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BLINDFOLD CHESS
The Arabs are the first we read of among the people of the
East who excelled in playing chess without seeing the board. The
introduction to one of Dr. Lee's manuscripts in his Oriental
collection, relates examples of the early Mohammedan doctors,
and even of companions and followers of the Prophet, who either
themselves played chess or were spectators of the game. Some of
them also are said to have played behind their back, i.e. without
looking at the board, and it may not be generally known that the
manuscript in the British Museum 16,856 copied in 1612, which
is a translation and abridgment of an older work in Arabic,
contains a full chapter with a lengthy description, combined with
maxims and advice for playing chess without seeing the board.
Al Suli, who died A.D. 946, and Ali Shatranji, at Timur's Court,
1377 A.D. (the chess giants of their respective ages), were each
highly proficient in Blindfold Chess. A man named Buzecca, in
1266, on the invitation of Guido du Novelli, the friend and
munificent patron of Dante, and who was Master of Ravenna, gave
an exhibition of his powers at Florence, which occasioned much
surprise and admiration.
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