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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

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page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. A Parnas vs Tal 0-1 33 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 2. Tal vs I Zilber 1-0 33 1949 Riga Pioneer Palace Championship C07 French, Tarrasch 3. Tal vs Vedrov 1-0 65 1949 URS B40 Sicilian 4. J Klavins vs Tal 0-1 18 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 5. A Nevitsky vs Tal 0-1 43 1949 Semi Finals Youth Championship C49 Four Knights 6. Tal vs A Vilup   0-1 59 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) C03 French, Tarrasch 7. Tal vs M Strelkov 1-0 16 1949 Riga Junior-ch Final C10 French 8. Mendeleevsky vs Tal   1-0 39 1949 Ch URS (team)(juniors 1/2) D46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 9. Tal vs Leonov 1-0 25 1949 Riga Junior-ch Semifinal B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 10. Tal vs Ripatti ½-½ 41 1949 URS U18 Team-ch Semifinal B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 11. Butvit vs Tal   0-1 37 1949 Riga C01 French, Exchange 12. Kholmov vs Tal 0-1 21 1949 Simul D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 13. Tal vs I Miglans 1-0 21 1950 Latvian Youth Championship C82 Ruy Lopez, Open 14. Juliks vs Tal 0-1 39 1950 Riga Championship semifinal A16 English 15. Tal vs Sodell 0-1 23 1950 URS C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed 16. Liepins vs Tal 0-1 44 1950 Riga Team Championship B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 17. Tal vs A Darznieks 0-1 26 1950 Riga Championship semifinal C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin 18. A Pakalns vs Tal 0-1 29 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D02 Queen's Pawn Game 19. K Klasups vs Tal ½-½ 41 1950 Riga Championship semifinal D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 20. Tal vs J Klavins 1-0 54 1950 Latvian Youth Championship B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 21. Lavrinenko vs Tal 0-1 38 1950 Riga-ch Final B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 22. Leonov vs Tal 0-1 34 1950 URS E17 Queen's Indian 23. Tal vs M Straihers 1-0 6 1950 Riga Championship semifinal B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 24. V Ivanovs vs Tal 1-0 25 1950 URS C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed 25. Tal vs Pliss 1-0 37 1950 Riga Championship quarterfinal C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd  page 1 of 119; games 1-25 of 2,957

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 71 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Nov-16-07    pawn to QB4: Cheers Mr Nimzo, I just had a fun time playing through that lot! So my criteria for admission is that all of them contain wow factor, terrific attacking moves, but which of them contains absolute jaw droppers - how could he consider that, was it even legal? and which of them, by contrast, contain moves I would have considered in a league match, and either rejected as too dangerous, or played, in some cases because I didn't see defences to them which Tal sees and sees the refutation? On this basis, the seven I reject as fit only for the corridors of the National Gallery rather than the Special Exhibition, are Gurgenidze, Toran Albero, Larsen, Smyslov (II), Suetin, Karpov and Speelman. If there's no other Tal game for the last spot, I'd pick Larsen, as I believe this was a vital game in a candidates' match, so what courage to go for his shots. Nov-16-07    talisman: MR.NIMZO the koblents game...being his trainer you never knew how much was practice and how much was real. Nov-17-07    whiskeyrebel: I hate to be put into the position of having to reject any of these masterpieces; here's the best I can do with my limited understanding. I suggest removing: Koblents, Panno, Smyslov (1), Albero, Hecht, Larsen and Hjartson. It's a difficult choice of course. Nov-17-07    MR. NIMZO: After thinking it through I decided to make it a top 20 list adding some games that GM Keene has suggested, so here thay are - and enjoy Tal's Magic... Game Collection: Top Twenty Tal!!! Nov-17-07    whiskeyrebel: that's a good idea; I didn't sleep well after having the audacity to publicly judge Tal's games. Nov-23-07    HrodHerich: Tal is so frustrating to study. His style makes everything seem more complicated than it is. I need "Tal For Dummies". Nov-23-07    Jim Bartle: Well, you've got the first 71 pages right here... Nov-23-07    King mega: How to win agianst tal: return materials that he sacrifices! Nov-23-07    talisman: 4 sacs = 4 wins in 1960 vs botvinnik. 0 sacs in 1961? Nov-24-07    Hot Logic: Thanks for posting those wonderful Tal anecdotes <onemorechessplayer>! Of all the players Tal is the one I love reading about the most, of all the world champions he is probably the one who loved chess the most and the chess world loves him back. I have the Life and Games of Mikhail Tal on my bookshelf, I've read it, although I haven't gone through all the games yet. Tal is a wonderful writer too. Nov-24-07    Jim Bartle: My favorite Tal story is from his candidates match with Gligoric in (I think) Belgrade. There was a World Cup qualifier Yugoslavia-France on the day of one of their games, so they called a rest day and went to the game, together. Nov-26-07    onemorechessplayer: Hot logic, if you look at the previous kibitzing, you can find out more. Nov-30-07    talisman: k-bitz 1000 goes to.........TAL! autumn. 1958. tal finally meets Botvinnik, in Olympiad in Munich.Tal scores 13.5/15 to take overall Best Score. Botvinnik says to Tal,"Why did you sacrifice a pawn?" Tal says immediately, "it was simply in my way.". early 1957. Tolush to Boris Spassky after his loss to Tal, "you know Boris, today i lost to a chess genius." and finally Flohr after Tal won the USSR Championship in 1957. "This boy will go far!" Dec-01-07    mcgee: >>How to win agianst tal: return materials that he sacrifices!<< didn't work in Tal v Hecht Varna Olympiad 1962 and Tal v Larsen last game of candidates match 1965 to name but two! Dec-18-07    parisattack: <His style makes everything seem more complicated than it is. I need "Tal For Dummies".> I somewhat disagree. No, he doesn't have the crystal clarity of Capa, LOL!, but in the openings I see 1)Striving for simple/effecient development, 2) Always happy to gain a tempo, 3) Always happy to gain an open line (how many games as white does he use the QN-file for the QR after a B/N exchange on c3?), 4) Fairly early clarification of the pawn situation in the center, making room for pieces on those squares - this last a hallmark of all Power Play GMs, IMHO. But I would still buy a copy of 'Tal for Dummies!' Dec-26-07    DarthStapler: Best chess player ever, shut up idiots Dec-27-07    ughaibu: I've had a look at Tal's wins from Munich, the only games that could've provoked Botvinnik's question seem to be these: Tal vs Tringov, 1958 Tal vs Z Milev, 1958 Jan-01-08    Civhai: Tal is my absolute favorite player. Before I knew a lot of chess, I was told that on a certain level, you cannot sacrifice pieces any more and you have to play quiet and positional. I was really happy after I found out about Tal. When my father showed me some games of Anderssen, Steinitz and so one, I was really excited about their beautiful games. But how big the deception was, when I was told that in modern chess, there are no sacrifices any more and there is no beauty at all left. But how much I was happy, when I found out that they had just no idea and that this is just not true. I mean, other grandmasters also sacrifice sometimes, but not like him! It seems as if material is just nothing to him. He just gets attacks out of the empty space! And always if you think: "Ok, now he has sacrificed enough. It seems as if this doesn't work. He has gone too far.", he sacrifices even more and goes even further! It's just amazing to look at his games. <MR. NIMZO> Sorry, I tried to find my top ten, but it just wasn't possible. Each of them is too beautiful for not being among the top ten. I'm going to look at it again, but I don't know if I will succeed.^^ If I solve some chess puzzles, the first question is always: "How can I sacrifice a knight or a bishop to get an advantage?" If I solve a puzzle where Tal wins, the question is: "How can I sacrifice at least to rooks and a queen to checkmate him?"^^ Jan-02-08    Petrosianic: <Tal is my absolute favorite player. Before I knew a lot of chess, I was told that on a certain level, you cannot sacrifice pieces any more and you have to play quiet and positional.> Whoever told you that? Of course there are plenty of perfectly sound and calculable piece sacrifices. Of course you shouldn't be able to sacrifice a piece <and get away with it> unless your opponent makes an error somewhere in the game, but errors aren't that difficult to find, especially at the club level. Jan-02-08    talisman: <ughaibu> thanks for the games. Jan-02-08    KingG: <ughaibu> Of the two, it was probably Tal vs Z Milev, 1958. I doubt Botvinnik would even bother commenting on such a game as the other one. Also, i'm not convinced Tal didn't just blunder in the opening. After 10...Nxe4, i don't see any compensation for the pawn. Jan-04-08    talisman: 12 games with white in the Poisoned Pawn Sicillian.10 wins! a Tal-Fischer match would have been interesting just from an opening standpoint. Jan-04-08    tud: Unfortunately he lost to Portisch in the Poisened Pawn Sicilian when he was top-shape and would have had a nice come back for the title. A draw was enough... Jan-04-08    M.D. Wilson: Sure, Tal played some speculative sacrifices, he even admitted this himself. However, in a lot of his games, he plays very sound, solid chess. His positional skills were also usually impressive. Some of his English games (as white) and Sicilian games (as black), for example, are very sound and far from speculative. I think it was in his nature to seek adventure, to attack, to seek that one shot to win a game. He was a much more rounded player when you go beyond the surface and the hype. Jan-05-08    brankat: <M.D.Wilson> You are right. Tal had a deep understanding of positional play, which, when coupled with his great capacity for calculation, was precisely what enabled him to play the way he did. <He was a much more rounded player when you go beyond the surface and the hype.> Exactly. Along the same line, it is also true in case of one Morphy or Alekhine. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 71 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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