Chess Simul
Playing one game of chess can be hard enough sometimes. Can you imagine what it would be like to play more than one game at once? Well, some people do just that!
Here's what you need to know about chess simuls:
- What Is A Chess Simul?
- Blindfold Chess Simuls
- Clock Simuls
- Chess Simul World Records
- How To Play Chess Simuls On Chess.com
- Conclusion
What Is A Chess Simul?
"Chess simul" is an abbreviation of "chess simultaneous exhibition." In such exhibitions, one person, who's usually a strong player, plays multiple games against different opponents at the same time. The person playing multiple opponents is called the "simul-giver." Usually, the simul-giver plays White, and their opponents play Black, though this is not always the case. The size of a simul can range from three players—the simul-giver and two opponents—to several hundred.
You can see an example of a chess simul in Netflix's hit miniseries The Queen's Gambit. In it, the main character, Beth Harmon, plays against 12 players from a chess club:
If a player loses a game to a simul-giver, they are not replaced by another player. This means that, as the simul progresses, the giver has to deal with fewer games—though it is usually the tougher opponents who remain longer at the board.
Blindfold Chess Simuls
Simuls get more difficult for the simul-giver as the number and level of players increase. However, they can also become more challenging when the simul-giver plays blindfolded!
The simul-giver can't look at any of the boards in this type of simul. A moderator will tell them what move their opponent played on a board, and the simul-giver will, in turn, say their move out loud. This process repeats for every single game in the simul.
You can see an example of a blindfold simul below featuring GM Anish Giri, who played blindfolded against three opponents:
In regular simuls, there is usually no time limit involved. Common practice is for each opponent to make their next move immediately as the simul-giver approaches their board, with the simul-giver soon after making their reply before moving to the next board.
Clock Simuls
However, there are also clock simuls, which do use chess clocks. In such exhibitions, each side (the simul-giver and the opponents) has a specific amount of time to play all their moves. This type of simul usually involves longer time controls, so the simul-giver has time to go from one board to the other. Though not mandatory, each side might play with a different time control as well, with the simul-giver receiving more time than their opponents.
Below, you can see a video of GM Magnus Carlsen playing a clock simul against eight Chess.com employees:
Chess Simul World Records
There are quite a few jaw-dropping world records involving chess simuls. The record for most games in a single simul belongs to GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, who played against 604 in 2011, winning 580, drawing 16, and losing eight.
In 2016, GM Timur Garayev broke the record for most games in a blindfold simul when he played against 49 opponents. He won 35 games, drew seven, and lost only six.
The best result ever in a simul came from former world champion Jose Raul Capablanca. In 1922, he played against 103 opponents, scoring 102 wins and only one draw.
How To Play Chess Simuls On Chess.com
Any Chess.com premium member can host their own simul exhibitions on Chess.com. To do that, you first need to turn that option on by going to our Play page and clicking the settings icon, which looks like a cog.
You must then select the Play tab and then the Live tab to see the Multiple Games option. Turn that feature on, and you'll be ready to host your simuls!
Once you do this, you'll be able to accept multiple incoming challenges from other players. You can see all the games you're playing in the Open tab inside the Games tab on the Play page.
Conclusion
You now know what a chess simul is and how to host one on Chess.com. Head over to our Play page to turn your simul settings on and start having fun playing multiple people at the same time!
