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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 72 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-05-08    whiskeyrebel: It seems to me that if Tal wasn't as grounded in positional knowledge his intuitive sacrifices would have had a significantly higher failure rate. I'm guessing here of course due to my lack of strength. In the pages of Tal's autobiography I sense he took a great deal of pleasure from his best endgames. He didn't like being labeled a one trick pony. Jan-07-08    shakkiseepra: Hi, can anyone tell me if there are good books on Tal's life? Mean, not entirely about his chess, but sort of an autobiography? Jan-07-08    whiskeyrebel: Yes: "The Life and Times of Mikhail Tal"..one of the greatest chess books of 'em all. It's an autobiography that ends in the early 70's. Quite a few annotated games and lots of insight into the man. I'm sure several kibitzers here will agree it's well worth getting. Jan-07-08    whatthefat: Yes, 'The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal' by the man himself is definitely the best book to get - and many would say one of the best chess books of all. I'd also recommend Joe Gallagher's 'The Magic of Mikhail Tal' which focuses on his life following the end of his own book. Jan-07-08    whiskeyrebel: I agree..."The Magic.." is essential for Tal fans too. Jan-10-08    shakkiseepra: Self-written this '...Life and times...'? So Tal had flair for writing as well? Jan-10-08    kellmano: <Shakkiseepra> I just got this book for Christmas and though it is an excellent book, and Tal's annotations are great, I would not go so far as to say he had 'a flair for writing' .... Jan-10-08    whiskeyrebel: Personally, I think that compared to other chess masters he certainly had a flair for writing. He taught literature according to his autobiography, which doesn't mean he was ready to write on his own..but it left him better prepared than the math, science or music oriented players. I think it's clear he found his "voice" shall we say as a writer. Jan-10-08    MaxxLange: I think Tal studied journalism in his student days, so he had some instruction in writing. Jan-10-08    whatthefat: Yes, Tal did a lot of work as a chess journalist. He also had quite an interest in literature; quoting from wikipedia: <Tal graduated in Literature from the University of Riga, writing a thesis on the satirical works of Ilf and Petrov, and taught school in Riga for a time in his early 20s.> Jan-11-08    kellmano: Yes, I htink he has his own voice, but it is not one that i find appealing. Did anyone else find that he made a lot of excuses for himself as well, and too often made a lot of the fact that he could've won in a prosaic manner, but went for something spectacular and lost? I'm not digging at Tal. Love his playing, smoking, drinking etc. Just something that occurred to me as i read htis very enjoyable book. Jan-11-08    whatthefat: I thought the opposite personally. Specifically, if you compare his lack of excuses regarding the 1961 match loss with Gallagher's coverage of the serious health issues he had at the time, I considered Tal to be quite self-effacing. "I think that I lost to him, because he beat me! He was very well-prepared for the second match. Botvinnik knew my play better than I knew his." [Tal-Botvinnik World Championship Return Match (1961) ] Jan-11-08    kellmano: I respect you may have had a different viewpoint and it would be interesting to see what others think. You have cited one example, but i suggest that if i had my copy with me, I could cite a fair few where he says, or rather suggests, that he only lost due to searching for an aesthetically pleasing finish. This may well be true of course, but it grates with me a little, as it could be interpreted as saying 'well, i would have beat him if i wasn't trying to be flash'. Jan-12-08    talisman: <kellmano> many times tal does say that he had "caught a cold" in explaining a loss.i think <whatthefat> hits the nail on the head when referring to the big picture.the one loss the Big Loss, Tal doesn't make any excuses, when he had every right to, and should've been probably been in a hospital or recuperating.So i guess what i'm saying is the one(61) outweighs all the colds big time. Jan-14-08    PositionalBomber: What is the best Tal's sacrifice? I was thinking Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958 but there are so much possibilities! Jan-14-08    whatthefat: <PositionalBomber> The thing with that game is that it was probably inspired by either Zamikhovsky vs Nezhmetdinov, 1956 or Spassky vs Bronstein, 1956 If I had to choose (and it is very difficult), I'd probably go with Tal vs Hecht, 1962 Jan-14-08    ughaibu: Whatthefat: But which sacrifice? Jan-14-08    whatthefat: <ughaibu> Well, I meant the queen sacrifice, but I am including the combination that goes along with it, so maybe that's cheating. :) Jan-15-08    kellmano: I have never understood the Tal quote: "There are two types of sacrafices: correct ones and mine." I understand he is saying that not all his sacrafices are objectively correct (i.e. do not necessarily lead to win against perfect defence), but he seems also to be saying that all incorrect sacrafices are 'his'. Meaning every sacrafice I have ever performed is his. It surprises me that he would want to be associated with them. Jan-15-08    brankat: <kellmano> Tal was joking. At the same time he was responding to his numerous "critics". An example along the same lines can be found in Tal's reply to those who had been comparing him to Dr.Lasker: "Oh no, there is a big difference there." replied Tal "They say Lasker was lost in every second game he had played. As for me, they say I was lost in every games I had played." Of course, for any joke to be funny, there must be an element of truth in it, so people can relate to the story. Jan-16-08    rusich: Another Russian magician Jan-16-08    JYMMI: Tal was Latvian. Jan-16-08    MaxxLange: They are all Russians to me! Jan-16-08    Legend: <rusich: Another Russian magician> As it says in your profile, you are yourself from Latvia. How can you call Tal a Russian? Jan-16-08    JYMMI: <Legend: <rusich: Another Russian magician>>He explained himself about it previously here: Spiridonov vs Tal, 1969 Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 72 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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