In 1946, Dutch psychologist Adriaan de Groot conducted a famous experiment. He himself was a master-level chess player, and he took a scientific approach to the question of what differentiates great players from average ones.
The Experiment
De Groot gathered players of various levels, from GMs to beginners, and conducted the following experiment:
- Show a chess position for just 5 seconds
- Hide the board
- Have them recreate the position on an empty board
This seemingly simple experiment yielded remarkable discoveries.
Results with Real Game Positions
When testing with positions from actual games, significant differences emerged:
| Player Level | Pieces Correctly Placed |
|---|---|
| GM | ~93-95% |
| Master | ~70-80% |
| Intermediate | ~50% |
| Beginner | ~30% |
GMs could recreate over 20 pieces almost perfectly after just 5 seconds of observation.
The Unexpected Finding: Random Positions
Here is the core of the experiment. De Groot also conducted the same test with pieces placed randomly in "meaningless" positions. Meaningless positions refer to unrealistic arrangements that could never occur in an actual chess game.
The results were striking:
| Player Level | Accuracy with Random Positions |
|---|---|
| GM | ~30% |
| Master | ~30% |
| Intermediate | ~30% |
| Beginner | ~30% |
Everyone performed at nearly the same level.
What This Experiment Reveals
These results overturned common misconceptions about GM abilities:
Misconception: Superior Memory Capacity
The idea that "skilled players like GMs have larger short-term memory capacity than average players—meaning they can memorize more items at once" proved incorrect. If that were true, they should excel at meaningless positions too.
Truth: Pattern Recognition Ability Differs
What skilled players excel at is recognizing "meaningful patterns." Real game positions contain patterns learned from experience: opening formations, pawn structures, typical piece placements. Skilled players recognize these instantly and remember them as "meaningful chunks" rather than individual pieces.
Application to Blindfold Chess
This research provides important insights for blindfold chess training:
1. Practical Positions Over Random Practice
Memorizing randomly placed pieces is difficult even for GMs. Practice using positions that appear in actual games is more effective.
2. Pattern Accumulation Aids Visualization
Learning chess patterns—openings, endgames, tactical motifs—is not merely acquiring knowledge. It enhances your ability to "see" the board itself.
3. Meaning Aids Memory
Rather than memorizing 32 piece positions individually, recognizing them as meaningful formations—"typical King's Indian middlegame" or "Sicilian Dragon Variation"—significantly reduces memory load.
Conclusion
De Groot's experiment scientifically proved that chess improvement is not simply a matter of memory capacity. The ability to play blindfold chess is likewise not an innate special ability, but a skill that can be trained through pattern recognition.
By studying many positions and accumulating patterns, you too can develop the ability to play chess without seeing the board.