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Blindfold Chess Podcast

Cassidy Noble

A bi-weekly look into a chess game between 20-25 moves. The goal is to help players work on their visualization by examining games of the Masters. 
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  • 20 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 21 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • S4 · E18
    September 5 · 19 min

    S4 E18 Sagar Shah v D. Mirzoyan (2016)

    This week, we are looking at someone who focused on chess and grew to a very high level only to side step that achievement and work on building an inclusive social media juggernaut of ChessBaseIndia - Sagar Shah. — 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. O-O e5 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 exd4 12. exd4 Nxd4 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Ne6 15. Qh5 h6 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qxh6 Ng5 18. Rb5 f5 19. Bd5+ Rf7 20. Re1 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1889683 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagar_Shah http://cassidynoble.com/ Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

  • S4 · E17
    August 22 · 22 min

    S4 E17 Norman Whitaker v F. Perkins (1908)

    This week, we are looking at one of the most infamous members of our game - someone who was not only challenged US Champions to matches, beat World Champions, and was a patent lawyer… but also someone who was arrested for auto fraud, was friends with notorious gangster Al Capone and was involved in the “Crime of the Century”, and eventually became an International Master at the age of 75 - Norman Whitaker. -- 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Qe5 8. f4 Qc5 9. e5 Qb6 10. Nc2 Qd8 11. Be2 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. O-O e6 14. Bc5 Bf8 15. Be3 Bg7 16. Nb5 Bf8 17. f5 exf5 18. Rxf5 gxf5 19. Bh5+ Nxh5 20. Qxh5+ Ke7 21. Bg5+ Ke6 22. Re1+ Ne5 23. Ncd4# 1-0 — chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2208433 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_T._Whitaker http://cassidynoble.com/ Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/https://www.facebook.com/groups/418062169150605/posts/933592434264240/ https://texaschess.org/from-the-ivy-league-to-alcatraz-the-life-of-international-master-norman-t-whitaker/ http://www.chessarch.com/archive/0026_whitaker/whitaker.shtml

  • S4 · E16
    August 8 · 24 min

    S4 E16 Hanging Pawns - Stjepan Tomic v B. Bojanic (2018)

    This week, we are looking at someone just a little different than our normal lineup. This person is NOT a Master, but their Youtube Channel - Hanging Pawns showcases the trials and tribulations of a tournament player on their way to chess mastery - Stjepan Tomic. — 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 e6 8. Ndb5 Bxc3+ 9. Nxc3 Nge7 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Be2 a6 12. O-O Qc7 13. Rad1 Rb8 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bh6 Re8 16. Qg5 Nd8 17. Qf6 Ne6 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. Qxe5 Nxd5 20. cxd5 d6 21. Qc3 Qh4 22. dxe6 Qxh6 23. exf7+ Kxf7 24. Qc7+ Re7 25. Qxb8 Be6 26. Qxd6 Qg5 27. f4 Qa5 28. f5 gxf5 29. exf5 Bxa2 30. Bh5+ Kf8 31. f6 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2584315 Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@HangingPawns His newest project - https://chessreads.com/ Forky Chess Interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHGN6vCnZ6M http://cassidynoble.com/ Blindfold Chess Podcast Scholarship - https://64squarechessfund.org/

  • S4 · E15
    July 25 · 25 min

    S4 E15 Siegbert Tarrasch v S. Mendelsohn (1879)

    This week we are looking at the Teacher of Germany, a World Championship challenger, a doctor, a top 5 player in the world for the better part of 2 decades, and someone so set in his chess ideological ways that his compatriots labeled him as “dogmatic” - Siegbert Tarrasch. — 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Be3 Ng6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Rf3 f5 11. exf5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 exf5 13. Bc4+ Kh8 14. Nd5 b5 15. Bb6 Bc5+ 16. Bxc5 d6 17. Bb6 Qd7 18. Bb3 Bb7 19. Rh3 Bxd5 20. Rxh7+ Kxh7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Bxd5+ Rf7 23. Qxg6 Rf8 24. Bd4 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266412 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegbert_Tarrasch http://cassidynoble.com/ — https://www.chess.com/blog/Steakanator/winners-pov-nuremberg-1888

  • S4 · E14
    July 11 · 22 min

    S4 E14 Joseph Blackburne v NN (1863)

    We are looking at a very color member of chess history - someone who had a 50 year chess playing career, someone who traveled from Europe to Australia to Cuba playing matches, simuls, and blindfold events, someone who put future World Champions through windows, been fined for assaulting people, arrested for being a French spy, and nicked named “The Black Death” - Joseph Blackburne. ------- 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 d6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Rd1 Qa5 12.f4 Qc5 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.O-O h6 15.Be8 Be6 16.Rxf6 gxf6 17.Rd7+ Bxd7 18.Qf7+ Kd6 19.Qxd7+ Kc5 20.Be3+ Kb4 21.Qxb7+ Ka5 22.b4+ Bxb4 23.Bb6+ axb6 24.Qxa8# 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1028829 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Henry_Blackburne http://cassidynoble.com/ 1876 match: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79940

  • S4 · E13
    June 27 · 20 min

    S4 E13 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov v S. Karjakin (2019)

    This week, we are looking at the highest rated Azerbaijani chess player, the 6th highest rated chess player in history, a 3 time-Candidate, 2 time world Junior champion, and a World Rapid Champion - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. ------ 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bd6 7. Ne2 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Rb1 Re8 10. d4 h6 11. Be3 Qf6 12. Qd3 a6 13. d5 Bf5 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Na5 16. c4 b6 17. c5 bxc5 18. Qa4 Qf3 19. Rfe1 f5 20. Qxa5 f4 21. Bxc5 Qg4 22. Bxd6 cxd6 23. Qa4 Qf5 24. Nxf4 1-0 ------ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1971545#google_vignette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakhriyar_Mamedyarov http://cassidynoble.com/ ----- “Did he just play G4!?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4pgWWjME2s

  • S4 · E12
    June 13 · 20 min

    S4 E12 T. Pham v Tania Sachdev (2012)

    This week, we are looking at a popular influencer, commentator, Olympiad Gold Medal winner, national champion, International Master, and someone who has been in the Top 100 rated women in the world for the past 20 years - Tania Sachdev. ----- 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. f3 Qc7 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 d6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Rb1 O-O 12. Nb3 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. c5 Re8 15. Kf2 Ne5 16. Bd4 Bf5 17. Ra1 Re6 18. Nc1 Rae8 19. Be2 Ned7 20. g4 Bg6 21. h4 Qf4 22. Kg1 Qg3+ 23. Kf1 Rxe2 0-1 ----- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1665976 https://www.redbull.com/us-en/tania-sachdev-master-of-her-domain https://www.presidentofindia.gov.in/smt-pratibha-devisingh-patil/press_releases/president-congratulates-tania-sachdev-winning-asian#:~:text=Rashtrapati%20Bhavan%20%3A%2018.09.-,2007,adopt%20sports%20as%20a%20career. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Sachdev http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E11
    May 30 · 18 min

    S4 E11 Gioachino Greco v NN (1620)

    This week, we are looking at the “Father of Italian Chess”, someone who catalogued and organized so many chess games, rules, ideas, openings, endings, and constructs as well as traveled the world as the first professional chess player - Gioachino Greco. -- 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.d4 Qh6 7.g3 Qh3+ 8.Kf2 fxg3+ 9.hxg3 Bxf3 10.Bxf7+ Kd8 11.Qxf3 Qd7 12.Rxh7 Rxh7 13.Bxg8 Rh2+ 14.Kg1 Rxc2 15.Qxf8+ Qe8 16.Bg5+ Kd7 17.Be6+ Qxe6 18.Qd8+ Kc6 19.d5+ Qxd5 20.exd5+ Kxd5 21.Nc3+ Ke5 22.Qe8+ Kd4 23.Qe4+ Kc5 24.Be3# 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272515 https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RicCAAAAYAAJ/page/n129/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/TheRoyallGameOfChessePlay/page/n34/mode/1up https://billwallchess.blogspot.com/2020/11/gioacchino-greco-1600-1634.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioachino_Greco http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E10
    May 16 · 11 min

    S4 E10 Puzzles

    Hi everyone, welcome back! It is puzzle time this week! These are some of my favorite episodes. I am going to give you 3 different puzzles this episode ranging from easy to hard. I will be giving you the piece location of every piece on the board and it will be your job to figure out the correct sequence of moves to complete the puzzle. Without further ado, let’s dive into Puzzle number 1. It is white to move and you are playing white. Puzzle 1: White has a rook on a5. White has a bishop on b8. White has a King on e2. Black has their king on b2. Black has a queen on g7. — [FEN: 1B6/6q1/8/R7/8/8/1k2K3/8 w - - 0 1] — Puzzle 2: White has a King on f4. White has a pawn on h2. Black has a King on f6. Black has a pawn on g6. Black has a pawn on h5. — [FEN: 8/8/5kp1/7p/5K2/8/7P/8 w - - 0 1] — Puzzles 3: White has a pawn on a3. White has a pawn on d4. White has a pawn on f4. White has a pawn on g4. White has a pawn on h6. White has a rook on b3. White has a rook on g5. White has a king on e3. Black has a pawn on b5. Black has a pawn on d5. Black has a pawn on e4. Black has a rook on both c4 and a rook on c1. Black has a king on c6. — [FEN: 8/8/2k4P/1p1p2R1/2rPpPP1/PR2K3/8/2r5 b - - 1 2] — http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E9
    May 2 · 23 min

    S4 E9 Alice Lee v J. Wan (2024)

    This week, we are looking at a 3 time World Youth Gold Medalist, a 4 time US Women’s Chess Championship participant, and the youngest American to earn the International Master title all before the age of 16 - Alice Lee. - Podcast Game 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.g3 O-O 8.Bg2 Nbd7 9.Rc1 c5 10.O-O Re8 11.Re1 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5 13.Qc2 Ncd7 14.a3 e5 15.Nf5 Qe6 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Nc4 N7f6 18.e4 Ne7 19.Red1 g6 20.Rd6 gxf5 21.Rxe6 Bxe6 22.Nd6 Rf8 23.exf5 Bd5 24.Qd2 Kh8 25.Qg5 Neg8 26.Bxd5 Nxd5 27.f6 Ngxf6 28.Qxe5 Rad8 29.Rd1 Kg8 30.Rxd5 Nxd5 31.Qg5+ 1-0 – https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2758799 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lee_(chess_player) http://cassidynoble.com/ – My game against Alice: [Event "2022 Winter Open"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Noble, Cassidy"] [Black "WIM Lee, Alice"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "1970"] [BlackElo "2299"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 {This line must be popular in Minnesota. This did not feel like the same line I played in a previous round. I was warned before the game that she is very theoretical, so I tried to 'play normally'.} 13. Be2 Bg5 14. Nce3 Be6 15. O-O Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Ne7 17. a4 Qc7 {I felt a little worse here. I thought she was going to succeed in either d5 or f5 so, I kept trying to prevent that.} 18. Bf3 g6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ra6 Rb6 21. Qa1 Bc8 22. Ra7 Bb7 23. Rd1 Qb8 24. Qa2 Kh8 {We both had ~30 minutes left. I could not think of a great plan forward. I wanted to increase pressure on d6. My bishop was ready in case of f5. My a7 rook wasn't going to move until Nc8 or Nc6 and my d1 rook was covering the d-file. It felt like my knight could be on either d6, c4, or f6 but I didn't want to give up pressure on d5 and f5. I opted to go for the plan with the knight attacking d6.} 25. c4 Nc8 26. Ra5 f5 27. cxb5 Bxe4 28. Bxe4 fxe4 29. Qc4 Ne7 30. Rda1 Qc8 {I had 8 minutes remaining, she had 6.} 31. Qxe4 Qe6 $16 32. Nc4 $2 {I thought this was the right idea - hit the rook on b6 and put pressure on d6, but I think it tangles my pieces up too much. I also offered a draw here, she declined .} Rbb8 33. g3 $2 {I think I was overly concerned about Rf4. I spent way too long on this move, I dropped to about 1 minute. The rest of the game, I was playing on the 30 second increment.} (33. Ra6 Rf4 34. Rxd6 Qxc4 35. Qxc4 Rxc4) 33... Qf6 34. Qe2 Nf5 35. Ra6 Nd4 36. Qe3 $4 Nc2 37. Qe2 Nxa1 38. Rxd6 Qg7 39. Qd1 Qf7 40. Qe2 Nb3 41. Nxe5 Qf5 42. g4 Qf4 43. Rxg6 Nd4 44. Qc4 $4 Nf3+ 0-1

  • S4 · E8
    April 18 · 24 min

    S4 E8 J. Klinger v Nigel Short (1982)

    This week, we are looking at the self-taught chess prodigy, a 4-time British Champion, a World Champion Challenger, someone who sparked the 1990s schism between FIDE and the Professional Chess Association, and someone who has been deeply involved in chess development - traveling to over 150 countries - Nigel Short. -- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Nb3 a5 7. a4 Be7 8. Bb5 Ncb8 9. h4 h6 10. Rh3 b6 11. Rg3 Bf8 12. h5 c6 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. Rg4 c5 15. Bxa6 Nxa6 16. c4 Nb4 17. Nh4 dxc4 18. Nd2 cxd4 19. Nxc4 Qc7 20. Rxd4 Nxe5 21. Qe2 Bc5 22. Re4 Ned3+ 23. Kf1 Qh2 24. Qg4 Qh1+ 25. Ke2 0-1 -- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2353282 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Short http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E7
    April 4 · 20 min

    S4 E7 Nemo Zhou v J. Novkovic (2014)

    This week, we are looking at the youngest National Champion in Finnish History, the first Canadian woman to earn the Women’s Grandmaster Title, the first canadian woman to earn a FIDE Master title, and popular streamer and model - Nemo Zhou. -- 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Be2 Rc8 8. O-O a6 9. Kh1 e6 10. Qd2 h6 11. Be3 Ne5 12. f4 Neg4 13. Bg1 h5 14. Bf3 Qc7 15. Rae1 Be7 16. Qe2 Qc4 17. e5 dxe5 18. fxe5 Nd5 19. Qxc4 Rxc4 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Bxd5 Rc5 22. Bxf7+ Kd8 23. e6 Bc6 24. Nf5 Rxc2 25. Bb6+ 1-0 -- “In the [Finnish] textbook, my life forever stays at the age of five, but I need to live in the real life, because success belongs in the past.” https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1771231 https://qiyuzhou.wordpress.com/in-finland/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemo_Zhou https://www.twitch.tv/akaNemsko http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E6
    March 21 · 20 min

    S4 E6 Efim Bogoljubov v S. Tarrasch (1925)

    This week, we are looking at the first National German Champion, a 2-time Soviet Champion, a 2-time World Championship challenger, and someone who was ensnared in 2 World Wars - Efim Bogoljubov. -- 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Bf5 5.Bd3 Bg6 6.c4 Nb6 7.Bxg6 hxg6 8.e6 f6 9.Qd3 Qc8 10.Qxg6+ Kd8 11.Qf7 Nxc4 12.Nbd2 Nxd2 13.Bxd2 g5 14.d5 c5 15.Bc3 g4 16.Nh4 Rxh4 17.Qxf8+ Kc7 18.Qxe7+ Kb6 19.Qxd6+ Kb5 20.a4 Kc4 21.Qf4+ Kxd5 22.O-O-O Kc6 23.Qd6# 1-0 -- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1030796 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efim_Bogoljubow https://www.chess.com/players/efim-bogoljubov http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E5
    March 7 · 23 min

    S4 E5 W. Cooke v Mary Rudge (1890)

    This week, we are looking at the the strongest woman of her time, the winner of the first International Women’s Chess Championship, the first woman accepted to the Bristol chess club, and the first woman to be the player of a simul - Mary Rudge. -- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bb5 O-O 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bxc5 cxb5 10.Na3 Re8 11.f3 Ng6 12.O-O Qg5 13.Bf2 Be6 14.Nc2 Rad8 15.Nd4 Bc4 16.Re1 Nf4 17.Bg3 c5 18.b3 Ne2+ 19.Rxe2 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 cxd4 21.f4 Qc5 22.Bf2 Qxc3 23.Rd1 d3 24.Qf3 Qc2 25.Bxa7 Ra8 26.Bd4 Rxe4 27.Qxd3 Re1+ 0-1 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1284056 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rudge https://www.chessit.co.uk/Centenary/History/1982%20-%2075th/history/book1.html https://www.chessit.co.uk/Centenary/History/1982%20-%2075th/history/intro.html#:~:text=He%20writes%20%22All%20creeds%20and,.%2C%20which%20was%20agreed%20to. http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E4
    February 21 · 22 min

    S4 E4 Henry Hookham v J. Witton (1887)

    This week, we are going to an area of the world we haven’t covered much on this podcast - New Zealand - specifically a 20 year president of his local club, a 20 year Chess column Editor, a 10 time national competitor, and a 2-time national champion spanning 10 years - including the 1st New Zealand National Champion - Henry Hookham. -- 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. Nbd2 b6 9. c4 Bb7 10. Re1 Re8 11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Ne5 cxd4 13. exd4 dxc4 14. Ndxc4 Bb4 15. Re3 Qd5 16. Rg3 Red8 17. Ne3 Qd6 18. N5g4 Nh5 19. Nh6+ Kf8 20. Qxh5 gxh6 21. Qxh6+ Ke7 22. d5 Rg8 23. Qf6+ Kd7 24. dxc6+ Bxc6 25. Rxg8 Rxg8 26. Qxf7+ 1-0 — Hookham’s legacy is known locally in New Zealand and Australia, but outside of that, many may not know him and if you backdate his rating compared to his peers, it places him in the high expert and low Master range - but - he had a profound impact on his local community. Thats part of the reason why I wanted to make this episode - everyone listening can be impactful in your local community - regardless of your age, regardless of your rating - the people around you are the ones you impact the most and are the ones that will remember you the most. — chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1590716 chess-history.org/players/pp-hookham.html https://old.newzealandchess.co.nz/nzchessmag/pdfs/2012-04.pdf http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E3
    February 7 · 21 min

    S4 E3 Wesley So v V. Akobian (2016)

    This week, we are looking at the youngest grandmaster in Philippine history, a man who emigrated to the United States after being left by his family at the age of 16, someone who climbed to the world number 2 rating and is a World Fischer Random Champion - Wesley So. -- 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 c5 8. Be3 cxd4 9. Bxd4 Be7 10. Bd3 O-O 11. Qc2 h6 12. O-O-O Qa5 13. Kb1 Rd8 14. Ne5 Bd7 15. Qe2 Bc6 16. Rhe1 Bd5 17. c4 Bxg2 18. Bc3 Qb6 19. Rg1 Bc6 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Rxg7+ Kxg7 22. Qxe6 Qxf2 23. Qxe7+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1819775 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_So https://www.chess.com/article/view/wesley-so-interview-chess-was-a-way-out http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E2
    January 24 · 23 min

    S4 E2 Jennifer Shahade v A. Hahn (1997)

    This week, we are looking at a chess author, commentator, 2-time US Women’s Champion, and a strong advocate for women in the chess scene - Jennifer Shahade. We are traveling back to 1997 to the US Women’s Championship - Jennifer Shahade versus Anna Hahn. Now… if we’re ready, lets begin. — 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 O-O 10. f3 Qa5 11. Qd2 Bd7 12. Kb1 Kh8 13. g4 b5 14. Nxb5 Qxd2 15. Bxd2 Rab8 16. c4 a6 17. Nc3 Bc6 18. Bf4 Rfd8 19. c5 e5 20. cxd6 Bxd6 21. Rxd6 Rxd6 22. Bxe5 Nxe4 23. fxe4 Rd1+ 24. Nxd1 Bxe4+ 25. Bd3 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2476856 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Shahade https://chessintheschools.org/our-students-interview-wgm-jennifer-shahade/ https://www.nyu.edu/alumni/news-publications/nyu-connect-newsletter/december-2022/jennifer-shahade.html#:~:text=by%20Rachel%20Utain%20Evans,what%20I%20studied%20at%20NYU. http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S4 · E1
    January 10 · 23 min

    S4 E1 David Bronstein v N. Krogius (1959)

    Hello everyone and welcome back to Season 4 of the Blindfold Chess Podcast! This week, we are looking at one of the strongest players of the 1940 and 50s, a member of the inaugural class of Grandmasters, and someone who some have said was “Best player to never become world champion” - David Bronstein. For today’s game, we are going back to the USSR Championship of 1959 - David Bronstein versus Nikolai Krogius. Now… if we’re ready - let’s begin. — 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qc7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nxe4 7. Ndb5 Qa5 8. b4 Qxb4 9. Bd2 Nxd2 10. Nc7+ Kd8 11. Qxd2 Rb8 12. N7d5 Qa5 13. Be2 e6 14. O-O exd5 15. cxd5 Bb4 16. Rac1 Ne7 17. Qf4 Bxc3 18. Qxb8 Nxd5 19. Bf3 Nb6 20. Qf4 f6 21. Qg3 g5 22. Bh5 Be5 23. f4 gxf4 24. Qg7 f5 25. Qg5+ 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034064 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bronstein http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S3 · E27
    Dec 27, 2025 · 27 min

    S3 E27 Chess960 / FischerRandom / Freestyle Chess

    Welcome to the last episode of the year! We are going to do something a little different today, we are going to look at a couple of chess variants - primarily focusing on Chess960, Freestyle Chess, or Fischer Random - depending on which era of chess you played in. Chess in its current form has been around for hundreds of years, but Shuffle chess has been around for about a quarter of a millennia. For our game this week, we are going back to a game between two former Chess960 World Champions in 2019 - Wesley So versus Peter Svidler. Now, since this is a 960 game, the backrow of pieces on each side are not in their traditional spots. I will read off the location of each piece now. According to Chess960.net, we are looking at position 900. White has a rook on A1, a light square bishop on b1, their dark square bishop on c1, their king on d1, queen on e1, their rook on f1, and their two knights on g1 and h1. Black has the same set up - a Rook on a8, bishops on b8 and c8, their king on d8, queen on e8, their rook on f8, and their knights on g8 and h8. Now - let’s see how we do. If we’re ready - … Let’s begin. -- 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Ng6 4. Qc3 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. Qxc4 Bg4 7. Ng5 Nf4 8. Ng3 h6 9. N5e4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Be6 11. Qc2 Qd7 12. Bxf4 Bxf4 13. Nh5 g5 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Nxf4 gxf4 16. d5 cxd5 17. Qb3 O-O 18. Bxd5 Bxd5 19. Rxd5 Rad8 20. Rf5 e6 21. Rh5 Kg7 22. Qh3 Rh8 23. Qg4+ Kf8 24. Qh4 Kg7 25. e3 Rd2 26. exf4 Rxb2 27. Qg3+ 1-0 —- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_variants https://www.chess.com/game/live/4092688154 http://cassidynoble.com/

  • S3 · E26
    Dec 13, 2025 · 19 min

    S3 E26 Arjun Erigaisi v S. Azarov (2023)

    This week, we are looking at another Indian prodigy. Someone who has not made it to the Candidates tournament yet, but he is knocking on the door with Olympiad victories, consistent wins against current and former world champions, and someone who was on a World Rapid Championship team that took home gold - Arjun Erigasi. -- 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. f3 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. e4 e6 7. Qd2 b5 8. e5 Nfd7 9. Bg5 f6 10. exf6 gxf6 11. Bh6 Be7 12. O-O-O c5 13. Re1 b4 14. Nb1 Nc6 15. Rxe6 Nxd4 16. Re1 Ne5 17. Ne2 Bf5 18. Nxd4 cxd4 19. Qxd4 Qc7 20. c3 Kf7 21. f4 Ng4 22. Qxd5+ Kg6 23. Qxf5+ 1-0 — https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2553668 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arjun_Erigaisi http://cassidynoble.com/

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