caption country death_date birth_place title birth_date nickname image article_title name
george koltanowski , c. 1975 belgium united states 5 february 2000 antwerp , belgium international 1988 -rrb- master -lrb- 1950 -rrb- grandmaster -lrb- honorary , 17 september 1903 kolty george koltanowski.jpg george koltanowski
 george koltanowski
george koltanowski

george koltanowski -lrb- also `` georges '' ; 17 september 1903 -- 5 february 2000 -rrb- was a belgian-born american chess player , promoter , and writer .
he was informally known as `` kolty '' .
koltanowski set the world 's blindfold record on 20 september 1937 , in edinburgh , by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded , making headline news around the world .
he also set a record in 1960 for playing 56 consecutive blindfold games at ten seconds per move .
