The chess games of Mikhail Tal

Tal

Photograph courtesy of the Dutch National Archives

Mikhail Tal
Number of games in database: 2,822
Years covered: 1949 to 1992
Highest rating achieved in database: 2645
Overall record: +1144 -309 =1322 (65.0%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      47 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS

With the White pieces:

Sicilian (338)
    B46 B43 B82 B32 B40
Ruy Lopez (258)
    C92 C95 C93 C96 C84
Ruy Lopez, Closed (166)
    C92 C95 C93 C96 C84
Caro-Kann (104)
    B14 B17 B18 B12 B10
French Defense (97)
    C07 C18 C09 C05 C16
English (93)
    A15 A14 A13 A17 A16

With the Black pieces:

Sicilian (344)
    B43 B40 B22 B52 B92
King's Indian (114)
    E94 E92 E98 E69 E62
Queen's Pawn Game (83)
    E10 A46 E00 A40 A41
English (81)
    A15 A14 A10 A13 A17
Nimzo Indian (79)
    E48 E52 E53 E46 E56
Modern Benoni (74)
    A56 A64 A61 A62 A65

Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Tal vs Larsen, 1965 1-0
   Tal vs Hjartarson, 1987 1-0
   Tal vs Karpov, 1987 1-0
   Tal vs Smyslov, 1959 1-0
   Tal vs Miller, 1988 1-0
   Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958 0-1
   Tal vs Hecht, 1962 1-0
   Fischer vs Tal, 1959 0-1
   Tal vs Sviridov, 1969 1-0
   Tal vs Koblents, 1957 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   Tal-Botvinnik World Championship Match (1960)
   Tal-Botvinnik World Championship Return Match (1961)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Tal Fever by chocobonbon
   Match Tal! by amadeus
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by KingG
   Mikhail Tal: Selected Games by wanabe2000
   remembering Tal by Yopo
   tal best games by brager
   The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal by MoonlitKnight
   Road to the Championship - Mik Tal by Fischer of Men
   TAL by chessdeviant
   The Magician, supplemental by Yopo
   Geller and Tal beat the French by ughaibu
   fav Tal & Topalov games by guoduke
   Mikhail Tal - Underrated Endgame Artist by Benzol
   50 games better than that other Tal game. by ughaibu

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Mikhail Tal
Search Google^® for Mikhail Tal

MIKHAIL TAL
(born Nov-09-1936, died Jun-28-1992) Latvia

[what is this?]

Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal was born November 9, 1936 in Riga, Latvia (later annexed by the USSR in 1940). He learned chess from his father when he was eight years old. In 1953 he won his first Latvian Championship, and the following year he earned the title of Soviet Master. In 1957, he became the youngest-ever Soviet Champion. In 1960, following a string of victories in strong tournaments (including a second consecutive Soviet Championship, the Potoroz Interzonal and the Candidates in Yugoslavia), he became the youngest World Chess Champion with a match victory over Mikhail Botvinnik. This record was later broken by Garry Kasparov in 1985. Suffering from poor health, he then lost the rematch the next year. He never qualified for a title match again.

He 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. He 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 Anatoli Karpov and briefly climbed back to second place in the world rankings. In 1988, he won the World Blitz Championship. He died of renal failure in 1992, at the age of 55.

Renowned for his aggressive, sacrificial playing style, Tal was also a noted chess journalist and author. His autobiography, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, annotates 100 of his greatest games.

page 1 of 113; games 1-25 of 2,822

Game	Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. Tal vs Ripatti	½-½	41	1949	Riga	B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
2. Tal vs Leonov	1-0	25	1949	Riga	B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
3. Tal vs C Weldon	1-0	65	1949	Vilnius	B40 Sicilian
4. Parnas vs Tal	0-1	29	1949	Riga	C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
5. Tal vs J I Zilber	1-0	33	1949	Riga	C07 French, Tarrasch
6. J Klovans vs Tal	0-1	18	1949	Riga	C10 French
7. Nevitsky vs Tal	0-1	43	1949	Semi Finals Youth Championship	C49 Four Knights
8. Tal vs M Strelkov	1-0	16	1949	Riga	C10 French
9. Kholmov vs Tal	0-1	21	1949	Riga	D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
10. Pakala vs Tal	0-1	29	1950	Riga	D02 Queen's Pawn Game
11. Tal vs Kliavin	1-0	54	1950	Latvian jr Champ	B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
12. Leonov vs Tal	0-1	34	1950	URS	E17 Queen's Indian
13. Liepin vs Tal	0-1	44	1950	Riga	B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
14. Ivanov vs Tal	1-0	25	1950	URS	C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed
15. Lavrinenko vs Tal	0-1	38	1950	Riga	B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
16. Tal vs Pliss	1-0	37	1950	Riga	C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd
17. K Klasup vs Tal	½-½	41	1950	Riga	D30 Queen's Gambit Declined
18. Tal vs Miglan	1-0	21	1950	URS jr	C82 Ruy Lopez, Open
19. Tal vs N Darsniek	0-1	26	1950	Riga	C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin
20. Jullik vs Tal	0-1	39	1950	Riga	A16 English
21. Tal vs Sodell	0-1	23	1950	URS	C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
22. Tal vs J Fride	1-0	40	1951	Riga	B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation
23. Tal vs S Giterman	1-0	63	1951	Leningrad	D15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
24. Tal vs M Pasman	½-½	56	1951	Riga	C74 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense
25. J Klovans vs Tal	0-1	40	1951	Riga	C52 Evans Gambit


page 1 of 113; games 1-25 of 2,822

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Tal wins | Tal loses

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 87 OF 87 · Later Kibitzing >
Sep-10-09		vonKrolock: playing, commenting, chating, giving hints and still... smoking his cigarette - amazing

Sep-10-09		parisattack: <vonKrolock: playing, commenting, chating, giving hints and still... smoking his cigarette - amazing> There are so many great players to enjoy their games - Pillsbury, Rubinstein, Capablanca, Flohr, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Stein, Fischer are just some of my favorites. But for sheer delight - the Magician from Riga tops them all! I've been lately studying his games to see how it is he seems to get his opponent to develop his pieces for him, hand him the initiative...nothing quite like it. Tal's openings are somewhat ignored - but those middlegame combinations don't come out of thin air as much as they seem to sometimes!

Sep-11-09		vonKrolock: <parisattack> the ease is quite apparent, even if the interview heard in the first half of the video was <mixed> with the actual film , but this is not an affirmation, but still a doubt<?!> He refers to Janos Flesch - of course as someone still performing in the then 'present' time - this can help finding the date - anyway, of course many of the people witnessing or taking part in that seance is still amongst the living. :) impossible not to remember the tango about a blind that sell cigarettes... <The worst blind man is the one who doesn't want to <<<buy>>> cigarettes lol>. found online in many versions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDI4... with B. Moiseev and E. Vorobey or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9KH... the Barry Sts. , etc

Sep-16-09		oldsounio: Can someone post Tal's view about risk managment? I know i have read it somewhere (maybe Dvoretsky's tactics or Tal's autobiography) and it was a really an astonishing thought about taking risks even if you play 'safe'.He was a genious!

Sep-16-09		Tessie Tura: <Hi has anyone read the biography of Tal by Sally Tal his first wife, its was recently released in russian so not available to me, any good stories?, Do you think the book will be translated to English and published?> I would also be interested in hearing more about this book, if anyone has seen/read it. I�m sure Sally has a lot to tell. Maybe someday it will make it into English, although I wouldn�t hold my breath.

Sep-27-09		Jim Bartle: I stumbled upon this article in Sports Illustrated from 1960, on Tal's victory over Botvinnik: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/va... It has a lot of interesting comments, including some a bit controversial (Andersson and Morphy were the first two WCs!). It talks about how Tal's personality was very different from Botvinnik and other champions, but unfortunately doesn't comment at all on his different playing style. I thought this was interesting: "He believes that the primary difference between the contemporary chess scene and that of the past is that, while formerly one or two figures towered over all others, there are now many world masters, closely matched in ability, promising constant struggle and the stimulus and inspiration of vital competition. When I asked Tal his opinion of the American champion Bobby Fischer, he said: 'A very gifted chess player. Nobody else at the age of 16 has knocked at the door of the world championship. Perhaps he doesn't play as well as he thinks he does, but there is no question that he will go far.... But Bobby should read a lot more literature, and not only about chess. Right now he is the most glamorous figure in chess, because of his extreme youth, but if he doesn't watch out he will, with time, stop being a prodigy and become just an ordinary genius.' "

Sep-28-09		HeMateMe: Nice story. I especially like the part about him approaching Botvinnik at the black sea resort. I think I read somewhere that after world championship games, either as the challenger or as the defending champion (more likely as the defender) Tal would unwind by playing fast skittles games with chess enthusiasts. There would be a chess table brought out into a common area, and Tal would take on all comers at 4 minutes to 2. I don't know if that's true or not, but it just sounds like something he would do. Also, it may not have been after WC matches, but may have been after tournament games somewhere.

Sep-28-09		Tessie Tura: I have the hard copy of that issue of SI, and it�s a good-sized article. There�s also a photograph of Tal and Sally and a boxed item on Alekhine.

Sep-28-09		Jim Bartle: It's a good story about matters away from the board, but I'm really disappointed that it didn't discuss the impact of the Tal's style against Botvinnik. A few lines would have sufficed.

Sep-28-09		timhortons: Tal smoking! no way you can smoke in front of the chess board while tournament is ongoin now adays. maybe during Tals time its permitted, i dont mind if tal smoke .

Sep-29-09		HeMateMe: <Jim Bartle> Remember, SI is writing to the non-chessplayers, the sports fans who have a casual interest in the game. They might not grasp how certain risky openings might unhinge Botvinnik's balanced game.

Sep-29-09		Jim Bartle: That's an excellent point, but I certainly think the writer could have said Tal was playing a risky style with audacious sacrifices, that threw the solid doctrinaire Botvinnik off balance. That's not that complex. I certainly don't expect SI to say that "Tal used the Austro-Hungarian variation of the Neo-Grunfeld defense, playing the sacrifice 9...f4..."

Sep-29-09		HeMateMe: It that suceeds, its the Hungarian Goolash variation, deadly in the hands of a master!

Oct-03-09		Lt.Surena: Tal played 86 games without losing a single one. This streak started from round 11 of Viljandi in 1972 and ended in USSR Team Championship in Moscow 1973. This is most impressive considering his propensity to play very sharp tactical games nonetheless and needs to be added to his bio on top.

Oct-03-09		BTO7: Well pointed out Lt.Surena !

Oct-03-09		ughaibu: I think his longest unbeaten run was 92. He has three of the four longest unbeaten runs. Unless Wang Yue has overtaken one.

Oct-03-09		blazerdoodle: One thing about Tal, he sure photographed well, or crazy? Some of the pics of him, that mad scientist stare - not at you, but at the board.

Oct-04-09		Lt.Surena: blazerdoodle Wrote " One thing about Tal ... that mad scientist" Dude, that's funny ! LMAO There is a also a picture of him with his buddy Petrosian and Vaganian in 1979. You could tell he had a drink or two. Maybe that brought out the best of him. Who knows .. Cheers !!

Oct-12-09		talisman: <Jim Bartle> thanks for that SI link. i really enjoyed that article. one question...what's a rusk?

Nov-05-09		howl2: Please, Mikhail, do not rest in peace but in chess!!!

Nov-05-09		M.D. Wilson: I can't wait to see the games from the Tal Memorial. Tal, one of the true chess stars.

Nov-05-09		ketchuplover: Not a bad player :)

Nov-05-09		M.D. Wilson: Not too bad at all :)

Nov-05-09		theodor: CHAPEAU!!!

Nov-05-09		WhiteRook48: Happy birthday!!!!

Jump directly to page # (enter number from 1 to 87)
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 87 OF 87 · Later Kibitzing >

NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community!

If you already have an account, you should login now.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts.
No personal attacks against other users.
Nothing in violation of United States law.

See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator.

NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific player and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.

Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes!