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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 97 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-24-11    perfidious: <ughaibu> What makes your own opinion, here or anywhere else, so special? While neither you nor I may agree with what others have expressed, please save your tedious moralising and strawman games for other pages-I think you'd fit in right well over on the Rogoff page, or better still, Wesley So's. Sep-24-11    ughaibu: Nice to see you haven't got me on ignore. Otherwise: save your tedious, et seq. Sep-24-11    King of Nothing: <ughaibu> I haven't been here much, but I've seen the pages <perfidious> is talking about. He's right, you wouldn't last for more than a few seconds there. Does the truth hurt a little? You'll get over it. Sep-24-11    ughaibu: King of Nothing: Really? Be specific, why exactly would I be unable to last more than a few seconds on either the Rogoff or So pages? Sep-24-11    Karpova: Mikhail Tal: <[...], for the first time in my life, I was awarded the prize for the most interesting game of the event, although I was highly sceptical about my creative success. The prize - a luxurious edition of Aleksei Tolstoy's book 'Peter the First' - was very fine, but terribly heavy. And when it was presented to me, it seemed only slightly easier to drag it back to the table where our team was sitting, than it had been to win the award-winning game...> Source: Page 20 of Tal, Mikhail: "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal", London 1997 Tal writes about his win over an Estonian chessplayer (about 16 or 17 years old) at the <Tournament of Pioneers' Palaces of the three Baltic Republics>, Vilnius 1948. So Tal was 12 years old. Sep-25-11    King of Nothing: < ughaibu: King of Nothing: Really? Be specific, why exactly would I be unable to last more than a few seconds on either the Rogoff or So pages?> Because you like to troll, and they know how to deal with trolls. Sep-25-11    ughaibu: King of Nothing: 1) the So people patently do not know how to deal with trolls, as excellently illustrated by Plato's alter-ego. 2) I occasionally post on the Rogoff page and have definitely not been seen off, in short, I lasted as long as it suited me. 3) Perfidious wrote "you'd fit in right well over on the Rogoff page, or better still, Wesley So's", which is exactly at variance with your claim that I "wouldn't last for more than a few seconds there". Accordingly your "he's right" about Perfidious' post to me is full blown crap. 4) as I dont know who the @#$% you even are, I am quite happy to continue exposing this nonsense as long as you persist. Sep-26-11    tahdah: Is this some form of threat, harassment and cyberbullying? Sep-26-11    King of Nothing: < tahdah: Is this some form of threat, harassment and cyberbullying?> Nah, he's another troll, just like <LIFE MASTER AJ>. You can't say anything he doesn't agree with or else he has a hissy fit. This page is about one of the greatest players ever and he comes in and spews garbage. Sep-26-11    ughaibu: Tahdah: you tell me. What grounds do you have for interpreting my post as any of the three? Sep-28-11    kingscrusher: I based my Kingscrusher 1 hour radio show last night on the Chessbase server, around Mikhail Tal games - here is the broadcast on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh_R... Hope you enjoy this :) Sep-28-11    talisman: <kingcrusher> thanks! enjoyed it much! Oct-02-11    Rook e2: "Chess, first of all, is Art." Your games definitely are! Oct-04-11    Cemoblanca: Larsen once said that the reason Tal played such risky chess was that he assumed he was not going to reach 50, a rather spiteful remark which turned out to have no basis in truth, since like Petrosian - who had lived much more sparingly - Tal lived to be 56. RIP magician! Oct-05-11    kingscrusher: I used another Chessbase broadcast slot to look at more Tal Games last night. Here is the Youtube upload for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5D9... Oct-05-11    kamalakanta: Rook e2, is that a quote by Tal? Oct-05-11    kamalakanta: Thanks to chessgames.com for publishing a nice photo of Mikhail Tal. I like this photo very much. He is so happy! Oct-07-11    Rook e2: kamalakanta, it is, according to his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhai... Oct-09-11    kitbitzer31: I just love the new Tal photo... It captures his brilliant and lovable charm very well... Oct-15-11    talisman: thanks again <kingscrusher>!!!!! Oct-18-11    kingscrusher: Another Tal session video tonight on the Chessbase server for my Tuesday Kingscrusher Radio show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCh5... Oct-28-11    kingscrusher: Yet another Tal session : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbXC... Nov-02-11    kingscrusher: And yet another Tal Session earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pb... Nov-07-11    wordfunph: this is why i like Tal.. <Leko also had pleasant memories of Tal. In fact, his first meeting with the great man left a lasting impression. In 1987 Tal was playing in the Subotica Interzonal and hoping to get an autograph, eight-year-old Peter rushed to the playing hall. Alas, when he ran into the hall the players had just started their games. Apparently the disappointment must have been written all over his face, for when Tal noticed the young boy he immediately understood and although it was his move he got up and gave the desired autograph. Leko believes that it is because of this experience that he's always tried to be patient and approachable when fans now want to have his autograph.> - Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam (NIC 2006 08) Nov-09-11    Wild Bill: Happy birthday, Misha, wherever you are. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 116) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 97 OF 116 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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