Bu wins Blindfold Chess World Cup

OK, some pretty famous chess players participated in the event, so we can’t really ignore the Blindfold Chess World Cup that was held last week in Bilbao, Spain. But the game fragments in this article aren’t really advertising the game of chess. It looks like us journalists have to search for other phrases to describe the blindfold sections of the yearly Melody Amber events in Monaco, because “blunder festival” should belong to Bilbao from now on. But, hey, why not just enjoy it? Play the quiz “find the blunder”!

The Blindfold Chess World Cup (held from 16 October to 20 October) was played with 25 minutes per game plus 10 seconds per move. The scoring system was a special one: 3 points for every match won, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Besides, the Sofia rule was used it was forbidden for the players to agree on a draw themselves. The surprising winner was the Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi; Topalov’s result was far below his standard.

Final standings after ten rounds:

1. Bu Xiangzhi  	21
2. Sergey Karjakin 	17
3. Magnus Carlsen 	16
4. Judit Polgar 	12
5. Veselin Topalov 	 9
6. Pentala Harikrishna 	 6

All games can be downloaded (in PGN) here.

To “re-live” the tournament and test if your chess level matches that of Topalov, Carlsen, Polgar, Bu, Karjakin and Harikrishna (blindfolded), you can do the following quiz: find the blunder. For each position you have three tries to fiend the losing move. To make a move, you have to click on a piece once, and then on the target square. Have fun!