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 62 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Nov-01-06    Nikita Smirnov: I won't forgett the site my friends. Nov-01-06    Nikita Smirnov: Even if I would become world Champion I would set Tal higher than me. Nov-01-06    Open Defence: <Nikita> just don't repeat his bad habits like smoking... follow his chess though Nov-01-06    Nikita Smirnov: Yes it's true. Nov-01-06    babakova: Smoking is not a bad habit... Its a cool habit. So what if cigarettes give you cancer? So does sunlight and bad genes... Nov-01-06    setebos: Do bad genes also give you bad judgment? Nov-01-06    WannaBe: The fact that you have bad jeans shows you already made a bad judgement. Nov-02-06    Nikita Smirnov: On the pictures of Tal and Stein both are smoking. Nov-09-06    Thrajin: Happy birthday, Mikhail. We'll never forget your magic on the board and your kind-hearted personality off the board. Nov-09-06    percyblakeney: Tal would have turned 70 today, he was 5 years younger than Korchnoi and could still be playing... Nov-09-06    WannaBe: In honor of Mikhail Tal I think everyone should play a game of chess and sacrifice their king. =) Nov-09-06    Lt. Col. Majid: Does anyone know Tal was rated above 2700 in 1980? Health problems Tal suffered from bad health, and had to be hospitalized frequently throughout his career. Tal was a chain smoker and a heavy drinker; he was also briefly addicted to morphine[citation needed]. Tal's untimely death was likely related to these problems, e.g. at the Hastings tournament of 1973, which he won, he drank the hotel dry of brandy. On June 28, 1992, Mikhail Tal died [officially of[kidney failure]] in a Moscow hospital. But, his friend and fellow Soviet Grandmaster Genna Sosonko reported that " in reality, all his organs had stopped functioning." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhai... Nov-09-06    TefthePersian: This is little known, but Tal was actually a demi-god, and is immortal. He's currently in hiding so no one pesters him while he figures out quantum gravity. Nov-09-06    whiskeyrebel: I heard some Latvian scientists saved his head like in that old film "they saved Hitler's brain" and after having rested for a few years he's preparing a comeback. He plays as a mystery guest on-line occasionally. He's been busy dictating the Queenside attack section he meant to write for "attack with Mikhail Tal". Happy birthday Mr. Tal..here's a Texas shot in your honor! Nov-09-06    doremi: The most impressive thing that I ever read about Tal has to do with him winning the Blitz Worldchampionship in 1988, 4 years before his death. He was the only one who defeated Kasparov in that championship. The remarkable thing is that in that period Tal's body temperature was never lower than 38 to 39 degrees Celsius, i.e. fever to very high fever, ALWAYS. A dying Tal beat the strongest chessplayer ever. Nov-09-06    talisman: <Lt.Col.Majid> Sosonko and anyone who would spread lies about tal in 1969 was not his friend. Nov-09-06    whatthefat: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... I highly recommend checking out the puzzle that is linked to at the bottom of the page. Nov-10-06    ikipemiko: Really great human and great, great chess player!!! Nowadays the GM's play only for money making chess not an art but business... Nov-10-06    ivoivanov: Fantastic player!!! Nov-10-06    Lt. Col. Majid: <ikipemiko:Nowadays the GM's play only for money > Maybe it's because they are professionals? Nov-10-06    ivoivanov: The chess players from the time of Tal were also professionals, the point is that now the money is much more in comparison the before and it is getting more and more comersial.Just look what is happening in football, of course there r still very attractive players but the tactic and defence have the advantage over the attack Nov-10-06    Lt. Col. Majid: If past chess pros decided not to play for money then I have to question their professional status, it is their choice anyway and today's pros should not be slammed for taking money. It is simply ridiculous to criticise chess professionals or any other profesionals for that matter, for playing for money. WTF do u expect?! They're professioanls, g o d d a m n i t! Nov-10-06    LoFarkas: Ikipemiko probably meant that the players of old (especially Tal!)were more inclined to play risky but beautiful and exciting lines for the fun of it, and go all out for victory even when it was not the soundest thing to do in terms of winnig the tournament. BTW, Topalov seems to play in the same spirit. Nov-10-06    ikipemiko: <majid> Sometimes when you write smth you should think before that , Tal was also professional but you need to read more about him.. Nov-10-06    Lt. Col. Majid: <ikipemiko: <majid> Sometimes when you write smth you should think before that , Tal was also professional but you need to read more about him..> Maybe u need to write clearly and make yourself understood? <Nowadays the GM's play only for money > How do you expect the above quote of yours to be interpreted? Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 62 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