, the same thing that made me feel like I did not have the required talent. Never once I was unsure about what piece was where. I saw everything in my mind very, very clearly. I was there then, all those years ago and I am here now. I am really doing it! All it took is a lot of structured training, patience and focus.

This was perhaps one of the most important lessons I learnt in my life and since then try to impart on anyone who would care to listen. There is no such thing as talent. Short of physical attributes (even they can be greatly improved), any other acquisition of skill is just a matter of time, effort and structured learning. Two books I recommend you review on this subject are:

• Talent is Overrated by Geoff Calvin; and
• Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Rober Pool

The main idea of these two books is incredibly empowering. Whatever is the skill you would like to develop, as long as you apply the most efficient method, you are bound to achieve massive improvement.

So, to summarize, if there is something you would like to learn — whatever it is — playing an instrument, learning a language, getting better at a particular sport, anything — even if it seems so difficult and impressive when done by another person, is not out of your reach. You may not be able to achieve the world class level, but following the key principles of practice outlined in these books, you are guaranteed to make tremendous progress. It can be done.

Therefore:

1. Decide on your objective — keep in mind, that as you progress, you will probably be adjusting your objective and gradually getting more and more ambitious.
2. Identify the methods, tools and resources for learning and practice. If you can, find a quality instructor.
3. Put in the time and effort — there is no shortcut around this. As you improve, get feedback, adjust your training accordingly and continue.

It is this simple.

Identify an activity you would like to learn or improve at (check out my article Hobby 2.0). Keep in mind that as you progress, as you impress yourself, as you have the evidence that excelling in something is something you can actually do, it will inevitably boost your confidence in your learning abilities and you can apply the lessons learnt in other fields.

As Morpheus said: “Don’t Think You Are. Know You Are”