2 Chess Fact. Najdorf’s 45 Blindfold Games — and He Crushed Them.

On January 20, 1947, in São Paulo, Brazil, Argentine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf — originally from Poland —played 45 blindfold chess games simultaneously.
He couldn’t see a single board. Every move, every piece, every position was memorized and tracked entirely in his mind.
For 24 hours straight, he fought his opponents and achieved a phenomenal score:
– 39 wins
– 2 draws
– 4 losses
– a win percentage of 86.6%.
This wasn't just a chess stunt — it was also a desperate hope. Najdorf had lost contact with his family after World War II. He hoped the world-record feat would make global headlines… and maybe help him find his loved ones.
Recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, his performance remained unbeaten for decades. It proved that intelligence, willpower, and memory matter just as much as sight in chess.
His record shook the world.
But what happened next — and who dared to rewrite it —
is another, no less thrilling story.
Photo by Miguel Najdorf: Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0 Public Domain)