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Lavrinenko vs Mikhail Tal
Riga-ch Final (1950)
Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation (B59)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-12-05  kevin86: Tal gives up his queen-only to promote a new one. A sparkling finish!!
Jan-12-05  themindset: he honestly did not give up very much... a queen for a rook and bishop is a roughly equal trade. still, a nice game.
Jan-12-05  drukenknight: I think 33 Qf5 is weak.
Jan-13-05  kevin86: actually a rook,bishop,and pawn-equal to a queen. The point is that it was not a sac,but a quick loan.
Jun-26-05  GreatGrecosGhost: White sac'd the exchange to try to disrupt the pawn structure around the king as well as weaken the dark squares. With Rc1 he had hoped for 36...Qxe4 37. Rxc8, which stops black's c pawn dead in it's tracks. with 37...bxa2 38. Qxf6.

Tal's Queen sac gain's the tempo and iniative he needs to play bxa2 and win the game. When playing for mate tempo becomes more important than material concerns.

According to the sacrifice explorer this is also Tal's first queen sacrifice, so it's kind of sad that it is actually perfectly sound.

May-16-10  abstractwater: Why didn't Lavrinenko play 35. Qxf6 ? Wouldn't that be a mate in 1 move? It seems like Black has no defense against the subsequent 36. Qg7.

Or maybe I am missing something obvious?

May-16-10  ozmikey: 35. Qxf6 Qc3.
Aug-23-10  rapidcitychess: Pretty stuff. It goes to show that it's not what's off the board, it's what's on.

But seriously, can Mikhail Tal go through a game and not sac a piece?

Aug-23-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: But after 35. h4 Re8 then 36. Qxf6. Now if 36... Qc3 then 37. Rd4 since there's no longer a back rank mate. Does Black have anything better than 37... Qxd4 to avoid mate ?
Aug-23-10  rapidcitychess: 37... Qc1+ wins.
Aug-23-10  rapidcitychess: Okay that's a bit too simple to sum up a complex variation. The point is after 38.Bxc1 Rxc1+ 39.Kh2 b2 40.Rb4 Rxe4! wins. There we go, thats a win for you.
Aug-25-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: <rapidcitychess> But in that case instead of 40.Rb4 try 40.Bxg6. Then after either 40...fxg6 or hxg6 41.Rb4 b1(Q) 42.Rxb1 Rxb1 43.Qxd5 or (probably better) 43.h5 I don't think it's so clear. White's king is temporarily safe from checks, Black's rooks are uncoordinated, and Black's pawns are all ripe for picking. And, if worse comes to worse, with Black's broken pawn structure if 43.h5 White should be able to get a perpetual.
Aug-26-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: Sorry, my previous post should have said 43.Qxd6, not 43.Qxd5.
Dec-26-14  sls: <rapidcitychess> Not 37... Qc1+, but 37... Qe1+ and Qxh4+, exchanging quins!
May-22-18  Saniyat24: With 17...Qc7 Tal has a beautiful opening structure on the board...!

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