[. . . .]
Chess in the air
is almost cristalline in its purity. For a similar view, we quote from
Vladimir Nabokov's novel The Defence, where the following is said about
its main character Lushin, a chess grandmaster modelled after Akiba
Rubinstein: “He found therein deep enjoyment: one did not have to deal with
visible, audible, palpable pieces whose quaint shape and wooden
materiality always disturbed him and always seemed to him but the
crude, mortal shell of the exquisite, invisible chess forces. When
playing blind, he was able to sense these diverse forces in their
original purity. He saw then neither the Knight's carved mane nor the
glossy heads of the Pawns – but he felt quite clearly that this or that
imaginary square was occupied by a definite, concentrated force, so
that he envisioned the movement of a piece as a discharge, a shock, a
stroke of lightning – and the whole chess field quivered with tension,
and over this tension he was sovereign, here gathering in and there
releasing electric power.” The ability to play blindfold chess, i.e. the art of perfect
visualization of the position and its analysis is one of the most
important ones for being able to play master level chess. And for the
world's top players it practically makes only very little difference if
they play with or without looking at the board. Take GM Vassily
Ivantchuk, for example, who sometimes for long stretches just stares
into nowhere, taking note of the board only when a piece changes its
place. [. . .]