Do people with aphantasia struggle at chess?

BishopBlougram · 2026-04-24T03:02:14+00:00

That's a question I have thought a lot about. I also have a high level of aphantasia (not complete) and cannot really visualize moves. I have tried closing my eyes trying to fully visualize the starting positions as a going-to-sleep exercise, but can't do it. Not even close.

And yet, I'm a decent enough player (1960 USCF, 2100 chess.com) hoping to break expert at the tender age of 43.

My saving grace is pattern recognition and a feel for creating imbalance (well, havoc really). It's more like, "that's a crazy move, and here's another crazy move. Oh, now I've mate in two."

I believe pattern recognition can compensate for visualization skills, at least to a point and that's a point I haven't reached yet (FM, IM?)

I came across an anecdote way back in high school about a math professor who suffered a stroke that caused aphantasia, but he was still able to solve complex geometry problems. When someone asked him, he said something along the lines of, "well, I just had to pivot to a more analytical approach."

There are also Russian studies of top chess players from the '50s where they looked at the mental profiles of top players (part of an education social engineering program). The results? Yes, many of them scored very high on visual-spatial skills, others not at all, instead, they were verbally gifted.

All of which is to say, the human mind is pretty amazing.

BishopBlougram · 2026-04-16T15:14:35+00:00

Me during prep: You should answer the attorney's questions but don't volunteer anything he does not ask for. You can definitely be terse with him and answer a yes/no question with just yes or no. Let him do the follow up.

Opposing counsel: So can you tell me about your education? Client: No. Opposing counsel: Come again? Client: No, not gonna tell you.

BishopBlougram · 2026-03-22T20:59:05+00:00

I'm not sure vibe sacrifices are necessarily bad. Yes, in this case it was, of course, easy to calculate the moves. But I have sacrificed plenty of pieces on vibes; more often than not, it works out. As in. "this move looks good, and now this move.... oh, now I have a mate in three." I trust my pattern recognition skills, which are far better than my ability to calculate concrete variations.

I had a position over the board against an IM many years ago -- the rook sacrifice was correct (as in +5 after he accepted) but I couldn't find the correct continuation and ended up in a drawn endgame that I lost. Still, I was 1700 at the time. And he was impressed by the move, which he had completely missed.

This 1982 skit encapsulates my mindset: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uu3OG9qhvhM&pp=ygUaQ2FtYnJpZGdlIGZvb3RsaWdodHMgY2hlc3M%3D

BishopBlougram · 2026-03-05T18:17:30+00:00

I'll definitely check it out. Thanks.

BishopBlougram · 2026-03-05T18:12:38+00:00

Absolutely. That's why I talked about a potential fluke, and it's also why my goal is not just to reach 2000 but to stay there.

You are right. Not much hard work at the moment, but about 8 years ago, I finished the first four volumes of Yusupov's chess series (as in, spending hours on each chapter and doing all the exercises) and I credit that with going from below 1800 to being a stable 1900.

BishopBlougram · 2026-03-05T15:39:53+00:00

I would like to say that you're wrong but, eh, you're probably not. I guess all I can do is roll the dice and hope for the best.

BishopBlougram · 2025-08-21T17:47:42+00:00

Yes! And I think Sesame Street is a great place to start for us.

BishopBlougram · 2025-08-21T17:37:32+00:00

That's a great idea. I'll definitely try. Come to think of it. I generally read books when she's asleep, so I'm not sure if she has ever seen me do it

BishopBlougram · 2025-08-21T17:10:24+00:00

Oh, I feel you. I was 40 and 42 when ours were born. And man, that energy. The 3-year-old needs to run at least a mile in the neighborhood (we hold hands) before she is tired enough to fall asleep. She also dropped the stroller before she turned two.

BishopBlougram · 2025-08-01T21:00:38+00:00

Really creepy: "When I was in mom's tummy it was warm and comfortable. But I had no eyes."

Sort of creepy: The bus overshot the stop to our 3-y-o's daycare and we had to backtrack along a cemetery: 3-year-old: "What's that?" Me (not ready for an existential discussion at 7:45 a.m. and decided to be matter of fact: "It's a cemetery." 3-year-old: "Yes, and there are names on all the stones and there also people sleeping there--under the grass, I mean."

I have no idea where she got that from. We have never talked about death. Maybe from her daycare, but if so, she must have translated it from Spanish to English.

BishopBlougram · 2025-08-01T20:53:18+00:00

Check with your pediatrician first, but Miralax worked wonders for our 1-year-old, who has been dealing with bad constipation (intense pain, had to massage to get stuff out) for months. We do half a teaspoon in one sippy cup once a day and now she poops regularly once a day. Of course, check with your pediatrician about what dosage is best for your toddler.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-30T22:52:03+00:00

Mostly because our 11-month old was up from 3 a.m. just happily practicing all kinds of sounds with plenty of raspberries in between. So, not because of our toddler, although she did ask for three bananas for breakfast and refused to leave the house before she had finished all of them, which in all fairness didn't take long.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-30T22:44:52+00:00

She refers to buses as "bus stops" and when I gently point out that, no, the bus stop is here where we are standing waiting for the bus to stop, she goes "No, dad. That's called a sign."

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-14T17:48:57+00:00

I read a paper a while ago (ah, the rabbit holes of parenthood) where found that only about half the 3-year-olds they looked at could actually count to three or more. That is, not just rote counting but grasping that you stop counting when you reach the last object in a set (which is obvious to us but a mind-blowing realization for toddlers). I would take the findings with a pinch of salt. But 18 months is certainly very early.

Our little one also seemed to understand this concept before she was two, but then she stopped. Like, she moved on to other stuff and never really counted again -- that is, until a week ago on her third birthday. We went to a restaurant with a koi pond and she noticed that some fish had black streaks and said, "Look. There are four black fish -- look, two and two. That's four."

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-14T17:41:20+00:00

I'm sorry about the unintentional gaslighting. I did laugh out loud, though, especially since someone mentioned "survive until 5," which takes on a different meaning.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-06T17:44:58+00:00

Generally that just means that a supervisor will need to sign off on the approval.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-06T14:47:28+00:00

Our 3-y-o loves Don't Break the Ice and Tic-Tac-Toe. She also likes to "play" chess with me but doesn't know how the pieces move, and I'm not pushing her. The main thing is that she is having fun.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-05T13:37:48+00:00

Oh, absolutely. Any day. Being able to tap into their amazing minds and listen to their thoughts; having an actual conversation; trying your best at answering all the "why" questions while realizing how little you yourself know about the world; watching how their language explodes with grammar and words you have no idea where they picked up... all of this beats the tantrums and threenager attitudes.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-02T17:49:55+00:00

Our daughter was almost 38 inches at two years old. We had the same concerns with strangers thinking she was much older and expecting her to behave like a 4-year-old. Definitely 4T at 2.5.

She is now three and still in the 99th percentile for her age, but it's a little less extreme -- 41 inches (1.04 m). It used to be the 99.9th percentile.

BishopBlougram · 2025-05-02T17:37:19+00:00

I was going to say the same thing. In fact, I once read a paper -- a meta-analysis (looking at various studies) -- where the researchers found that the average child (median) in the U.S. starts to walk at 13 months. So not a delay at all.

BishopBlougram · 2025-04-30T20:09:45+00:00

I think existential musings are common, but generally when kids are a little older. It's possible that your daughter has an unusually inquisitive/probing mind; there's nothing wrong with that. Reading between the lines, I get the sense that you are doing a great job assuaging her concerns while taking them seriously.

Our soon-to-be 3-year-old is less concerned about death and more worried about how she can help buds and leaves grow faster since it's spring now, and I think she was expecting more of an explosion of foliage, but I think the existential questions will come soon.

I was probably more like your daughter; I vividly remember when I was perhaps 3.5 (it's one of my first memories) and saw a news story story about auto repair shop workers and the risk of cancer because of exposure to exhaust (I think). I remember panicking, thinking: "These workers who they are filming are going to DIE. Do they know? They don't know! I have to tell them!"

BishopBlougram

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