Life In 19x19

Magnus Carlsen Blindfold 3-game simul blitz in NYC:

Very nice promotion for chess.

Forget about the chess, his comments are hilarious!

And what is the big deal about three?

Ever hear of George Koltanowski? In 1960 played 56 simultaneous blindfold, winning 50 and drawing 6 (that I had to look up, but that Koltanowski had played a very large number blindfold I remembered)

If I remember correctly, his specialty of playing blindfold was the result of an illness in early adolescence which kept him flat on his back for an extended period of time and got tired of looking in the mirror to play chess.

The video suggests that the tight time limit made it more difficult that it would otherwise be.

I wish they would state the playing strength of the opponents in exhibitions like this. It makes a big difference to the perception of the achievement.

Not more than 2000 Elo i'd guess. Although playing worlds #1 would make most players look dumb ... But then again one guy blundered a piece in one move, so he's at most 1500.