Mikhail Tal's Christmas Present?

I remember hearing a story years ago (I heard on YouTube but don't remember the video or channel) when GM Mikhail Tal was playing a chess tournament before Christmas. Tal is known for his Queen sacrifices and also his sense of humor. In this game, he had a little ribbon in his pocket. During the game, he took out the little ribbon string and tied it into a bow on his Queen. Then he proceeded to joke by saying something like "Merry Christmas" and then played a Queen sacrifice with the bow on his Queen.

From memory, if the Christmas "present" (Queen sacrifice) was accepted, then it was forced checkmate in a certain number of moves.

Does anyone know which game this was from? I've been looking a lot, but haven't located which game (opponent and year especially), or tournament, this was from.

Cute story. Never heard of it before though, unfortunately.

Hello, i never heard the story (wich is very in Tal's spirit) but i looked up at some of his queen sac to find one he played near Christmas. I linked one he played on december 30th. Maybe it is this one. My intuition tells me that if the story is indeed true, the game must be from either a simul/exhibition game or a lesser tournament, because i really don't see anybody do such a thing in a serious event like the interzonal for say. The problem is that older game from such exhibition or tournament are usually only dated by the year . So maybe my search is in vain. But a let you appreciate the one against Suetin. Merry Christmas

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1134883

Yeah, I heard the story as true and it certainly fits with Tal's personality, so I believed it to be true. Thanks for your efforts, but that game against Suetin is not the one. That is one of Tal's most famous sacrifices though It just isn't the game from this ribbon story.

I just asked ChatGPT and the AI said it doesn't know as well. Are you sure this is a true story?

User
did mikhail tal tie a bow to his queen before sacrificing it

ChatGPT
The story of Mikhail Tal tying a bow to his queen before sacrificing it is a chess legend and is not based on actual events. The tale has been circulated as part of the mystique surrounding Tal's persona, emphasizing his creative and unorthodox approach to the game.

According to the story, Tal supposedly tied a small bow to his queen before sacrificing it in a game. This anecdote is often cited to illustrate his playful and artistic attitude toward chess. However, there is no reliable evidence or game record confirming that Tal ever engaged in such an act.

While the specific story may be apocryphal, it reflects the broader truth about Tal's style—he was indeed known for sacrificing material, particularly his queen, in imaginative and unexpected ways. Tal's legacy is built on his brilliant and daring play rather than any literal embellishments to the pieces on the chessboard.

Oh Thank you Boss, your ChatGPT is clearly more advanced than mine. When I asked the AI, it said that there was such a game and the game was played by Tal and Gligoric in 1968. I looked through all four games played by those two people in 1968 and none of them contains a queen sacrifice. I told ChatGPT that it's a wrong game and it admitted that actually it cannot find such a game on its training database. Lol

ROFL.
Nah, I just signed up to ChatGPT to ask that question. who knows man, maybe it learned something since you asked.

I'm virtually certain this was a true story; I just can't recall the actual game it was from.

Chat GPT isn't the most reliable. It can't even play chess while following the rules lol

One Tal story that HAS been authenticated is that when the Soviet government announced a state-wide campaign against Alcoholism, Tal offered to play for the Vodka team.

Yeah ChatGPT doesn't know how to play chess. I used to play chess with it and even I can beat it. I thought that ChatGPT could be good at factual recall but confusion is the only thing it creates

yeah chatGPT is really bad. I had it evaluate a board based on FEN and PGN and in both cases it thought pieces were on squares they weren't. Seems pretty bad in general

Tying a ribbon during a tournament? Isn't he worried about being disqualified. That's a pretty weird move.

Tal always had a sense of humor and this tournament might have been more relaxed during the holidays. Besides, this doesn't really violate the "touch move rule" because he is still moving the Queen

@KeSetoKaiba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX9qy8HmaXE

i found something related could this be it?

That was an interesting game, but this wasn't really a Queen Sacrifice was it?

I don't think this was the game, but thanks for looking

I've heard something similar about tying a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree.

the name sounded very similar, so i thought it might be similar/what you are talking about

No