The chess games of 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

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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