MIKHAIL TAL : The Magician from Riga
Are you a fan of attacking and sacrificial chess too? Are you one of those people who always like to counter attack instead of defending?
Over the 150-200 years history of competitive chess, the chess board has been acquired by many great, creative geniuses, who got their names written in the record books, and registered there name in the list of all time greats. Let it be some ancient greats like Adolf Anderssen, Paul Morphy, or the first Official world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, or Emanuel Lasker, who held the title of world champion for record 27 years, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, or the best American chess player ever, Bobby Fischer, or the current world Champion, Magnus Carlsen. The game of chess has been very lucky to be played by such great minds, and each of these greats had their own special ability and control over the 64 squares of the board. Oh, how did I forget the name of Garry Kasparov, the " Beast of Baku " !
But when it comes to the field of attacking, sacrificial play, what name comes to our mind? One of the names that is always connected to the terms " attack ", " sacrifice " and " creative " in chess, is " Mikhail Tal ".
Beginners of this game, if you are reading the blog, did you think this after hearing the word " attack " :
" Oh, attack? Yes, I play attacking chess too! Can I be the next Mikhail Tal? ". Yes, you can be, though a meaningful attack in chess, is not something like this :
Or something like this :
Beginners, if you consider early queen moves as attacking chess, you need to stop! Yes, these early queen moves can result in one of the quickest mates in chess at such levels too, though it will not help when you play further. " Development before queen ", please! Here is a video by GothamChess ( IM Levy Rozman ) on the topic :
Well, well, I got a bit off topic, let's get back to the main thing.
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal, was a Latvian born Soviet chess player, known for his incredible attacking and fearless combinatorial style. Nicknamed as " Misha ", and " The Magician from Riga "( his birth city ), he was considered as a creative genius and became the official 8th World Chess Champion in 1960, after beating Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1960 world championship match. He is known for his swashbuckling style of sacrificial play and one of the fiercest attackers to ever hold the title of world champion. Without a doubt, he is one of the best chess players of all time.
( SOURCE - WIKIPEDIA )
No, the blog is not done after the above info about him. If you are a Mikhail Tal fan and admire his style of play, you are at the right place! His early life, his best games, his last days, you will find everything here!
Mikhail Tal, who has more games featuring in the " Mammoth Book of World's Greatest Chess Games " than any other player, really the most brilliant of all time?
EARLY LIFE :
Tal was born on 9 November, 1936, in the city of Riga, capital of the Republic of Lativa, into a Jewish family, to the parents Nehemija and Ida Tal. Latvia, was a part of Soviet Union at the times. The original Latvian form of his name was Mihails Tals. He learned to play the game of chess at an early age, though he only began to study the game seriously when he was in his teens. He started working in close associations along with Alexander Koblents ( Aleksandrs Koblencs ), who began tutoring him in the year 1949. His progress in the game was unbelievable. He won the Latvian championship in the year 1953, followed by an impressive debut in the USSR championship, 1956. He had become a Soviet master by 1954.
Tal was a born attacking genius. He would launch attacks that looked to others like sheer recklessness. Over the board, his opponents found the problems he posed them quite impossible to deal with. He has literally changed the way chess was played, and created absolute madness on the board!
MIKHAIL TAL vs BUKHUTI GURGENIDZE, 1957 :
In the period of 1957-60, Tal had become unstoppable. Consecutive victories in the 1957 and 1958 USSR Championship, and impressive victory in the 1959 candidates tournament ( which included 4-0 whitewash against young Fischer ), and a 12.5 - 8.5 crush to Mikhail Botvinnik in the 1960 world chess championship, which crowned him the youngest world champion at the times. Here is a game which he played against Bukhuti Gurgenidze ( Georgian chess Grandmaster ), in the 1957 USSR championship :
Some incredible knowledge of the position, a knight and queen sacrifice at 14th and 17th move respectively, got the better of his opponent.
ITS YOUR TURN, SIR! MIKHAIL TAL vs ALEXANDER KOBLENTS, 1957, 1961 :
Tal, who was at the top of his game, had already taken the chess world by storm. A coach cannot be more proud when the student defeats him one day, and that also, comprehensively! Here are 2 games which Mikhail Tal played against his tutor, Alexander Koblents, in the year 1957, and 1961 :
The game of 1961, has undoubtedly one of the greatest queen sacrifices by Tal! With great understanding and calculations, including some great sacrifices, this was one of his best games! Have a look at it :
YOUNG FISCHER HELPESS AGAINST THE MAGICIAN! MIKHAIL TAL vs BOBBY FISCHER, 1959, CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT :
Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, are two most famous chess players. While Tal was at the top of his game, Fischer too had quickly rose to the world fame, earning his GM title at the mere age of 15 in 1958, and qualifying for the candidates tournament of 1959. Though, he had to suffer a whitewash against the magician in the 4 games played between them. Here is a famous game from one of those :
TAL'S BRILLIANCE! MIKAHIL TAL vs MIKHAIL BOTVINNIK, 1960 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GAME 6 :
The 1960 world championship was played between Mikhail Tal and Mikhail Botvinnik, and Mikhail Tal continued his form and went on to become the youngest world champion of his time, beating Botvinnik 12.5 to 8.5. Here is Game 6, which was probably the best game of the championship :
Tal adopts an unusual strategy in the King's Indian : playing actively on the queenside in preparation of a kingside play. Objectively his play seems like a little suspect, but was enough to confuse Botvinnik over the board. After some complications, including a famous sacrifice ( 21.....Nf4 ), Tal emerges with a winning endgame.
A LESSON! MIKHAIL TAL vs RASHID NEZHMETDINOV, 1961 :
What happens when two of the best attackers collide? A game worth to see! Rashid Nezhmetdinov, a soviet chess player, has his names in the greatest attackers and tacticians in chess history, though he never attained the title of grandmaster. He and Tal faced each other 4 times, with Rashid winning three of the four encounters. Here is a game of 1961, played between them :
The aggressive 9. g4, tactical 15. Nh6 , a stunning rook exchange for the knight on the 17th move, are one of the best moves of the game, played by Rashid. The few years later after the defeat, Mikhail Tal admitted that it was the happiest day of his life, and was highly impressed by the game played by Rashid, and they went on to become good friends!
Though Mikhail Tal lost the rematch to Mikhail Botvinnik in 1961, he continued to be one of the best players in the world in the upcoming years, but never fought for the world championship again.
MIKHAIL TAL AFTER 1961 :
After losing the rematch to Botvinnik, Tal registered a victory by one point over Fischer in the 1961 Bled super tournament. In 1962, he had serious health problems, and underwent a major operation shortly before the tournament, scoring just 7 points from 21 games. He never again challenged for the world title.
For the next 30 years, he was among the world's top players, and during the periods when his health would permit he achieved world beating results. In 1979, he rose to the second place in the world rankings, just after Anatoly Karpov, the reigning world champion of the times. His talent, was deeply respected by his grandmaster colleagues.
TAL'S LAST GAME : MIKHAL TAL vs GARRY KASPAROV, 1992, BLITZ :
Tal's health was not at its best in the time period after 1990, and he played his last official game against Garry Kasparov, the reigning world champion of the time, which was a blitz game. The game was played just 1 month before Tal's death, where Tal won on time in 17 moves. Here is the game :
Tal took his last breath in a Moscow hospital, on 28 June 1992, where he died due to a haemorrhage in the esophagus. He was just 55 years old.
The End Part of the Blog :
Mikhail Tal had perhaps the most remarkable and unique talent of all chess players. Although others could sometimes match his results, no one, before or since, has ever matched the way he achieved them! This will be an end to this blog, I hope you enjoyed reading it, and enjoyed the games!
