The "Tal versus Australia International telex match" was conceived by Melbourne chess enthusiast John Engelander as Australia's contribution to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the International Chess Federation.

The Aussies had at least one advantage over former World Champion Mikhail Tal; he played his games in Moscow from 2.30am!

Board 1 Tal v Hamilton 1-0

Board 2 Maclaurin v Tal 0-1

Board 3 Tal v Fuller 0-1

Board 4 Lilly v Tal 1/2-1/2

Board 5 Tal v Kloostra 1-0

Board 6 Craske v Tal 1/2-1/2

Board 7 Tal v Jordan 1-0

Board 8 Sztern v Tal 1/2-1/2

Tal defeats Australia

AFTER adjudication of unfinished games by Soviet Grandmasters Alexander Kotov & Yuri Averbakh, Mikhail Tal defeated eight top-rated Australian players by 5½-2½ (+4 =3 -1) in the historic international telex chess match.