Blindfold chess in Cumnor (Throwback Thursday)

Thursday evening saw me have a go at blindfold chess.

For those who don’t know you play a game without sight of the board or pieces.

I have already played half a dozen blindfold games with varying results, so after a few pints on Thursday night and feeling a bit cocky, I decided not only to play blindfold but also to play both Graham and Gareth (who could both see the board) at the same time in The Bear and Ragged Staff in Cumnor.

Here is the game I played:

  [Event "Blindfold "]  [Date "2014.07.03"]  [White "Liam Glenn (Blindfold)"]  [Black "Gareth Stevens (sighted) and Graham Cluley (sighted)"]  [WhiteElo "1758"]  [BlackElo "1765/1525"]  [ECO "B06"]  [Opening "Modern Defence"]  [Result "0-1"]   1. e4 d6! {Already a surprise, neither Graham nor Gareth play the Modern/Pirc. After the game Gareth explained he just wanted to try a different opening} 2. d4 g6 3. Bd3 Bg7 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 {I enjoy playing against the Modern and I regularly enter this set up with pawns on c3, d4 and e4 blocking the Bishop and simply develop the pieces around them} Nf6 6. Bg5 O-O 7. Nbd2 Re8 8. O-O  e5 {Black finally pushes in the centre, in the Modern Black has to get e5 or c5 in to gain some space} 9. Qc2 {hoping for 9...exd4 10. cxd4} b6 10. d5 {knowing that they weren't going to take the d4 pawn I tried to cramp Blacks position but it also blocks my White Bishop and Queen battery} Nb8 {very happy with the position and my development} 11. Nb3 Nbd7 12. Nfd2 {maybe not the best plan but I wanted to push the f pawn opening the file as well as trying to get rid of e5} a5 13. a4 {stops Black playing a4 and pushing the Knight back, but it could become a weakness later on} Ba6 14. Bxa6 Rxa6 15. f4  Nc5 16. Nxc5 bxc5 17. fxe5 Rxe5 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Nc4 {Shredder puts White +1.2 not too bad after playing 39 moves in my head, White clearly has a better pawn structure, better Rooks and the Knight on an outpost, well sort of outpost. The exchanges also helps my mind, with less pieces on the board the less information I have to keep in my minds-eye and also lessens the likelihood of blundering a piece} Re8 20. Rae1 Be5 21. Kh1 {maybe not the best move but I was concerned with the Bishop checks along the d4-g1 diagonal}  Qh4 22. Nxe5 Rxe5 23. Qf2 {finally got this move in I had it planned it from 11. Nb3, 12 moves ago but sadly Back can now swap off Queens. Black is back in the game (-0.5)} 23... Qxf2 24. Rxf2 Ra8 25. g3 Rae8 26. Rfe2 f5 {simply missed this move and problems it causes, e4 is attacked 3 times and is pinned} 27. Kg2  Kf7 28. Rf2 {Kf3 was better, Rf2 was played thinking I could pin the f pawn (it doesn’t help)} Rxe4 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. b3 {saves the a4 pawn...} Re3 31. Rc2 {saves the c3 pawn...} Rd3 32. Kf2 {but I can’t save the d5 pawn} Rxd5 33. b4 {trying gain some counter-play (cxb4 34. cxb4 axb4 35. Rxc7+)} c4  34. bxa5 Rxa5 35. Ra2 Ke6 36. Ke3 g5 37. Ra1 h5 38. Ra3 Kd5 39. {made my first and only illegal move 39.Kd3 forgetting the pawn on c4} h3 Ke5 40. h4  f4 41. Kf3 g4 42. Kf2 f3 {White now has two weaknesses, fatal!} 43. Ra2 Ke4 44. Ra3 Kd3 45. Kf1 Kc2 46. Ra2 {46… Kb2 wins the Rook} Kxc3 47. Ra1 {now waiting for the inevitable}  Kb4 48. Kf2 Rxa4 49. Rxa4 Kxa4  {I resigned knowing the game was up with Blacks Queenside pawns running down the board and my King stuck blockading the f pawn. Shredder says there is a forced mate in 11, I don’t need to see that to know it’s all over!} 0-1

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Liam Glenn

Liam has been coming to Cumnor Chess Club for a very long time. His interests include Chess, Oxford United, Chess and Chess. He shows you can be handsome and good at Chess. View all posts by Liam Glenn

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