2016 las vegas blindfold chess festival deck

BLINDFOLD KING
“2016 Blindfold King Chess Festival”
Las Vegas
10/17/2016 Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 / jennifer@blindfoldking.com www.blindfoldking.com
GM Timur Gareyev

GM TIMUR GAREYEV
■ Timur Gareyev is a chess grandmaster originally from Uzbekistan. He has held
the rank of 3rd highest rated chess player in the US and top 100 players in the
world with a peak USCF rating of 2780. He is best known for his exceptional
ability to play Blindfold chess.
■ Gareyev has participated in thousands of blindfold chess games in classic
simuls, online events and practice games. His personal record is playing 35
games. Winning 33, drawing 2 and losing only 1.
■ Gareyev made history by setting a new world record for playing Tandem Blindfold
Chess in 2015 with the current Blindfold Chess Champion, Marc Lang.
■ In September 2016 in Iowa, Gareyev broke the world record for rapid blindfold
chess. He played 64 rapid consecutive games blindfolded beating Kotanowsi’s
56 and Marc Lang’s 60 world records.
■ His current goal is to break the world record playing 47 SIMULTANEOUS games of
chess blindfolded. His training will consist of thousands of hours of preparation.
Gareyev is currently on a World Blindfold Chess tour in preparation for this event.
■ Gareyev has created a new “spin” to playing Blindfold Chess. He has found that
his focus and stamina improves while in motion. He is the first to be seen playing
Blindfold Chess while on a bicycle or stability ball, preferably a spin bike.
■ Gareyev has an adventurous spirit and is a licensed sky diver and BASE jumper.
He enjoys traveling and meeting new people. He stays fit by hiking and practicing
yoga. Gareyev is active in schools and has chess academies in Las Vegas and
Kansas. He serves as a consultant for the Karpov International School of Chess
and has created a Virtual Chess instructional program that is being offered to
schools all over the US. Gareyev has authored a Chess Tactics workbook called
C.A.T. Tactics and is working on a new book titled Get Off the Couch and Play
Chess.
www.timurgareyev.com

The Blindfold King
■ GM Timur Gareyev is known in the chess community for pushing limits and thinking outside the box. Timur
is not stereotypical in any way. He is a nomadic warrior with an adventurous spirit facing any challenge put
in front of him. His sense of rebellion, spontaneous energy and thirst for new experiences is inspiring and
he always leaves a lasting impression. Although Timur spends his time on the road traveling as he trains for
Blindfold Chess, he considers Las Vegas his home.

What is Blindfold Chess
■ During the early 20th century, playing simultaneous games of
blindfolded chess against multiple opponents became a fetishized
skill in the chess world.
■ In 1947, an Argentinian grand master named Miguel Najdorf set a
world record by playing 45 simultaneous games in his mind. It took
him 23.5 hours, and he finished with a record of 39 wins, 4 losses,
and 2 draws. He was unable to fall asleep for the next 3 days.
■ While blindfold chess has been recommended in moderation by many
sources as a method of increasing one's playing strength,
simultaneous blindfold exhibitions were officially banned in 1930 in
the Soviet Union as they were deemed to be a health hazard.
Blindfold players have reported that it is more tiring than regular play,
even if faster time controls are used.
■ GM Timur Gareyev states that playing Blindfold Chess is meditative.
■ The current record is held by German chess master Marc Lang. He
played 46 games.
■ Gareyev plans to beat this record playing 47 games and winning 80%.
Blindfold chess is a form of playing the game of chess
where the player has no sight of the board or pieces. This
forces the player to maintain a mental model of the
positions of the pieces. Moves are communicated verbally
through chess notation.
10/17/2016 Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 jennifer@blindfoldking.com www.blindfoldking.com

Memory Study
■ A team of researches at UCLA headed by Dr. Jesse Rissman, along with students
Micah Johnson and Nicco Reggente, are investigating how Gareyev’s unique profile
of brain activity and connectivity may give rise to his exceptional ability to maintain,
visualize, and flexibly update memory representations of so many chess boards.
■ Gareyev will be conducting a 10 person blindfold chess simul at the Society of
Neuroscience conference in San Diego Saturday, November 12 at 6:30-10pm. Dr.
Rissman and his team will reveal their findings at the conference.

2016 Blindfold King Chess Festival
Main Event: GM Timur Gareyev will face 47
chess games blindfolded simultaneously while
on a spin bike!
Side Events: looking to run several side events
that include; brain/memory games and puzzles
and hands on activities and speakers on related
gaming topics.
Date: December 3, 2016
Sponsors: We are seeking sponsorship from
local business to provide financial or in kind
support.
Mission: Mission: to provide a fun and unique experience for UNLV students and the local
community to witness the extraordinary ability of the mind as GM Timur Gareyev plays 47 chess
games simultaneously blindfolded while promoting healthy living.

Blindfold Chess
Challenge Participation
■ Chess players will make up 47 board participants.
Participants can be made up of individuals or
teams
■ Donation based entry fee
■ All level players welcome
■ Teams would be set up in a relay style of 2-4
players. Each individual would play a segment of
the same game
■ Teams may collaborate on their game
■ Individuals can play multiple boards (up to 5)
■ Possibility for players to participate in simul online
10/17/2016
Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 / jennifer@blindfoldking.com

Basic Event Needs
■ Location: One large quiet room to accommodate main overnight
event, one side room to allow for participant breaks during event
(maybe include a few stationary bikes for participants to get blood
flowing between moves) – near food and hotel lodging
accommodations
■ Food & Beverage: Water, coffee, tea and snacks available to
participants during event
■ 1 spin bike
■ Chess Boards (would be great to make up custom chess boards)
■ Audio/Visual: DGT boards preferred or Monroi devices to record
games in PGN for live streaming, 1 mic and projection screen to
show games in break room
■ 2-3 movers in shifts (person to move pieces for GM Gareyev)
■ Videographer/Photographer to capture event for documentary
■ Signage (posters, step and repeat banner, program guide and
event t-shirts)
■ Secure players for event
10/17/2016Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 / jennifer@blindfoldking.com www.blindfoldking.com

Side Event Ideas
■ Psychology department to run hands on brain
challenges/games and other participation studies
■ Mathematics department to have math contest and
other problem solving
■ Las Vegas Chess Club to run a beginning chess
class
■ Campus Recreation to provide exercise classes
■ Rebel Wellness to provide massages, speakers on
meditation, nutrition and fitness
■ Vendor area for local businesses
■ Student health center to do health screenings and
give flu shot
■ Have area to show health and wellness films
■ Possibilities are endless…..

Get involved – ways to support event
■ Become the title sponsor and cover costs for basic needs
■ Be our food and beverage sponsor
■ Be our spin bike sponsor and provide a spin bike on loan for event
■ Be our audio / visual sponsor by covering costs for DGT boards and/or offering event
technical help to stream games live
■ Create custom event chess boards
■ Create event t-shirts and posters
■ Promote your product or service as a side event
■ Sponsor a team or individual player
■ Donate to CAT (Chess Academy of Timur) to further chess education

Key Benefits to our sponsors
■ Contribute to history making event
■ Worldwide exposure and inclusion of logo on event website,
media coverage, merchandise and all other marketing
collateral
■ Opportunity to stream event live providing online presence
and links to company website
■ Promotional opportunities prior/during and after event
■ Be a part of a creative, fun and interactive event
■ Get local community involved in a family friendly,
educational and unique event.
■ Further promote the royal game of chess
10/17/2016 Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 / jennifer@blindfoldking.com

Chess Facts
■ Chess Life Magazine has a circulation of 41K. They have
plans to do cover story on Gareyev after he sets the new
world record for Blindfold Chess.
■ US Chess (formally the US Chess Federation) has 110K active
members.
■ September 30, Disney released the film “Queen of Katwe”
starring David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong'o. The film depicts
the life of Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan chess prodigy who
becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her performances
at World Chess Olympiads.
■ The World Chess Championship will be in the US this year. It
is scheduled for November 11-30 in New York. The match is
expected to reach a global online and tv audience of 1 billion
fans.
■ Chess is currently being taught in schools in roughly 30
nations across the globe. With the new Common Core
standards, the US is seeing benefits of teaching critical
thinking and starting to adopt more chess in the classroom.
Also with the onset of the internet, we are seeing a huge
increase in scholastic players in the US.
10/17/2016
Presentation by Jennifer Vallens (818) 674-2006 / jennifer@blindfoldking.com www.blindfoldking.com

2016 las vegas blindfold chess festival deck

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2016 las vegas blindfold chess festival deck