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Mikhail Tal

MIKHAIL TAL (born Nov-09-1936, died Jun-28-1992, 55 years old) Latvia PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal was born in Riga, Latvia (annexed by the USSR in 1940). At six, he learned chess from his father, a medical doctor (source: Tal interview in <Chess Life>, May 1967). Tal won his first Latvian Championship in 1953, and earned the title of Soviet Master the following year. In 1957, aged twenty, he became the youngest-ever Soviet Champion. In 1960, following a string of victories in strong tournaments (including a second consecutive Soviet Championship, the Portorož Interzonal and the Candidates in Yugoslavia), Tal became the youngest World Chess Champion with a match victory over Mikhail Botvinnik. This record was broken by Garry Kasparov in 1985. Suffering from poor health, Tal lost the rematch with Botvinnik in 1961. He never qualified for a title match again. Tal continued to struggle with health problems for the rest of his career, which was often marked by inconsistent results. On a number of occasions, however, he was still able to achieve world-class successes. Tal added four more Soviet Championship victories to his resume (in 1967, 1972, 1974, and 1978), equalling Botvinnik's all-time record of six. In 1979, he won joint first place at Montreal with Anatoly Karpov, briefly climbing back to second place in the world rankings and becoming only the third player after Fischer and Karpov to reach a rating of 2700.* In 1988, Tal won the World Blitz Championship. He died of renal failure in 1992 at age 55. Paul Keres was a font of inspiration for him and Tal won three Keres Memorials: 1977, 1981, and 1983. Renowned for his aggressive, sacrificial playing style, Tal was also a noted chess journalist and author. In his autobiography, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, he annotates 100 of his greatest games. A list of books about Tal can be found at http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... Wikipedia article: Mikhail Tal A chronological list of Tal's Tournaments and Matches 1949-1973: Game Collection: Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973 * http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo198... Last updated: 2021-06-28 21:06:43

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page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. A Parnas vs Tal 0-1 33 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 2. Tal vs I Zilber 1-0 33 1949 Riga Pioneer Palace Championship C07 French, Tarrasch 3. Tal vs Vedrov 1-0 65 1949 URS B40 Sicilian 4. J Klavins vs Tal 0-1 18 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 5. A Nevitsky vs Tal 0-1 43 1949 Semi Finals Youth Championship C49 Four Knights 6. Tal vs A Vilup   0-1 59 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) C03 French, Tarrasch 7. Tal vs M Strelkov 1-0 16 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 8. Mendeleevsky vs Tal   1-0 39 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 9. Tal vs Leonov 1-0 25 1949 Riga Junior-ch Semifinal B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 10. Tal vs Ripatti ½-½ 41 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 11. Butvit vs Tal   0-1 37 1949 Riga C01 French, Exchange 12. Kholmov vs Tal 0-1 21 1949 Simul D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. Tal vs I Miglans 1-0 21 1950 Latvian Youth Championship C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 14. Juliks vs Tal 0-1 39 1950 Riga Championship semifinal A16 English 15. Tal vs Sodell 0-1 23 1950 URS C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 16. Liepins vs Tal 0-1 44 1950 Riga Team Championship B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 17. Tal vs A Darznieks 0-1 26 1950 Riga Championship semifinal C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 18. A Pakalns vs Tal 0-1 29 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D02 Queen's Pawn Game 19. K Klasups vs Tal ½-½ 41 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 20. Tal vs J Klavins 1-0 54 1950 Latvian Youth Championship B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 21. Lavrinenko vs Tal 0-1 38 1950 Riga-ch Final B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 22. Leonov vs Tal 0-1 34 1950 URS E17 Queen's Indian 23. Tal vs M Straihers 1-0 6 1950 Riga Championship semifinal B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 24. V Ivanovs vs Tal 1-0 25 1950 URS C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 25. Tal vs Pliss 1-0 37 1950 Riga Championship quarterfinal C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd  page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 116 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-26-24    Owl: No those are not it it Feb-26-24    beatgiant: <Owl> Here's one featuring Tal with Black playing a queen sac followed by pawn promotion, but the queen's taken on move 17 and pawn's promoted on move 33, so much more than a couple of moves later. Udris vs Tal, 1953 Feb-26-24    Owl: That's not it either Feb-26-24    beatgiant: <Owl> Do you have any other details? Things like early, middle or late in Tal's career? Played in USSR or abroad? Tournament, match or simul? Has ever been a game of the day or puzzle of the day? I took a quick look with the Sacrifice Explorer but didn't find anything better than what I posted above. Feb-26-24    beatgiant: <Owl> And maybe the best question, under what circumstances did you become aware of the game? You saw it once here, or in a book or magazine, or...? Feb-26-24    beatgiant: <Owl> Here's one where Tal as Black sacs a queen on move 11 and he is about to queen with mate when his opponent resigns on move 30. Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958 Feb-26-24    Owl: I'm going through his games now Ill try to find I seen a long time ago. He queen his pawn on e1 and sac his queen two the three moves before Thx for the help Feb-27-24    beatgiant: <Owl> You're sure it was Tal? For example Bogoljubov vs Alekhine, 1922 is a famous example of a queen sac followed by queening the e-pawn (albeit on f1 via a capture). Feb-29-24    Owl: Very similar to that Alekhine game Mar-08-24    Owl: I remember Tal was Black and white castle queen side... maybe white resign before he queen his pawn Mar-26-24    Owl: It could of been a Odds, Simul, or exhibition game.. Apr-01-24    offramp: Misha Tal... there's never been one like him. There'll never be another one. He could make mincemeat of the best players in the world right through his life. Like Petrosian, Capablanca, Alekhine and he died at the age of 55. Apr-01-24    perfidious: <offramp>, regrettably Alekhine and Capablanca were 53 when their time came. Apr-17-24    Owl: Here's the game How is this not consider one of his greatest games?? Tal vs NN, 1958 Apr-17-24    beatgiant: <Owl> Tal had White and it was the g-pawn (not Black and e-pawn as you posted), which is why I didn't find it. <How is this not consider one of his greatest games??> Maybe because it's only a simul game against NN instead of a serious game against a strong opponent? But yes, someone should think of a good title and suggest it for Game of the Day. Apr-19-24    Owl: Ya I gotta confused I thought I would easily find that game in his collection. Apr-19-24    Olavi: <Owl> It is in several miniature collections. Jun-07-24    takchess: https://youtube.com/shorts/2gyKclSn.... Where is this game from ? Where can I see the game moves ? Thanks Jim Jun-07-24    Stonehenge: Tal vs NN, 1963. Jun-09-24    takchess: Thanks Stonehenge Nov-10-24    edbermac: The Wizard of Riga was born 88 years ago today. He left the chess world much too soon. Jan-09-25    perfidious: Final segment of Tal-Vaganian from St John, 1988: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX9... Feb-25-25    Gottschalk: "Players die, the tournaments are forgotten, but the games of the great artists of the board remain for posterity, making eternal remembrance of their creators." Mikhail Tal May-28-25    perfidious: Some footage featuring the Wizard of Riga below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFQ... Jul-22-25    stone free or die: Elsewhere on <CG> there arose the question of Nimzowitsch's mother-tongue(*), where someone (i.e. me) asked if Tal spoke Yiddish. The internet consensus is that Tal spooke Russian, Latvian, and German fluently, but there's little evidence of him knowing Yiddish. Except maybe for this claim of his attending Yiddish Theatre in Warsaw: <In the late 1960s, Tal’ declined the request of a group of Riga Zionists to sign an open letter demanding freedom for Jews to emigrate to Israel. Yet he always stressed his Jewish background, loved Yiddish songs, and was well acquainted with the Jewish actress Ida Kaminska. <**In Warsaw, Tal’ went to the Yiddish Theater, and unfailingly laid flowers at the monument to the Warsaw ghetto uprising.**> Unfortunately, he was forced to yield to the authorities and cosigned a collective letter condemning the emigration of Viktor Korchnoi.> https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/artic... Of course this source has no source for its claim. (Nor would it be conclusive he comprehended Yiddish, even if he did attend, but it would be highly suggestive) * * * * * (*) Tarrasch vs A Nimzowitsch, 1910 (kibitz #39) (thread begins just above) Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 116 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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