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Mikhail Tal vs Bozidar Ivanovic
Saint John Open II (1988), Saint John CAN, Feb-??
English Opening: Symmetrical. Four Knights Variation (A35)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-22-06  Autoreparaturwerkbau: 16.Nxb5 - Has Tal miscalculated? Can he save the knight? I'm not sure yet how he did it, but he did.
Mar-17-07  Vollmer: 18...Rxb3 fails to 19.Nf7+ Kg8 20.Nxd8 and Black loses the exchange or a piece . Offering a piece that cannot be taken is the halmark of a well thought out plan .
May-04-09  VaselineTopLove: Is this the knight sac Tal was talking about when he began dreaming about a hippopotamus in a marsh?
Dec-12-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: This is less like dragging a hippo out of a marsh than skimming a pebble (Nb5-d6-f7-h6 f7 e5-c6-e5) across the Amazon and back again.
Nov-15-16  clement41: This game is so much fun.
How this b5 knight can survive thanks to consecutive tactics is out of the ordinary.
Jun-16-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: I would just say this is an impressive demonstration of superior chess. Tal's tactical ability and adventurous spirit gave us so many joyful games.
Jun-16-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: ***

The Tal 'Hippo' game was Tal vs Vasiukov, 1964

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This game is incredible, then you see the name 'Tal.' How lucky we were to have him.

I doubt if Tal's nervous pieces would agree. At the end of this game the White Queen's Knight had to be sent for counselling

***

Apr-27-20  carpovius: Top Tal's brilliancy. People with poor imagination talk about knight sac))) That's absolutely correct BTW.
Apr-27-20  Granny O Doul: When Tal showed this game at the Manhattan Chess Club he said, regarding Black's 9th and 10th, that he wasn't sure he would have actually given up his light-square bishop to double Black's pawns or even to win the e-pawn.

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