The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-05-21

and checker games and helped to win
the game of whist
PiIlSbuTy performed blindfOlded pays
seemingly with comparative ease He
has played against as many as twenty
two different boards at one and the
same time, without seeing a single
game. and has won a large majority Of
the games Seated with his back to
the other players and constantly smOk-
ing a big cigar. he was apparently able
to visualize and to remember twenty
two different pictures, in each OF
which thirty-tWo ChesSmen are being
! changed about in an infinite variety of
combinations
At each of those boards sat an expert
chess player with every faculty COnCen-
trated on his own game. caring nothing
for his neighbOrs' difficulties, bent only
on battling the memory of the man az
the end of the room whose mind TeCUrs
to his particular game only once in
every twenty-five times. There was
seldom any hesitation on MI. Pills
bury's part in recalling the picture pre-
=nted on any given board The referee
called the number of the board and
the move made by the player thereon
and instantly the reply came back
/ from the master with A request for the
move on the next board Before Pills
/ bury's time the record for blindfold
play was sixteen games. played In two
days by Zukertort. In Chicago in 1900
PHlsbury played sixteen simultaneous
blindfOlded games in four hours and
fifty-five minutes. winning twel G,
drawing three and losing one
OF course. PillsbuTy had a system for
memorizing the various games. BY
courtesy he was allowed the first move
on each board SO he resolved the
various boards into mental groups. In
a twelve-game circuit he would prob
ably group boards /. 4, and 10 togeth-
er Boards =. >. 5 and II would COM
/ prise the second group. Thus he would
need but three styles of openings OF
the twelve boards. If the standard OF
I what are considered the best replies
were made to these openings. ne could
make counter replies that would carry
| him several moves into each game.
After that he would proba bly, begin
| to subdivide his groups. or if PLAYER
! tried a special variation. he would in
/ dividuafize that board and place it in
a class by itself. Thus. eccentricity OF
/ play at any board presented no terrOrs
/ for the blind-fOlded master Rather
| did he welcome it, since il gives that
particular board a character Of its
/ own, causing it to stand out in his
momeTy- After a while each Of the
/ boafus TOOK on character of its own
! and then he was compelled to depend
/ upon memory pure and simple but
| that was so marvellous that it seldom
( failed him. As an instance of its fal
! reaching power, if any portion of {
! pack Of cards was called off to him h
/ can successfully call the names of tht
/ remaining cards.
/ When the secret of the chess playing
/ 'dutOmatOn' AJeeb. which defeated tn,
! experienced chess players of Cincinnati
! at an exposition a few years ago, be
! came known. II was found that Pills
/ bury, the chess champion, was for
/ long time the brains of the gaudy Turk
/ Marvellous stories have been related
| of inner wheels which moved the TurI
| and learned dissertations on how tn,
/ wheels were operated have been de
! iiveTed BY expert chess players. TIL
real solution Of the mystery lay all tn