AUTHOR [Tal, Mikhail]

CATEGORY [world championship match book]

SKILL [intermediate]

Tal's book on winning the world championship from Botvinnik in 1960 is considered by many to be the best book ever written on a WC match. Not having read as many WC match books as some, I will not make that claim, however it <is> a remarkable book. The opening of this forum has inspired me to pull out my old copy that has disintegrated into a bundle of loose pages and browse some of the commentary. Tal writes about move and opening choices with a candor not often seen in chess literature.

The “magician of Riga” might have been the irresistible force, but Botvinnik was the immovable object, and with draw odds to boot (he would have kept the title in case of a 12-12 score as he did against Bronstein in 1951 and against Smyslov in 1954).

Here is Tal summarizing his team's pre-match study of Botvinnik's games:

<”We were convinced that my future opponent had not recently gone in for any voluntary intensification of a struggle, and in those cases when he was caught up in a combinational 'storm,' he was less sure of himself. If he received a position in the opening in which he had the initiative, then his opponent, who was under pressure, could only hope for a miracle, which occurred very, very rarely. The discovery was made that in many games, M. Botvinnik would agree to a minimal edge in the endgame, which as a rule, would lead to success thanks to his highly polished technique.”>

So, Tal, who once quipped, “There are two types of sacrifices, correct ones and mine,” looked to sharpen games when possible in an attempt to give Botvinnik the most practical difficulty at the board. One such example was in the Caro-Kann of Game 9, where Tal sacrificed a Knight on e6 in the opening: Tal vs Botvinnik, 1960

Tal lost this game and some probably consider it an example of of Tal overreaching and being punished for it. However, Tal had considered the same sacrifice in Game 5, but decided against it at the time. In the notes for Game 9, Tal wrote:

<”Our miscalculation was that we had somewhat underestimated the phenomenal analytical powers of M. Botvinnik, assuming that the sacrifice would be unexpected. But from the first moves after the sacrifice, the very fact that M. Botvinnik was playing rather quickly convinced me that my opponent had carefully analyzed the position which had arisen after the sacrifice. A curious detail: after the game, he remarked that this sacrifice would have been very dangerous in the fifth game, that is to say, just when it was tempting to me and it was only after prolonged home analysis that he was able to come to the conclusion that this continuation was harmless for Black.”>

Game 9 was also the source of the quote I most remembered over the years from the book. From the post-mortem:

<”When I, in rapid fire succession, began to show M. Botvinnik the different variations in which Black gets a good game he said: 'At first, I thought that this position was better for White, but later I found the correct plan: I had to exchange Rooks and keep the Queens on the board.' At first, such an evaluation of the position seemed to me to be rather abstract, but when I began to go over the same numerous variations, then I came to the conclusion that M. Botvinnik was absolutely correct...”>

Game 6 (Botvinnik vs Tal, 1960) is well known as a vintage Tal sacrifice: possibly not 100% sound, but fiendishly difficult to refute over the board. The comments on the commentary are also vintage Tal:

<”In my opinion the arguments which this move [21...Nf4] raised were completely pointless. It suffices to say that all the other continuations are bad and if the Knight sacrifice is incorrect, then a question mark should not be placed after Black's 21st move, but say, after his 17th. Be that as it may, after the Knight sacrifice, Black's pieces (especially the recently 'unemployed' Bishop on [g7]) become very active and White has to seriously take into account all the numerous sharp variations. The sacrifice must be accepted.”>

Tal also gives the reason he missed the quicker win with 28...Rxc3! The game had been moved off the stage due to audience noise and he played the less calculation-intense 28...Bf4.

<This is a wonderful book; in my view, one of the best in all of chess literature. Tal's annotations are quite genuine, and very detailed: each game receives several pages of entertaining text. Tal was an outstanding writer, with a lively, picturesque style. His comments never devolve - as so often happens these days, now that computers have gotten involved in analysis - into an endless rehash of variations. Quite the contrary: at every point in the game, Tal offers us his view of what is happening on the board - a positional assessment - and not a formalized one, either, but a lively, dynamic one. The most valuable characteristic of this book is the way it overflows with psychological observations and considerations. Psychology is a vital element of the chess struggle; yet it is portrayed in the pages of chess literature in either too primitive, or too formalistic and unconvincing a fashion. But here we can observe a believable psychological picture of a great match and each game of that match in particular, described by one of its main participants. An additional important element, and also rarely seen, is that the times after each move are noted.>

When checking with an engine the detailed variations that Tal gives - especially in the sidelines - one can actually find quite a lot of tactical mistakes, and Dvoretsky makes an interesting comment about that as well:

<Note that all his errors were committed in his commentaries - in the game, such tactical errors on his part almost never occurred [...] Tal was a chessplayer with a clearly drawn intuitive bent to his thinking. In sharp positions, he almost unerringly sensed the proper direction in which to search, what prospects lay down this or the other path. In his head, a multitude of ideas whirled; he saw lengthy variations in a split-second, with many unexpected, spectacular points. He saw - but he did not accurately test them - they served only as guideposts, and inspired his chess forays. When the time came to make a final decision, and turn this or that previously noted idea into life, Tal would reexamine them, and as a rule, he found mistakes [...] Then, he would correct his plans, choosing the optimal path to his goal (which he usually found, since Tal's intuition rarely betrayed him). Understandably, many of these variations never saw daylight, since his opponent chose a different path. But they remained in his memory, and then were set down in Tal's annotations, without being further tested at the board, with all their shortcomings.>

<English Chess Federation BOOK of the YEAR 2008>

The judges this year had no difficulty choosing a book which gives a remarkable inside view of match play chess at the highest level.
From London to Elista Evgeny Bareev and Ilya Levitov New in Chess pp398 £21.95 This volume, which is in three parts, covers in sequence the three world title matches Kramnik has played. The first part “Overthrow of a Colossus” was his defeat of Kasparov in London 2000; the second “Photo finish in Brissago” was the 2004 drawn match against Leko where Kramnik held onto his title by winning the last game. Lastly, “Big Brother in Elista” refers to the controversy- ridden match with Topalov in 2006 which Kramnik won on the tie break.

Grandmaster Bareev was one of Kramnik’s seconds for the first two matches and a closely involved spectator in the match with Topalov. Levitov is a journalist and an enthusiastic amateur chess player. There are also contributions from Smyslov, and two of Kramnik’s other seconds Lautier and Svidler. The basis of the book is a dialogue between Levitov and Bareev. Levitov, a spectator and outsider to the professional chess world, seeks to understand the complex inner workings of world championship chess matches. Bareev as the professional insider explains what is going on. Bareev also annotates all the games in depth concentrating on the critical moments of play in the openings and the interface between the contestants.

Well written and translated the quality of the book resides in the open and frank way Bareev answers the questions. Amongst the many subjects discussed (and we can only list a few here) are stress, opening preparation, team working, relations with Kramnik, the opponents, fatigue and exhaustion of players and seconds. But above all the narrative captures very well the psychological issues behind the drama of the matches. When will Kasparov’s fight back take place? How to keep an ailing Kramnik going when behind in his match with Leko? And last but not least can Kramnik keep his composure after being defaulted a game against Topalov?
London to Elista gives a unique insight into world championship chess. Without doubt this is one of the most original and interesting books to have won the Book of the Year award. R B Edwards J Farrand D Friedgood 1st October 2008

At one time, I had over 1500 books plus long runs of a number of magazines, but had to sell most of the collection for financial and logistical reasons. But now, I've just got to get that Donner book, and From London to Elista sounds intersting, and ...

The weird thing is, I think I'm playing better now, yet I've dropped 200 points. It's not a question of skill exactly -- I've had far more combinational and tactical finishes now than I did back then -- it's more a question of attitude. I agree draws more readily to lower-ranked players and I blunder a bit too often. I don't think books have much to do with it either way, although I can afford to buy them now.

Then again, I used to open 1.c4 or 1.b3 as a teenager and think I was playing positionally. With rare exceptions, I wasn't ... just maneuvering until somebody blundered. I suspect computers have sharpened us all up.

click for larger view

Here, Capablanca played 14.Be2, and wrote:

<"A mistake, the cause of my future trouble. I saw at the time that 14.g3 seemed the proper continuation, but I became afraid of being criticized for creating such a formation of pawns on the kingside, and hence the selection of this bad move against my better judgment.

Not that <Phony Benoni> needs to be told about it, but an increasingly important resource is Google Books (although Google's agreement with authors, which I thought was going to lead to a flood of new titles on Google, seems to be running into trouble).

Anyway, there are quite a few old classics available for free there; I'll mention (of course) Tarrasch's book on the 1908 world championship match http://books.google.com/books?id=0C... , which I translated.

Others:

Philidor

http://books.google.com/books?id=iC...

Hastings 1895

http://books.google.com/books?id=HB...

A real treasure: Lasker's book on St. Petersburg 1909

- Lipnitsky "Questions of Modern Chess Theory"
- Watson's "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy" and "Chess Strategy in Action" - Vukovic "The Art of Attack in Chess"
- Shamkovich "Chess Sacrifices"

http://www.chesszone.org/lib/collec...

The Lipnitsky book is a real favorite of mine, as are the two Watson books. I haven't had a real chance to go through Vukovic yet.>

I have been skimming through the Shamkovich book. The copy I have is a 1976 edition (in descriptive notation, of course!); I don't know about newer editions. I mention this because I read the Vukovic book as a kid; the Everyman edition I've bought is algebraic, with footnotes/analytical corrections by John Nunn. I am certain that the analysis, and Shamkovich provides alot in the notes by himself or others, will be found faulty by the soulless and dour Rybka.

He gives examples along specific themes, although it must be said the majority of examples are pawn sacs in the opening. (Shamko was interested in making a classification of opening sacs.) Certain parts of the material could perhaps be compared to Graham Burgess' book "Gambits"

The maestro is represented by some brilliant games, like Tal-Hecht, Varna 1962. There is a fascinating four page look at Tal-Larsen (match 1965) when Tal didn't play 6.N:f7 in an Alekine's Defence. Tal vs Larsen, 1965

The last chapter has a look at one point at sacs in the Sicilian. The intriguing thing is it is all too brief compared to David Levy's lovely "Sacrifices in the Sicilian" book - which I have. But Shamko was well aware of the inexhaustive nature of his book.

Hi!

I am also reading those two books right now. Just got te 1960 match book last week. I am also enjoying very much "Leonid Stein, Master Of Risk Strategy".