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Mikhail Tal vs Nigel Short
"The Tal and the Short of It" (game of the day May-05-2011)
SWIFT Blitz (1987) (blitz), Brussels BEL, Apr-26
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation. Open System Main Line (C09)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Given 28 times; par: 39 [what's this?]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-05-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  FSR: This is the 13th Game of the Day pun I've submitted, all since December 14, 2010. Game Collection: Puns I submitted
May-05-11  sofouuk: <the place where he went wrong is easy enough to identify: When he sacced a piece on move 14> you may be surprised to know that rybka thinks its even or prefers black from move 14 until 23 ... Qc8? (Qe7! 0.00) - black quite clearly got enough material and positional compensation for N and B. And I'm sorry, but <Tal just takes the piece and continues his own attack on Black's king> and <the game is obviously never going to go to an endgame anyway> are simply ridiculous comments that make no sense whatsoever. what on earth are you talking about?
May-05-11  shakespeare: Beautiful chess!
May-05-11  apexin: <sofouuk>yeah but read what i said rybka defends better than any human,i think he was talking about a psychological mistake.
May-05-11  Nina Myers: Tal took a shortcut.
May-05-11  sofouuk: <apexin> rybka does, but the point is that before the mistake 23 ... Qc8 black is not defending, and the exposed kingside means that white's position is decidedly tricky, in spite of having two minor pieces for rook and pawns. <Jamboree> clearly believes white was objectively better, if not simply winning, after 14 ... Qd6 (<With a spare piece in hand, Tal has many more options><it was Tal who had the more aggressive position>, etc), and there is absolutely nothing about psychology in his post! Of course some chess positions are easier than others for humans to play, but I really don't think you can use that to explain why black lost this game. On the contrary, if WHITE had lost the game no doubt some wiseguy would have blamed 15 g4 ('ultra-materialistic', 'what on earth was Tal thinking, didn't he know you're supposed to keep your king safe?', blah, blah)

ugh

May-05-11  Tigranny: One of the greatest games of Mikhail Tal.
May-05-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Nice game by Tal. Short didn't play that bad either.
May-05-11  Nilsson: I think the position after 20.Kxf1 is
unclear,like many positions with R+2pawns against, in this case, B+N Interresting game and nice kombination by Tal,in the end of the game. /JN
May-05-11  erniecohen: 23...Qc8 probably should have been the losing move (24. Bf5 Qd8 25. Bg5 Qd6 26. Nd7 Bd8 27. Bxd8 Ra8xd8 28. Nf6+ Kg7 29. Nxe8+) - but it wasn't, because Tal gave the draw back with 24. Nd3.

The next losing move should have been 25... Nxb2 (26. Kg2 Qd8 27. Qh6 Qf6 28. Nf5 Qh8 29. Nxd5), but Tal gave the draw back again with 26. Nh5.

Finally, 26...Qc4+ was fatal, though 28. Nf6+ gave him some life (28. Rh1 gxh5 29. Bxh7+ Kxh7 30. Qxh5+ Kg7 31. Nxe6+).

So I wouldn't call this one of Tal's best games.

May-05-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: A great pun-as it refers to both players.

The final position is powerful;white threatens mate in three different ways. If the knight is captured,Tal mates in two.

Mr. Sacrifice,himself.

May-05-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: Isn't there some rule that says you can't do things like this to Nigel Short?
May-05-11  ossipossi: I loved Tarrash variation in French defense, where <QKnight in d2> may become very dangerous: here he crosses all the chessboard toward BK (thoughts of a player from Before Computer Era).
May-05-11  Lil Swine: well bringing the rook back to f8 cuts of his survival.
May-05-11  king sac: arms too Short to box with Tal
May-05-11  WhiteRook48: Tal was a genius player, and he totally cut his opponent Short.
May-05-11  TheTamale: <FSR: This is the 13th Game of the Day pun I've submitted, all since December 14, 2010.>

Nice, FSR, you've got some pretty good ones in there. (See his original post, above--I can't reproduce the link.)

May-05-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <TheTamale> Try right-clicking on the link in the post, and see if "Copy Shortcut" is one of the options. Select, and then paste the link.

Game Collection: Puns I submitted

May-06-11  TheTamale: Awesome, PB. Thanks for the tip.

Game Collection: Puns I submitted

Testing.

May-06-11  twin phoenix: thanks <soufouuk> your rybka analysis helped me because i too was asking myself where black went wrong... the piece sac for black may not have been too bad but i agree Q-e7 would have helped maintain the pressure on white. it seems the game is still under contest (as your rybka evaluation shows)but it is still in the air and i don't think the piece sac is to blame for blacks ultimate demise. A highly instructive game on how to get those pesky knights weaseled in deep into the enemy position! we miss you Tal!!
Jan-20-12  drukenknight: mr ernie: Im not sure 26...Qf6+ is fatal. after your suggestion:

28. Rh1 gxh5
29. Bxh7+ Kxh7
30. Qxh5+ Kg7

I dont see the win. E.g.

31. Nxe6+ Kf6
32. Qg5+ Kxe6
33. Rh6+ Kd7
34. Qf5+ Kd8
35. Qf6+ Kc8
36. Rh8+ Kc7 now what?

so something is wrong here.

Jan-21-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <drukenknight>
How about
28. Rh1 gxh5
29. Bxh7+ Kxh7
30. Qxh5+ Kg7
31. Nxe6+ Kf6

and now <32. Ng5> instead. White's attack looks very dangerous and probably winning.

Nov-21-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: Two great players, one after his prime and one just before, battle it out in a 5' blitz game and it garners Rybka analysis, in-depth study of where the losing side went wrong, variations, and extended discussion. Brilliant!

The greats inspire awe.

Nov-21-12  RookFile: Yes, this is a game that reflects well on both players.
Aug-31-13  Cannon Fodder: Tal was on a higher level. I like listening to Marvin Gaye and George Strait when I play through these games.
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