Do I qualify as experienced? Probably not, but...
Maybe it's just me, but I don't see a board at all (or at least not a physical image of one). When playing blindfolded I "see" the interactions between sets of pieces, almost as if there are little arrows poking from each. I don't know if this counts.
And yes, I can calculate lines without looking at the board just by using coordinates. Just not very well... :)
@achja it seems that I can get away with not seeing the whole board then, but I'll keep working on my vision. Thanks for your insight.
I have made a post on this problem... noobforlife...some people suffer from "Aphantasia" I do. Its very poor visualization ability. Something for some to recognize and give up hope for any blindfold play. :]
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/missing-blindfold-chess-tool#6@Abyssinia I can play blindfolded but that doesn't mean that I can "see" a physical board in my mind. Sometimes I have to replay all the moves in my head if I get lost whereas for someone who clearly "see" the board as if it was real, it's as if he was playing normal chess. From the responses that I got though, it seems that it's okay to "see" only parts of the board. I'll nevertheless keep training and see if I can create a full "physical" board in my mind :) .
I can clearly see only a portion of the board. However, somehow, a can recall the entire board perfectly, but only a portion at a time. I had to do this when young as I didn't have a chessboard and had to read chess books without moving the pieces.
Seeing only some of the board does allow me to easily pick up on pattern recognition, however it does limit me on some long-range tactics.