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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 88 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Nov-09-09    talisman: happy birthday Misha. Nov-10-09    HeMateMe: there was a funny story in "Life and Games", Tal's autobiography. Before an important tournament Tal was sitting in a hot bath, reading a chess magazine, an article about a new TN in an opening. At the bottem of the page appeared a bold, surprising move. tal then fell asleep. He went to the tournament playing hall the next day, and played the move recommended in the magazine. Just as he made the move, he thought what if white simply plays (strong move)? And, his opponent made the move, and Tal lost. he went home and looked at the artice he hadn't finished. On the next page, just before he dozed off, was the refutation, proving that the move given on the previous page was losing. Nov-10-09    pulsar: <HeMateMe> Is this the same refutation that Tal himself provided in his earlier analysis? I thought I read something like that, too. Tal completely forgot his earlier analysis, much to the surprise of his opponent as to why Tal was going for a line he refuted... Nov-10-09    HeMateMe: I don't remember the exact particulars, just that he fell asleep in a bath, reading the chess magazine, followed the notes, and lost the next day...said "I'll never prepare for a match in that fashion again!" Nov-10-09    pulsar: <HeMateMe> I have that book, I'll check it when I get home. Excellent book, by the way. Nov-10-09    HeMateMe: Many people feel Tal's "My life and Games" should be on a top ten list, best chess books of all time. Plenty of good games and theory, but not a drag, not so dense that you need to have a chess set to open the book. Nov-10-09    Tessie Tura: <One thing about Tal, he sure photographed well, or crazy? Some of the pics of him, that mad scientist stare - not at you, but at the board.> Tal was a very attractive man when he was young, not that you'd guess from the photo on this page. Although I like his 'mad scientist' look, too. Nov-10-09    HeMateMe: But should you win a Marty Feldman look alike contest, well, then you've gone too far. Nov-10-09    SamAtoms1980: That picture of Tal looks uncannily similar to Henry Stauf from the 7th Guest / 11th Hour series. Nov-13-09    M.D. Wilson: It sums up Tal, though. Nov-13-09    parisattack: <HeMateMe: Many people feel Tal's "My life and Games" should be on a top ten list, best chess books of all time. Plenty of good games and theory, but not a drag, not so dense that you need to have a chess set to open the book.> There are perhaps 20 or so Tal books in English - but this one has to be the best! Nov-13-09    whatthefat: <parisattack: There are perhaps 20 or so Tal books in English - but this one has to be the best!> Is that so? I recently updated the Tal wikipedia entry to include a 4th book, since it claimed he only authored 3. I know of 'The life and games', 'Attack with Mikhail Tal', 'Tal's winning chess combinations', and the 1960 match book. What are the others? Nov-13-09    HeMateMe: I had "Attack with Tal,", years ago. I only read part of it, then lost it when I moved. I think he anaylyses other GM games, mostly ones of his era, and 'rennotates', makes suggestions on the attacks could have been carried out. Not a bad book, but of course, not as good as his games. Nov-13-09    whatthefat: <HeMateMe> Yes, it's basically structured into chapters by different attacking themes - quite an original layout. Much like his combinations book, which has chapters devoted to each piece and combinations of pieces, e.g., a chapter on combinations involving the rook, another on combinations involving the rook and bishop working together, etc. All 4 are fantastic books. If he's authored more, I'd be very happy to see them! Nov-13-09    parisattack: <Is that so? I recently updated the Tal wikipedia entry to include a 4th book, since it claimed he only authored 3. I know of 'The life and games', 'Attack with Mikhail Tal', 'Tal's winning chess combinations', and the 1960 match book. What are the others?> Sorry. I am meaning books of Tal's games. Nov-13-09    TheFocus: <Whathefat> How about,possibly: Chess Scandals: The 1978 World Championship match - Ed Edmundson, annotations by Tal Study Chess with Tal - Tal & Koblenc The Super Clash: SWIFT - Tal and others Montreal 1979 - Tal and others Selected Chess Games - Tal Nov-13-09    whatthefat: I have the Montreal 1979 tournament book, but there are a lot of different authors on that. Have you read the others? Nov-13-09    TheFocus: Long ago I did, but none of them are in my library. Maybe <parisattack> has them. I just went to www.abebooks.com to see what was listed as being by Tal. Nov-13-09    parisattack: Looks like 17 English language 'Tal' (about) books in my individual player books. Those do not include (annotated by) unless his games, nor foreign (about) such as 'Mikhail Tal, Creative Works 1949-1961' in Russian and such. I am a big Tal fan but I'm sure there are a few more. Nov-17-09    M.D. Wilson: Was the Montreal 1979 "Tournament of Stars" considered, at the time, to field the strongest chess players in history? Pardon my ignorance, I was seven years from being born! It's a great testament to Tal's strength that he managed to tie with the World Champion. The 1970s certainly proved to be a Renaissance for Tal; his games from the period speak for themselves. Nov-17-09    Benzol: <M.D. Wilson> Yes the Montreal Tournament Of The Stars was one of the strongest tourneys ever to be held see Game Collection: Montreal 1979 for more details. Tal and Karpov had been working together around this time and I believe the relationship was mutually beneficial. Nov-17-09    M.D. Wilson: Right, thanks, Benzol. Yes, their relationship was very productive indeed. Nov-17-09    Everett: <MDWilson> Perhaps health was never on Tal's side because he drank and smoked heavily. This would indicate that he maybe did not have it "right" in life. Nov-17-09    whiskeyrebel: Tal made his own decisions about drinking and smoking. As a grown man he was entitled to such pleasures and others. Nov-18-09    M.D. Wilson: Tal was never in good health, but despite this, he treated all those around him with compassion and respect. He loved life, although, ultimately, he had little of it. Yes, this was partly of his own making, but nevertheless Tal had a full and colourful life. One of the greats on and off the board. Tal reminds me of Ian Fleming in this regard. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 88 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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