Janos Flesch

     Janos Flesch (September 30, 1933 – December 9, 1983) was a Hungarian IM with an imaginative, risky attacking style. Flesch and his wife, Ildiko Tenyei died in an automobile accident in Whitstable, England. 
     Flesch was awarded the IM title in 1963 and the Honorary GM title in 1980. He represented Hungary on the Tel-Aviv Chess Olympiad in 1964 and the 1965 European Team Chess Championship in Hamburg. In 1967 he began working as chess trainer. 
     He is best known for claiming a world record simultaneous blindfold games and many books and articles cite him as the record holder. Blindfold specialist George Kotanowski and Miguel Najdorf scoffed at Flesch’s claim because he used scoresheets as an aid in recalling the games while they never used any aids. Flesch played 52 games, winning 31, drawing 18, and losing 3. The exhibition lasted thirteen and a half hours, with three five-minute breaks. 
     You can read Flesch’s autobiography beginning on page 99 of Hearst’s book, Blindfold Chess History, on Google books HERE. The authors point out that some of what he writes is self-serving, exaggerated and false. 
     Here is a typical Flesch game that illustrates his style. It was played in the Asztalos Memorial in Hungary in 1966. 

1-2) Wolfgang Uhlmann and David Bronstein 10.5 
3) Janos Flesch 8.5 
4-6) Peter Del, Victor Ciocaltea and Istvan Bilek 8.0 
7-9) Ervin Haag, Laszlo Barczay and Lubomir Kavalek 7.5 
10) Andor Lilienthal 6.5 
11) Laszlo Navarovszky 6.0 
12-13) Enver Bukic and Levente Lengyel 5.5 
14-15) Istvan Csom and Dimitar Pelitov 3.5 
16) Enrico Paoli 2.0 

     In the game, the position after 15.Nc5 is especially instructive and is a good position to practice your visualization skills.

 

     If black plays: 15...b6 16.Bxc6! Bh3 17.Na6 Bxf1 18.Ba3+ Kg8 19.Kxf1 reaching the following position:

 

     Black’s R on a8 is trapped so if: 19...Rac8 20.Bb7 Bf8 21.Bxf8 Kxf8 22.Bxc8 Rxc8 23.Rd1 white has a won ending.  
     The position after 27.Bd6 also merits special attention if you want to try and visualize all the complications.

Edit: 8/14/19 Corrected picture. See Chess Every Day blog (in Hungarian) 

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[Event "Asztalos Memorial 9th"]
[Site "Szombathely HUN"]
[Date "1966.7.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Janos Flesch"]
[Black "Ervin Haag"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{King's Indian Defense} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 {This is one of the most
solid lines that white has. The standard plans of attack that black employs
in other variations don't work. White's idea is to have extra security for his
K and keep the central tension which makes it difficult for black to play as
aggressively as he does in other classical lines.} 3... Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3
d6 6. Nf3 Nc6 {This and 6...Nd7 are the most frequently seen moves. However,
black has a very interesting continuation in 6...c6. With 6...c6 lack
prevents e4 and at the same time has the idea of occupying the e4 square with
his N. Black will play actively on the Q-side. On any of white's reactions
such as 8.Ne1 or 8.Nh4 black will try to provoke the advance d4-d5. This will
lead to positions that resemble the Sicilian Dragon, where the dark square B
becomes an important piece.} 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5 {Rather than close the center
with 8.d5 Flesch chooses to go into a middlegame without Qs. Looks boring,
doesn't it?} 8... Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Bg5 Rd4 12. b3 c6 13.
Na4 {Smyslov tried 13.Be3 against Szabo in the 1959 Candidates tournament in
Amsterdam, but didn't get anything.} 13... Kf8 {A long range positional move
designed to bring the K closer to the center for the ending. Judit Polgar
tried 13...Bg4 against Zoltan Zibli at Vienna in 1991 which also resulted in
equality although she eventually won thanks to later mistakes by white.} 14.
Bc1 {White actually has the advantage here and can challenge black on the
d-file immediately with 14. Rad1. Instead, Flesch chooses another plan in
which he first redeploys his B to a more active diagonal.} 14... Rd8 15. Nc5
{Tying black down to the defense of his b-Pawn.} 15... Rb8 16. Bb2 Ng4 17.
Rad1 Ke8 18. h3 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Nh6 {White could now have played 20.Ne4 which
leads to attacking ideas similar to the actual game only it would have been
even more virulent.} 20. f4 Nf5 21. fxe5 Nxg3 {A cursory glance at the
position hardly suggests white is about to unleash an attack where black's K
is caught in the crosshairs of white's Bs.} 22. Na6 {A brilliant idea, but
unfortunately it gives black counterchances. 22.Kf2 Nh5 23.Ne4 and 26.Nd6+
was best.} 22... bxa6 23. Bxc6+ {Now not 23...Kf8 24. Rd8+ Ke7 25.Re8 mate.}
23... Ke7 24. Ba3+ Ke6 25. Bd5+ Kf5 26. e4+ Kg5 27. Bd6 {This position is
incredibly complicated, but the engine found an ingenious line: 27...Rb6
28.Kf2 Kh4 29.Rd3 Nh5 30.Rf3 f5 31.c5 Rxd6!! 32.exd6 Bd4+ with head whirling
complications where both sides have their chances.} 27... Ne2+ {Probably a
panic check that loses at once.} 28. Kf2 Nc3 29. Rg1+ Kf4 {Walking into a
mate, but he was lost anyway.} 30. e6+ Be5 31. Rg4# 1-0