Blindfold Endgame Visualisation 16/50

#16, Euwe

When I totted it up I found that between 2:30pm last Friday and 8:30pm last Tuesday I’d worked 64 hours.

An entirely appropriate number for a blog like this one, I suppose, but it working like that does rather get in the way of chessing. Especially when it follows getting on for 30 hours in the three days before.

Blindfold studies - especially those like Martin’s which involve just a small handful of pieces - are a great time saver. You don’t have to get out a board and pieces. You  don't lose time setting up a series of complicated positions.

You just read where the pieces are and think.

But the problem isn’t a lack of time. Not usually anyway.  Euwe, our composer this week, once missed a candidates' tournament because he couldn't get time off work. For those of us playing at a less exalted level, there’s usually a way to squeeze in a bit of time for chess here or there.

No, the difficulty isn't time. It's energy - the complete and total absence thereof. And not even Martin’s wonderful book can help you there.

But I did manage to solve this one. Went through the phases of

can’t you just …? oh, no you can’t because there’s a trap with … so maybe if I first … 

So while I’m not doing anywhere near as much chess as I’d like at the moment, I’m still doing something.

OUTCOME: Solved

RUNNING TOTAL: 14/16