Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

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 2,960  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Kholmov vs Tal 0-1 21 1949 Simul D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 2. J Klavins vs Tal 0-1 18 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 3. A Parnas vs Tal 0-1 33 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 4. Tal vs Leonov 1-0 25 1949 Riga Junior-ch Semifinal B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 5. Tal vs Ripatti ½-½ 41 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 6. Tal vs M Strelkov 1-0 16 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 7. Tal vs I Zilber 1-0 33 1949 Riga Pioneer Palace Championship C07 French, Tarrasch 8. Tal vs Vedrov 1-0 65 1949 URS B40 Sicilian 9. A Nevitsky vs Tal 0-1 43 1949 Semi Finals Youth Championship C49 Four Knights 10. Butvit vs Tal   0-1 37 1949 Riga C01 French, Exchange 11. Tal vs A Vilup   0-1 59 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) C03 French, Tarrasch 12. Mendeleevsky vs Tal   1-0 39 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. Tal vs J Klavins 1-0 54 1950 Latvian Youth Championship B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 14. Juliks vs Tal 0-1 39 1950 Riga Championship semifinal A16 English 15. K Klasups vs Tal ½-½ 41 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 16. Lavrinenko vs Tal 0-1 38 1950 Riga-ch Final B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 17. Liepins vs Tal 0-1 44 1950 Riga Team Championship B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 18. A Pakalns vs Tal 0-1 29 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D02 Queen's Pawn Game 19. Tal vs A Darznieks 0-1 26 1950 Riga Championship semifinal C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 20. Tal vs Pliss 1-0 37 1950 Riga Championship quarterfinal C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd 21. V Ivanovs vs Tal 1-0 25 1950 URS C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 22. Leonov vs Tal 0-1 34 1950 URS E17 Queen's Indian 23. Tal vs Sodell 0-1 23 1950 URS C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 24. Tal vs I Miglans 1-0 21 1950 Latvian Youth Championship C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 25. Tal vs M Straihers 1-0 6 1950 Riga Championship semifinal B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening  page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,960

REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Tal wins | Tal loses

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 61 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-15-06    brankat: <one of wins against Fischer also comes to mind...> Bled, 1961. Oct-15-06    Chopin: <Mr. Nimzo> Nice game collection. Oct-16-06    TylerD: Mr Nimzo: I d like to add that I enjoy the fact that you have considered games up to the very end of Ts career, not just listing games of late 50s, early 60s. It is too often forgotten that Tal remained top 5, for many, many years after his clash with Botvinnik. In the 70s he had unprecedented streaks of being unbeaten! He remained a worthy challenger for the title, for many years. Oct-17-06    Nikita Smirnov: Is it true that Tal only had three fingers on one of his hands? Oct-17-06    Legend: <Nikita Smirnov> Yes, on his right hand. Oct-17-06    LoFarkas: How come? Oct-17-06    Legend: He was already born like that... Oct-17-06    RookFile: Yes, I didn't know that when until I played in a simul against Tal. On that day, he in fact used that hand to move the chess pieces, his fingers were quite big, and he had full use of his hand. Oct-18-06    Nikita Smirnov: I have also heard that he left hospital in 1992 to play in Barcelona and won.Lars Karlsson told me that when he met Tal he shaked hand with him and he had only three fingers on that hand. Oct-18-06    talisman: chessgames great series on the championship matches.anyone know where the 60 picture was taken? anyone know where the 61 picture was taken? Oct-18-06    whatthefat: <RookFile> I've often wondered which hand Tal used to make his moves; whether perhaps in competition he reserved using his right hand for particular moves, as a psychological ploy. I'm sure it would be off-putting for certain opponents. Oct-18-06    talisman: find one photograph where tal is not holding(hiding)his birth hand. Oct-19-06    whatthefat: <talisman> The most notable one I can think of is from the 1979 Montreal tournament book, where he is holding the trophy with his right hand. Such photos do seem to be rather rare though. Oct-19-06    Ultra: <talisman: find one photograph where tal is not holding(hiding)his birth hand.> http://e3e5.com/upload/articles/ima... http://www.nychesskids.com/files/pi... Oct-19-06    Gypsy: <whatthefat: ... I've often wondered which hand Tal used to make his moves; whether perhaps in competition he reserved using his right hand for particular moves, as a psychological ploy. I'm sure it would be off-putting for certain opponents.> No, the whole persona of Tal was completely orhogonal to any such tactics; Tal played fair and square even when that ment losing. This is from an interview with Vlastimil Jansa: < <What about your encounteres with the greatest players? > ...Tal was one of the most plesant oponents. He could teach anyone about behavior. During Tal vs Jansa, 1966, for instance, I was standing to win with Black, but I was in a time pressure. Tal was a hero in Jugoslavia and, perhaps to make a favorable impression, one of the tournament referees was trying to interfere with my playing. He was trying to make me record the moves, by all the time taping on my shoulder and disturbing me. But Tal just scorned him with a look and, with a resolute gesture, chased the referee away from me. ... Otherwise, as a player but also as a great personality, the grandest impression on me was left by Keres. ...> Oct-19-06    whatthefat: <Gypsy: No, the whole persona of Tal was completely orhogonal to any such tactics; Tal played fair and square even when that ment losing.> Thanks, I thought as much, but was still curious. Especially given his well known glare, and Korchnoi's claims he was a hypnotist! Oct-21-06    talisman: <Ultra> 1st photograph=you win.now the second one i still don't see his hand. <whatthefat> montreal=you're right. Oct-27-06    spider441: What an extraordinary player and a fine gentleman!! Will we ever see the likes of him again?? I am indebted to him forever for sustaining interest in Chess.. Oct-29-06    Nikita Smirnov: You said right things about Tal. Oct-29-06    Gbness: There are some players who are close to that great boundary to me -- Fischer, Alekhine, Kasparov, Morphy, Anand, Topalov -- and some who are close to the boundary of pure attacking skills -- Anderssen, Morphy, Alekhine, etc., but Tal is my all time favorite player. Not your average complete champion though... he was modest and a total gentleman, and kept playing chess not in a complete will to win, but because of his sheer love for the game. Oct-31-06    setebos: Tal could go out tonight without a costume. Oct-31-06    panC: setebos: Tal could go out tonight without a costume. Is there any other way?:)) Nov-01-06    Nikita Smirnov: Tal was a fantastic player and human.I am only eleven years old but I love Tal! P.S. My new name on MSN is GM Mikhail Tal. Nov-01-06    ketchuplover: Hi Nikita. You're very impressive. When you become world champion I hope you don't forget this site :) Nov-01-06    code13: Tal's book of the 1960 World Championship match is the best chess book I have ever read. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 61 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific player only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC