Even if you give Mikhail Tal the databases and computer equipment from today and train him how to use it properly, Magnus Carlsen would still win hands down. His style allows him to get to positions where he almost always has play and he is able to shut down most attacking players due to him always having some form of activity to get out of the craziest and messiest positions.
Tal vs Carlsen: Who would win?
Sort:
Wow, nice post chessmicky. Never thought of it that way tbh. I am such a Tal nut hugger though, that with Tal's style of play combined with computer analisys*sp*, so many people trend towards perfect, theoretical play that even today he would wreck shit. People don't expect random sac's ect. If nothing else he would be the best centaur player ever.
If Tal grew up in our era with our technology . . . Carlsen would win. But I don't really think Tal would like it here in the age of computers and "certainty" . . . I think for him, most of the joy of chess was that when he played a deep calculation, there was never really any way of knowing if there wasn't some hidden tactic that everyone missed.
If Carlsen grew up in Tal's era, I don't think he would have learned the positional skills that he now has without computers. So Tal would win.
Needless to say, I'm glad they are each in their respective eras and we get to enjoy both styles of art. (But personally, I'm a huge Tal fan.)
If Mikhail Tal, the master of attack, played Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated player in history, what would the outcome be?