Any tips on blindfold chess?

Hi

So I'm like a 2200 on my main lichess account and just recently got into blindfold chess. So I've heard that you should be able to name the colour of any square on the chessboard and be able to easily move your knight around in your mind from one square to the next. I think I got this down on a basic level but definitely got lots of room still to improve. The lichess blindfold feature is also pretty cool and have been using that for a bit but I still struggle to visualise the position of some of the pieces after I have played about 20-30 moves. I have got to go back in my mind to remember if that bishop was on c1 for example or had already been traded earlier and somehow still visualise a pawn still on the starting square while it actually isn't.

So I guess my question is: At my level should I train more at learning to visualise all the colours of the squares and knight moves etc or should I just be playing more blindfold chess and over time my skill will improve? Any software or android applications that you would recommend? Any other tips or tricks that could me along the way?

Thanks.

PS: 1500s don't resign too early when you go down a piece at move 30, I am struggling to visualise the position :)

I tried blindfold chess once or twice, I felt like my brain was going to explode, need like 2 hours to fix pieces in my mind, I gave it up. I feel better improvement from tactics, and opening/positional study.

play blindfold more times , then you wil know where is the pieces. I speak for my experience . when the game finishes analyze it seeing the pieces

@Kusokosla Blindfold chess is a cool skill and I really want to learn it.

Ok thanks @azuaga I will just continue playing games blindfolded.

I only play games less than 3 mins that way I don't have time to forget the pieces. I also have noticed I'm around 700 points lower than not playing blindfolded.

The best way to memorize the pieces I found is to visualize them then you can let your normal amazing chess ability figure out how they move. I also don't try and remember where each piece is but instead remember the structure of the pieces and remember them in groups.

The best feature to get is called dimitchess its a chrome plugin that reads out the moves in real time (the lichess speech thing is kinda slow)

But of course what do I know I'm only rated 1000

Just like in real chess, I find that the pawn structure dictates the play of the game. So when I'm playing blindfolded, I'm hyper-focused on where the pawns are. Once I've figured that much out, then it's reasonably straightforward to fill in the pieces because there's only a few logical squares the pieces can sit on.

I'd also like to repeat what @azuaga said - when the game is done, analyze it with the pieces turned back on. That way you can actually see when you didn't have a good grasp of the situation. Once you figure out what went wrong, you should be able to come up with a way to fix your mistake for next time.

My advice ;

Solve basic endgames puzzles with blindfold

Solve basic tactics puzzles with blindfold

Everyday play one blindfold game

those are really enough to improve your blindfold skills.

"The best way to memorize the pieces I found is to visualize them"

-this was an intro (otherwise not helpful) to the helpful memory chunking advice that follows:

"instead remember the structure of the pieces and remember them in groups."
-thanks, @Blindkingmen3 . (also for the extension, i did not know how blindfold worked, assume voice, you confirmed, and more).

"I find that the pawn structure dictates the play of the game. ...then it's reasonably straightforward to fill in the pieces because there's only a few logical squares the pieces can sit on."

-thanks for that further chunking advice, @NoseKnowsAll. pawns almost like they become the landmarks, taking over the squares as coordinate system for visualisation (the fact that they move the minimum distances per turn may have some role in that).

Some of us are not blessed with "photographic" memory, but some of those may be blessed with associative memory, a longer term cognitive process, and chunking strategies may alleviate the short term less endowed photographic type of memory (very short term memory capacity). I hope i have not stumped on cognitive psychology here. Maybe photographic memory in reality does use association processes. but i mean, the short term capacity without longer term cognitive work, we are not all equal with respect to that short term capacity. Nice to hear about ways around that.

@Blindkingmen3 I feel like 3min is too fast for me but what you said about remembering structures of pieces is very interesting.

Thanks for the tip @NoseKnowsAll I'll try to focus most of my attention on the pawn structure.

@Yumitho Anywhere that I can solve these blindfold puzzles? I'm assuming that you're talking about where they just name where the pieces are and then you need to visualise them and the solve them?

Thanks for that @dboing

Also I am already looking at the game with seeing the pieces when the game finishes, it gives me some unpleasant surprises sometimes :) so I'll just continue with that.

@BlindfoldN00b I've been playing some blindfold myself recently, at the start it was extremely hard and complicated, but it's all about practice! Plus training with coordinates is also very helpful for notation.

Some extra tips:
1. Don't put circles around where you think pieces are located, is this ineffective and hampers with your blindfold vision , instead try to visualise them with your head only, this way, you will improve a lot!

2. Play longer time controls, preferably 15+10 but it's up to you. Starting with faster time controls just makes it very hard.

3. Play blindfold against computer, this is the perfect way to train your blindfold chess without losing any rating or playing human opponents.