This collection is part of Game Collection: Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973

These are all the games Mikhail Tal played at the <USSR Clubs Team Championship 1961>, in correct round order.1,2

Tal played 1st board for Daugava, which finished 2d to Trud in the <Riga Semifinal> (8-19 Oct), ahead of Kalev, Dinamo, Vodnik, The Red Flag and Žalgiris.3 Tal scored only +1 -1 =1 in Riga, losing to the candidate master Reinhardas Barstatis in round 4. His win over Yuri Averbakh was a bright spot, all the more so since it came on the day of his son's first birthday.1 Still, more might have been expected of him, since just a week previously he had won spectacularly at Bled (1961), finishing 1st over Robert James Fischer, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Svetozar Gligoric and 14 others, scoring +11 -1 =7.4

Part of the poor showing may have had to do with Tal's hectic travel schedule between the events: "On the return journey (from Bled) Keres and I had to 'jump out' of the plane, which stopped off at Kiev on the flight from Belgrade to Moscow. There we ran to catch the Kiev-Riga flight, and the following day were already at the board in the semifinal of the USSR team tournament... there were only three rounds... remaining."1

Daugava's 2d place qualified them for the <Moscow final> (22-29 Dec).5 Due to more tight scheduling, Tal had to rush to Moscow after a disappointing shared 4th in the USSR Championship 1961b (1961) in Baku just two days earlier.6 He actually had only one day to get to Moscow, since he had to spend an extra day in Baku in bed, due to a flare up of his kidney disease.7 His kidney problems may help explain the atrocious +0 -1 =4 score he put up in final. Daugava finished 5th, behind Burevestnik, Avangard, Trud and Spartak, ahead of only one club- Soviet Army.5,8

Notes

1 Mikhail Tal, "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal" (Cadogan 1997), p.176

2 Hilary Thomas, "Complete Games of Mikhail Tal" (Arco 1979), p.39, 47-48

3 Olimpbase "3rd Soviet Team Chess Cup: Moscow 1961- Preliminaries" http://www.olimpbase.org/1961sc/196...

4 Di Felice, "Chess Results 1961-1963," pp.17-18

5 Olimpbase "3rd Soviet Team Chess Cup: Moscow 1961- The Final Group" http://www.olimpbase.org/1961sc/196...

6 Bernard Cafferty and Mark Taimanov, "The Soviet Championships" (Cadogen 1998), pp.112-115

7 Tal, p.230

8 Olimpbase "3rd Soviet Team Chess Cup: Moscow 1961- Daugava" http://www.olimpbase.org/1961sc/196...

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More "Tal at the USSR Team Championships":

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Clubs Team Championship 1954

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1955

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1959

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1962

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1963

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Clubs Team Championship 1964

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Clubs Team Championship 1966

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1967

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Clubs Team Championship 1968

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Clubs Team Championship 1971

Game Collection: Tal at the USSR Republics Team Championship 1972