COMMENTS

Congratulations to FM Marc Lang! I wish him the best of success and if he is motivated dont stop at 26 games but do over 30 and cause a real sensation! I am impressed by the examples of his games - the miniature above is a real tactical gem! - and worthy of inclusion in any collection. His opponent grabbed the d4 and e4 pawns in the opening and White found fantastic tactics. Black surely thought after his queen returned to e7 that he would survive but White finished in a tactical masterpiece with win of queen or checkmate. Well done!

Hans Jung, June 30, 2009

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Hi Hans,

Thank you very much for your encouraging comment and to Eliot for the excellent article. I will do my best to crush the German record in November and then…well, who knows, maybe… . What were your experiences concerning the openings when you played your big BFC-simul? I tried a wide range from 1.d4/e4/c4 to 1.b3, 1.f4 and even 1.b4, but I wasn’t pleased with the result - I faced certain problems in the unfamiliar positions arising in systems I usally don’t play. Maybe it’s better to chose only between 2 moves (e4 and d4) and “exchange” the risk of confusing something against more familiar and thus promising positions? How long did your simul take and did you have a break?

Best
Marc

Marc, June 30, 2009

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Stick with what you are comfortable with and what helps your style of play. (this way you will also have better chances of playing more brilliant games like the miniature above!) If you are most comfortable with d4 then open only with d4. The only reason to vary would be to establish a “landmark” board every 5 boards. You can still do this by opening d4 but playing something unique later on that landmark board such as Blackmar-Diemer on first board 5, then Colle System on board 10,London System (Bf4) on board 15 etc. For some blindfold players who concentrated mainly on a single choice of opening that would not be enough of a landmark - they would choose to play a board with the black pieces every 10 boards or so (example Najdorf) - that would definitely be enough of a landmark. My 26 board simul was very fast - about 5 and a half hours so I had no breaks. My last simul of note was only 8 boards but it took 8 hours. I took a short washroom break of 5 minutes after 3 hours and it completely disoriented me. Again go with what you are comfortable with and by all means take a break if you need to (but dont take a break until after all the games are well established in your mind - I would recommend only after move 10 earliest). Best of Luck in your blindfold adventures und machs gut! - Hans

Hans Jung, July 02, 2009

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Your idea of facing your opponents and chatting with them is excellent (I had never heard of this before) This method should really help in the first few moves as you can attach a face to each opening and it should make it easier to recall each game. I think I will give it a try in my next blindfold simul.

Hans Jung, July 04, 2009

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Hi,It’s very great and intersting.But I have more interesting news for you.In Yerevan(Armenia) Mikael Khachaturyans(master) record is on 40 boards(2 times),20 boards(4 times) and 10 boards many times. He’s ready to play on 64 bords (symbolic). If you are intersted I can find details about this master and send to you.
Best wishes, Armen

Armen Abajyan, June 13, 2010

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