Blindfold Chess Podcast

The 4 time Women's World Chess Champion and the 2nd highest rated female player of all time, Hou Yifan started playing at the age of 5 with the help of her chess mentor IM Tong Yuanming.
At 13 became the Chinese Women's Champion. She earned the Grandmaster title at 14yrs 6mo 2 days (one of 39 women in the world to ever do so). At 16 she became the Women's World Champion.
She has been regarded as being 'leaps and bounds' ahead of her competition - winning her 4 Women's World Championships with a score of 10 win - 0 losses - 14 draws.
She has been the Women's World Number one player since September 2015 - more than 50 points ahead of second place.
In 2018 - she semi retired to focus on her studies - becoming a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and later becoming the youngest full professor at Shenzhen university at the age of 26. 
Even being so far advanced - she only treats chess as a hobby, not a career.
She stated in 2018 - "I want to be the best, but I also want to have a life". 

This week's game, we are looking at a game from 2017 at the Gibraltar Masters - 
Now, if we're ready - let's begin.

Hou Yifan vs Babu Lalith - 
1. g4 d5 2. f3 e5 3. d3 Qh4+ 4. Kd2 h5 5. h3 hxg4 0-1

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1860931

..........

Yes, she did resign on move 5. 
Yes, this is a real rated tournament game. 
Why would the reigning World Champion do this? 
The same reason Bobby Fischer didn't play game one in 1972 and Carlsen resigned on move 2 against Neimann - to make a statement. 

At the time, she was playing in a co-ed tournament, but was upset with her pairings. 
In the United States - 85% of chess players are male, 15% are female. FIDE reports theirs around 10-11%. 
Generally - there are open tournaments and women only tournaments. 
This tournament was an open tournament, but Yifan was paired against women in 7 of her 9 rounds. 
There were 255 players in the tournament and men outnumbered women 4 to 1.
There is quite a lot of controversy and tension in the game between the genders from lopsided pairings, representation disparities, hijab wearing requirements, the debate on women's titles, and general sexism - we as a society - need to be better finiding solutions to these issues.  
Yifan is a brilliant player and she deserves all the credit -and then some - that she has earned. 
Here is one game where she shows that off from 2014 - the same year she won her GM title.

Hou Yifan vs Marsel Efroimski 2014 -  

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3
Nc6 7. Rb1 a5 8. d3 Be7 9. O-O Be6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Rc1 Nd5
12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qa4 Rb8 14. Qb5 Re8 15. Nxe5 Bxa2 16. Nxc6
bxc6 17. Qxa5 Rxb2 18. Bxc6 Bb4 19. Qa7 Rf8 20. Bf3 Bd5
21. Qd4 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1983515

..........................


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yifan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydUOUuseGlw

http://cassidynoble.com/

"The Silent Assassin", Vasily Smyslov was a Soviet chess legend. Born in 1921, he first learned about chess when he was 6 and remained very active in the elite levels of chess well into his 60's winning the first World Senior Championship in 1991. 

 During such a long chess career, Smyslov was always at the highest levels of chess. He was excused from WWII service due to his severe short sightedness, but was still able to play in the USSR. 

 After the war, he was a candidate for the World Championship 8 times in 1948 (finishing 2nd), 1950 (finishing 3rd), 1953 (1st, but lost to Botvinnik), 1956 (1st and defeating Botvinnik and became World Champion)

 He then lost the world championship in 1958 to Botvinnik.

 Which kicked him back to the Candidates in 1959 (finishing 4th), 1965, 1983 (losing to Kasparov in the finals), and 1985 (at the age of 64).

 When he wasn't playing for the World Championship, he was winning the Soviet Championships on 2 occasions and holding the all-time record of Medals won at the chess Olympiad with 17 (and the 5th highest win percentage of all time).

 He is quoted as saying "I always think one move ahead, but the move must be very good". 

 A strong competitor, he built upon the Ruy Lopez, English, Sicilian, and Grunfeld openings, and created many endgame puzzles before retiring from chess tournaments in 2000 at the age of 79. 

 Not only was Smyslov an accomplished chess player, but he was also a baritone opera singer having done auditions at the Bolshoi Theatre. Stanley Kubrick also named a character after him in 2001 a Space Odyssey (Dr. Andrei Smyslov).

 In today's game, Smyslov is taking on Cenek Kottnauer in 1946. 

 Now, if we're ready, let's begin. 

 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6
7. O-O b5 8. Bf3 Ra7 9. Qe2 Rc7 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. a4 bxa4
12. Nxa4 Bb7 13. e5 Nxe5 14. Bxb7 Rxb7 15. Qxa6 Qb8 16. Nc6
Nxc6 17. Qxc6+ Nd7 18. Nc5 dxc5 19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Rb6
21. Qxd7+ 1-0

 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1125510

https://en.chessbase.com/post/smyslovs-100th-birthday#:~:text=Smyslov%20holds%20the%20record%20for,then%20again%20in%20the%201980s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week we are looking at IM Eric Rosen, the popular Youtuber and Twitch streamer famous for his "Oh no my Queen" traps. 

Growing up, he started playing when he was 7 and won the 3rd grade state championship at the age of 9. When he was in high school he won the 2011 US K-12 Championship with a perfect 7-0.

That clear of a victory was so unprecedented that the Skokie Village Board (his hometown) called May 16th, 2011 "Eric Rosen Day". 

In 2015, he collected his final International Master norm and peaked his rating at 2423. 

Eric is also an established photographer. He was the lead photographer during the World Championship in 2021. 

This week, we are looking at a game he played against Adam Cap in 2017. 

Now, if we're ready - let's begin. 

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. d4 d6 9. c3 h6 10. a4 Bd7 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Nf1 Bf8 13. Ng3 Qb8 14. Nh4 Qb6 15. Nh5 Nxh5 16. Qxh5 Nd8 17. a5 Qa7 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Re3 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2231982

https://www.youtube.com/user/RosenChess

https://www.twitch.tv/imrosen

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at a couple of puzzles!

Easy
White King on b7
Black King on e3
White Rook on a4
White Rook on h8

Medium
White king on a2
Black king on c1
White pawns on f5, g5, h5
Black pawns on f7, g7, h7

Hard
Reti's Position
White king on h8
White pawn on c6
Black king on a6
Black pawn on h5

GM Wesley So solving Blindfolded studies - 
https://youtu.be/oe_UtZudAY0

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at GM Susan Polgar, the oldest of the Polgar sisters. 

Outside of her controversial upbringing, she achieved a plethora of achievements - 
Perfect score in the U11.
Winning the U16 at the age of 12.
Highest rated female in the world at age 15. 
World Champion in 1996.
And now working on the SPICE training camp at Webster University. 

In today's game, we are looking at her game against Cirkov in 1981 - 

Polgar v Cirakov

1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 c6
8.d5 e5 9.dxe6 Bxe6 10.Qd3 Na6 11.Ng5 Qe7 12.Bf4 Rad8 13.Rfd1
Ne8 14.Qe3 Nc5 15.b4 Ne4 16.Ncxe4 Bxa1 17.Nxh7 fxe4 18.Nxf8
Kxf8 19.Rxa1 Bxc4 20.Bg5 Nf6 21.Qd4 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/nph-chesspgn?text=1&gid=1109958

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Polgar

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at a game from GM Hikaru Nakamura. The internet's most popular chess streamer. 

I could not list all of his accolades due to a character limit, but some of his highlights - 
5x - US Champion
2x - Candidate for the World Championship
World's Wealthiest Chess Player
1.5 million Twitch followers
1.3 million Youtube subscribers
Countless winner of Titled Tuesday (Chess.com)
Youngest American to beat an IM (age 10) 
Youngest American to be a GM (age 15)

This week, we are looking at a game he played against World Number 3 - GM Alireza Firouzja

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. b3 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Bd3 b6
7. O-O Bb7 8. Nbd2 c5 9. a3 Nc6 10. dxc5 bxc5 11. c4 a5
12. cxd5 exd5 13. Qc2 a4 14. Rad1 axb3 15. Nxb3 Qb6 16. Bxf6
gxf6 17. Bxh7+ Kh8 18. Nh4 Ne5 19. Nf5 Rxa3 20. Qe2 Ra4
21. Qh5 1-0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_Nakamura

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1995646

https://www.twitch.tv/GMHikaru

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week we are looking at Max Lange - the founder of the West German Chess Federation and the 2nd president of the German Chess Federation. Estimated to be one of the top players of the 1860's, Lange was the a 4 time winner of the West German Championship and has an opening named after him (The Max Lange Attack - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O–O Bc5 6.e5).

Max Lange vs Heinemann 1854

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Lange

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2288706

http://cassidynoble.com/

This week, we are looking at another short game from Pillsbury - this time a blindfold game of his. This game is quite the example of quickly a blindfold game can unravel if you lose the position. 

Not much is known about Zangger as this is the only game in the database for him. 

I like this game because it also demonstrates that you can be a legendary player and still screw up games...badly. That is how we get better. We are able to pick ourselves up and keep moving forward. 

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1666584
http://cassidynoble.com/

Alireza Firouzja is a chess prodigy. At age 19, he is the youngest competitor in the 2022 Candidates tournament to play against the World Champion. He was the youngest player to break the 2800 rating barrier, is currently ranked number 3 in the world, was as high as number 2 in the world, and Magnus Carlsen has stated that he only wants to play the World Championship if Alireza is in it. 

Iranian-born, but now playing under the French flag, Firouzja is starting to make monumental waves in the highest level of chess. 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.e4 O-O 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.a7 Nxe4 10.axb8=Q Rxb8 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Qd2 Ra8 13.O-O Nxd5 14.Qg5 e6 15.Rd1 Bb7 16.Qg3 Qa4 17.Re1 Nb4 18.Bb1 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Nc2 20.Re4 Nd4 21.Qd3 d5 22.Rg4 c4 23.Qf1 Nc2 0-1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alireza_Firouzja

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2054872

http://cassidynoble.com/

Today, we are looking at Rubinstein's Immortal - a beautiful game involving sacrifices that left his opponent spellbound. A top of the world player who was scheduled to take on Lasker for the World Championship in 1914, but was put on hold due to WWI. Later in his life, he developed a fear of humans and schizophrenia.

 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. a3 a6 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Qd2 Qe7 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. O-O Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. f4 Bc7 18. e4 Rac8 19. e5 Bb6+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Be4 Qh4 22. g3 Rxc3 23. gxh4 Rd2 24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25. Qg2 Rh3 0-1


https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1119679

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiba_Rubinstein

http://cassidynoble.com/