Mikhail Tal Defeats Tigran Petrosian In 23 Moves - Tal vs. Petrosian, 1974
In a battle between two prior world chess champions, Mikhail Tal and Tigran Petrosian, Tal came out a shocking victor in one of Petrosian's fastest defeats.
Petrosian was doubtless not at his best, but it is enormously impressive how Tal creates and presses his advantage. Watch how he opens lines with 13.e5! and repositions with 16.Nf3! This is the kind of play all chess players can learn from—simple, direct, and principled play that pushes even one of the greatest defenders of all time to his limits.
The final combination is clean and instructive as Tal gives a knight to bring home the attack against Petrosian's weak points on the light squares: h7, f7, and e6.
Lessons:
- Develop, develop, develop.
- Usually, surrender material before accepting great passivity.
My brief notes are below.
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I'm the Head of Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2015, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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