[OJFord]

> At the level of chess player we're talking about it's sorta trivial for them to almost immediately memorize a boardstate.

And the rest! I'm pretty crap (hovering 750-850 on chess.com, idk if I play enough for it to be accurate though, probably lower) but I was still thoroughly impressed when I got thrashed by someone (~1200) playing the entire game in their head. As in I had a local game running on my phone, called out my moves, entered his, and he never saw the board, just held it in his head. Thrashed me.

(And there was background conversation going he'd occasionally chime into, ordering pizzas, etc. Ridiculous.)

[xipho]

A 1200 playing full games in their head sends up some warning flags to me?! I'm over 1500 on Lichess (yes, ELO calculation is not the same, but likely within 300 points at that level?!) and can't even dream of doing that. Did your friend cheat? ;)

[OJFord]

I don't see how he could (or why he would) have, in the same room, eyes often closed, yelling at people to shut up so he could concentrate; occasionally checking the board state with me (always bang on) - but as I replied to sibling, it's not necessary to have a great memory like that is it? Of course, picturing/tracking the current state of the board has a lot of overlap with thinking x moves ahead though I suppose.

[teolandon]

I'm 1500 Lichess but 900 on Chess.com, so no, not within 300 points at that level.

[xipho]

1500 blitz?

[thefringthing]

Surely that kind of play would indicate a rating considerably above 1200.

[OJFord]

1200 rapid if that makes a difference? Also, I suppose it's.. certainly not orthogonal, but it's not dead parallel either - can have a good/bad memory and play well/not well.

[howling]

I'm 1800 rapid on chess.com and can't play blindfold beyond the opening.

[codyb]

Memory is different than chess ability, maybe his friend just has more effective techniques for memorization or visualization or both.

[lmm]

A real-life 1200 should be able to play blindfold. Online ratings are very inflated.