|
BLINDFOLD includes a Test and a Game. It is intended
to improve the speed of comprehension and to extend
the capacity of operative memory. These two parameters
are of great importance both for progress at school
and for successes in chess. From point of view of chess
this program is aimed at diagnosing and training a chessplayer's
intellectual faculties called variations calculation
and visualization (see article What is Variation Calculation?).
The aim of the Test is to reveal the extent to which
your operative chess memory has been developed. That
is, how successful you can be in keeping track of the
numerous chessboard situations which replace one another
during the kaleidoscopic counting of variations. The
accuracy of visualization of piece positions and movements
in the course of imaginary play determines the degree
of correctness of the player's positional evaluation
and, consequently, his/her decisions. Information about
what practical benefit can be derived from the testing
results and how to use them to improve your chess skills
you can find in the article Blindfold: Interpretation
of Testing Results.
A Game called Dinamic Pairs is intended for maximum
development of chessplayer's calculation abilities and
visualization. This Game is a good tool to train your
blind play as well.
The playing rules of Dinamic Pairs game are almost
the same as in testing, with the exception that:
- here you can play a non-blindfold game;
- time limit pertains to the whole game, not to each
single move;
- if the time limit was overstepped or an incorrect
move was made, the current position is not restored
and the player loses;
- no hints are available.
Test and Game have 6 difficulty levels depending on
the number of pieces available on the board: the initial
level deals with 2 pieces and the last one with 7. In
the Test mode the program gives you first a task with
just a couple of pieces. If the accuracy of your responses
is 95% or higher, you will go over to the next level
and deal with a test featuring 3 pieces. For transition
to the next level from levels 1-5 you always need to
reach the 95% accuracy target. In the Game mode you
can set any difficulty level you like.
The game features two regimes - Visible ("seeing"
play) and Invisible ("blind" play).
The Visible regime ought to be regarded as an auxiliary
training facility. It is intended primarily for chessplayers
of relatively low qualification and low ambitions as
well as for children. In this regime the chessboard
on the screen correctly displays the current position
of the game; the pieces are always there and no operations
are performed mentally. The Visible regime resembles
the analysis of adjourned positions where the player
can make each reviewed move on the board and never bother
about calculating variations "in the head."
Play in this regime serves primarily to develop one's
attentiveness, to provide for an integral view of the
interaction of pieces on the chessboard, and to speed
up comprehension of that interaction.
In the Invisible regime the chess "characters"
stay invisible most of the time; a piece only appears
for a brief moment to display the program's latest move.
This sort of blind play resembles game analysis under
real tourney conditions - when a chessplayer cannot
move the pieces about and has to calculate possible
lines of play in his/her mind only.
The Test has the Invisible regime only.
|
