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Mikhail Tal
Tal 
 

Number of games in database: 2,957
Years covered: 1949 to 1992
Highest rating achieved in database: 2705
Overall record: +1116 -292 =1301 (65.2%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 248 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (362) 
    B43 B46 B32 B82 B96
 Ruy Lopez (265) 
    C95 C92 C93 C96 C84
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (167) 
    C95 C92 C93 C96 C84
 French Defense (107) 
    C07 C18 C05 C09 C16
 Caro-Kann (105) 
    B18 B17 B14 B12 B10
 English (95) 
    A15 A14 A13 A17 A16
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (336) 
    B43 B40 B92 B22 B46
 King's Indian (113) 
    E69 E92 E80 E66 E98
 Modern Benoni (84) 
    A56 A64 A61 A70 A62
 Nimzo Indian (83) 
    E48 E52 E56 E53 E46
 English (83) 
    A15 A14 A10 A13 A16
 Queen's Pawn Game (74) 
    A46 E10 A40 A41 E00
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Tal vs B Larsen, 1965 1-0
   Tal vs Hjartarson, 1987 1-0
   Tal vs Smyslov, 1959 1-0
   Botvinnik vs Tal, 1960 0-1
   Tal vs H Hecht, 1962 1-0
   Tal vs Koblents, 1957 1-0
   Spassky vs Tal, 1973 0-1
   Fischer vs Tal, 1960 1/2-1/2
   Fischer vs Tal, 1959 0-1
   Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958 0-1

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

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Latvian Championship (1954)
   URS-ch sf Riga (1955)
   Zuerich (1959)
   Latvian Championship (1958)
   Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959)
   Asztalos Memorial (1963)
   Reykjavik (1964)
   Bled (1961)
   USSR Championship (1972)
   Keres Memorial (1977)
   Lublin (1974)
   Riga Interzonal (1979)
   USSR Championship (1962)
   Capablanca Memorial (1963)
   Amsterdam Interzonal (1964)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Talented Indeed is a FTB Understatement by fredthebear
   Tal Fever by chocobonbon
   Match Tal! by amadeus
   Match Tal! by docjan
   "Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973" per JFQ by fredthebear
   "Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973" by Littlejohn
   Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973 by jessicafischerqueen
   Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973 by Bokke
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by takchess
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by markkumatt
   2 Mikhail Tal's Best Games by Littlejohn
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by pdoaks
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by Okavango
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by mneuwirth


Search Sacrifice Explorer for Mikhail Tal
Search Google for Mikhail Tal

MIKHAIL TAL
(born Nov-09-1936, died Jun-28-1992, 55 years old) Latvia
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]

Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal was born in Riga, Latvia (annexed by the USSR in 1940). At six, he learned chess from his father, a medical doctor (source: Tal interview in <Chess Life>, May 1967). Tal won his first Latvian Championship in 1953, and earned the title of Soviet Master the following year. In 1957, aged twenty, he became the youngest-ever Soviet Champion. In 1960, following a string of victories in strong tournaments (including a second consecutive Soviet Championship, the Portorož Interzonal and the Candidates in Yugoslavia), Tal became the youngest World Chess Champion with a match victory over Mikhail Botvinnik. This record was broken by Garry Kasparov in 1985. Suffering from poor health, Tal lost the rematch with Botvinnik in 1961. He never qualified for a title match again.

Tal 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. Tal 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 Anatoly Karpov, briefly climbing back to second place in the world rankings and becoming only the third player after Fischer and Karpov to reach a rating of 2700.* In 1988, Tal won the World Blitz Championship. He died of renal failure in 1992 at age 55.

Paul Keres was a font of inspiration for him and Tal won three Keres Memorials: 1977, 1981, and 1983. Renowned for his aggressive, sacrificial playing style, Tal was also a noted chess journalist and author. In his autobiography, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, he annotates 100 of his greatest games.

A list of books about Tal can be found at http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Wikipedia article: Mikhail Tal

A chronological list of Tal's Tournaments and Matches 1949-1973: Game Collection: Tal's Tournament and Matches 1949-1973

* http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo198...

Last updated: 2021-06-28 21:06:43

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. A Parnas vs Tal 0-1331949URS U18 Team-ch SemifinalC91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
2. Tal vs I Zilber 1-0331949Riga Pioneer Palace ChampionshipC07 French, Tarrasch
3. Tal vs Vedrov 1-0651949URSB40 Sicilian
4. J Klavins vs Tal 0-1181949Riga Junior-ch FinalC10 French
5. A Nevitsky vs Tal 0-1431949Semi Finals Youth ChampionshipC49 Four Knights
6. Tal vs A Vilup  0-1591949Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2)C03 French, Tarrasch
7. Tal vs M Strelkov 1-0161949Riga Junior-ch FinalC10 French
8. Mendeleevsky vs Tal  1-0391949Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2)D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
9. Tal vs Leonov 1-0251949Riga Junior-ch SemifinalB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
10. Tal vs Ripatti ½-½411949URS U18 Team-ch SemifinalB74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
11. Butvit vs Tal  0-1371949RigaC01 French, Exchange
12. Kholmov vs Tal 0-1211949SimulD44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
13. Tal vs I Miglans 1-0211950Latvian Youth ChampionshipC82 Ruy Lopez, Open
14. Juliks vs Tal 0-1391950Riga Championship semifinalA16 English
15. Tal vs Sodell 0-1231950URSC91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
16. Liepins vs Tal 0-1441950Riga Team ChampionshipB59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
17. Tal vs A Darznieks 0-1261950Riga Championship semifinalC98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin
18. A Pakalns vs Tal 0-1291950Riga Championship semifinalD02 Queen's Pawn Game
19. K Klasups vs Tal ½-½411950Riga Championship semifinalD30 Queen's Gambit Declined
20. Tal vs J Klavins 1-0541950Latvian Youth ChampionshipB74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
21. Lavrinenko vs Tal 0-1381950Riga-ch FinalB59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
22. Leonov vs Tal 0-1341950URSE17 Queen's Indian
23. Tal vs M Straihers 1-061950Riga Championship semifinalB00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening
24. V Ivanovs vs Tal 1-0251950URSC90 Ruy Lopez, Closed
25. Tal vs Pliss 1-0371950Riga Championship quarterfinalC99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd
 page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Tal wins | Tal loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 116 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-25-24  Retireborn: Another good game (although it's an exchange of Qs rather than a sacrifice):-

Gulko vs Tal, 1970

Feb-25-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Retireborn>, that is also one of the rare tries of the Gruenfeld in Tal's praxis.

Noam Elkies and Tal were the two most brilliant people I met during my playing days.

Feb-26-24  Owl: No those are not it it
Feb-26-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> Here's one featuring Tal with Black playing a queen sac followed by pawn promotion, but the queen's taken on move 17 and pawn's promoted on move 33, so much more than a couple of moves later. Udris vs Tal, 1953
Feb-26-24  Owl: That's not it either
Feb-26-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> Do you have any other details? Things like early, middle or late in Tal's career? Played in USSR or abroad? Tournament, match or simul? Has ever been a game of the day or puzzle of the day? I took a quick look with the Sacrifice Explorer but didn't find anything better than what I posted above.
Feb-26-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> And maybe the best question, under what circumstances did you become aware of the game? You saw it once here, or in a book or magazine, or...?
Feb-26-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> Here's one where Tal as Black sacs a queen on move 11 and he is about to queen with mate when his opponent resigns on move 30. Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958
Feb-26-24  Owl: I'm going through his games now Ill try to find I seen a long time ago. He queen his pawn on e1 and sac his queen two the three moves before

Thx for the help

Feb-27-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> You're sure it was Tal? For example Bogoljubov vs Alekhine, 1922 is a famous example of a queen sac followed by queening the e-pawn (albeit on f1 via a capture).
Feb-29-24  Owl: Very similar to that Alekhine game
Mar-08-24  Owl: I remember Tal was Black and white castle
queen side... maybe white resign before he queen his pawn
Mar-26-24  Owl: It could of been a Odds, Simul, or exhibition game..
Apr-01-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Misha Tal... there's never been one like him. There'll never be another one.

He could make mincemeat of the best players in the world right through his life.

Like Petrosian, Capablanca, Alekhine and he died at the age of 55.

Apr-01-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <offramp>, regrettably Alekhine and Capablanca were 53 when their time came.
Apr-17-24  Owl: Here's the game
How is this not consider one of his greatest games??

Tal vs NN, 1958

Apr-17-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Owl> Tal had White and it was the g-pawn (not Black and e-pawn as you posted), which is why I didn't find it.

<How is this not consider one of his greatest games??> Maybe because it's only a simul game against NN instead of a serious game against a strong opponent? But yes, someone should think of a good title and suggest it for Game of the Day.

Apr-19-24  Owl: Ya I gotta confused I thought I would easily find that game in his collection.
Apr-19-24  Olavi: <Owl> It is in several miniature collections.
Jun-07-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  takchess: https://youtube.com/shorts/2gyKclSn.... Where is this game from ? Where can I see the game moves ? Thanks Jim
Jun-07-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Stonehenge: Tal vs NN, 1963.
Jun-09-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  takchess: Thanks Stonehenge
Nov-10-24  edbermac: The Wizard of Riga was born 88 years ago today. He left the chess world much too soon.
Jan-09-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Final segment of Tal-Vaganian from St John, 1988:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX9...

Feb-25-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Gottschalk: "Players die, the tournaments are forgotten,
but the games of the great artists of the board
remain for posterity,
making eternal remembrance of their creators."
Mikhail Tal
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