The chess games of Mikhail Tal

Tal

Mikhail Tal
Number of games in database: 2,806
Years covered: 1949 to 1992
Highest rating achieved in database: 2645
Overall record: +1117 -298 =1303 (65.1%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      88 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS

With the White pieces:

Sicilian (339)
    B46 B43 B82 B32 B40
Ruy Lopez (254)
    C92 C95 C93 C96 C84
Ruy Lopez, Closed (163)
    C92 C95 C93 C96 C84
Caro-Kann (102)
    B14 B17 B18 B12 B10
French Defense (95)
    C07 C18 C09 C05 C16
English (91)
    A15 A14 A13 A17 A16

With the Black pieces:

Sicilian (340)
    B43 B40 B46 B22 B52
King's Indian (113)
    E94 E92 E98 E69 E62
Queen's Pawn Game (82)
    E10 A46 E00 A40 A41
English (79)
    A15 A14 A10 A13 A17
Nimzo Indian (79)
    E48 E52 E53 E46 E56
Modern Benoni (74)
    A56 A64 A61 A62 A65

Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Tal vs Larsen, 1965 1-0
   Tal vs Hjartarson, 1987 1-0
   Tal vs Karpov, 1987 1-0
   Tal vs Smyslov, 1959 1-0
   Tal vs Miller, 1988 1-0
   Tal vs Hecht, 1962 1-0
   Tal vs Koblents, 1957 1-0
   M Bobotsov vs Tal, 1958 0-1
   Tal vs Sviridov, 1969 1-0
   Fischer vs Tal, 1959 0-1

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   Tal-Botvinnik World Championship Match (1960)
   Tal-Botvinnik World Championship Return Match (1961)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Tal Fever by chocobonbon
   Match Tal! by amadeus
   Mikhail Tal: Selected Games by wanabe2000
   Mikhail Tal's Best Games by KingG
   The Magician, supplemental by Yopo
   Tal king of chess by LESTRADAR
   remembering Tal by Yopo
   The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal by MoonlitKnight
   tal best games by brager
   Road to the Championship - Mik Tal by Fischer of Men
   TAL by chessdeviant
   Guess-the-Move Chess: 1960-1979 (Part 3) by Anatoly21
   fav Tal & Topalov games by guoduke
   Geller and Tal beat the French by ughaibu

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Mikhail Tal
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MIKHAIL TAL (born Nov-09-1936, died Jun-28-1992) Latvia	PRONUNCIATION:		[what is this?]
Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal was born in Riga, Latvia (annexed by the USSR in 1940). At 6, he learned chess from his father,a medical doctor (source: Tal interview in <Chess Life>, May 1967). He won his first Latvian Championship in 1953, and earned the title of Soviet Master the following year. In 1957, he became the youngest-ever Soviet Champion. In 1960, following a string of victories in strong tournaments (including a second consecutive Soviet Championship, the Portoro� Interzonal and the Candidates in Yugoslavia), he 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, he lost the rematch the next year. 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. He 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. In 1988, he won the World Blitz Championship. He died of renal failure in 1992, at the age of 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

page 1 of 113; games 1-25 of 2,806

Game	Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. J Klovans vs Tal	0-1	18	1949	Riga	C10 French
2. Tal vs M Strelkov	1-0	16	1949	Riga	C10 French
3. Kholmov vs Tal	0-1	21	1949	Riga	D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
4. Tal vs Ripatti	½-½	41	1949	Riga	B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
5. Nevitsky vs Tal	0-1	43	1949	Semi Finals Youth Championship	C49 Four Knights
6. Tal vs Leonov	1-0	25	1949	Riga	B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
7. Tal vs C Weldon	1-0	65	1949	Vilnius	B40 Sicilian
8. A Parnas vs Tal	0-1	29	1949	Riga	C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
9. Tal vs J I Zilber	1-0	33	1949	Riga	C07 French, Tarrasch
10. Tal vs Pliss	1-0	37	1950	Riga	C99 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 12...cd
11. K Klasup vs Tal	½-½	41	1950	Riga	D30 Queen's Gambit Declined
12. Tal vs Miglan	1-0	21	1950	URS jr	C82 Ruy Lopez, Open
13. Tal vs N Darsniek	0-1	26	1950	Riga	C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin
14. Jullik vs Tal	0-1	39	1950	Riga	A16 English
15. Tal vs Sodell	0-1	23	1950	URS	C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed
16. Pakala vs Tal	0-1	29	1950	Riga	D02 Queen's Pawn Game
17. Tal vs Kliavin	1-0	54	1950	Latvian jr Champ	B74 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical
18. Leonov vs Tal	0-1	34	1950	URS	E17 Queen's Indian
19. Liepin vs Tal	0-1	44	1950	Riga	B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
20. Ivanov vs Tal	1-0	25	1950	URS	C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed
21. Lavrinenko vs Tal	0-1	38	1950	Riga	B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
22. Birjanis vs Tal	0-1	35	1951	Riga	A91 Dutch Defense
23. Tal vs T Zeid	1-0	29	1951	Riga	D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
24. Tal vs Gradus	1-0	24	1951	Riga	C98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin
25. Tal vs Gipslis	1-0	24	1951	Tournament	E30 Nimzo-Indian, Leningrad


page 1 of 113; games 1-25 of 2,806

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Tal wins | Tal loses

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 103 OF 103 · Later Kibitzing>
Nov-09-12		MountainMatt: Boy, he was somethin' wasn't he? Happy b-day and R.I.P. Mr. Tal.

Nov-09-12		TheFocus: Happy Birthday, Mikhail Tal!

Nov-09-12		kudubux: R.I.P. and Happy Birthday "Magician"!

Nov-09-12		juan31: Rest In Peace Master Tal

Nov-22-12		Cemoblanca: If Joe "The Gentleman" Perry http://www.wt-s.co.uk/#/joe-perry/4... were a actor he would be a possible candidate for the role of Misha Tal! :) Misha Tal: http://www.chess-poster.com/english... Joe Perry: http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/... P.S. ...but definitely not "The Rocket"!!! :D http://www.snookerbacker.com/wp-con...

Nov-22-12		Cemoblanca: This 1 fits more with the Perry photo! ;) http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... By the way: Here is a book list about Keres & Tal! http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Nov-23-12		perfidious: < Reisswolf: ....Are you referring to his chain smoking? Or did he do other things as well, such as drugs or alcohol? I was under the impression that Tal was just a smoker, but otherwise a teetotaller....> The day we met, there was no evidence that this was the case: during play, Tal kept a vodka bottle near to hand throughout the games.

Nov-24-12		SimonWebbsTiger: @<perfidious> Hort on his DVD for Chessbase recounts a game against Tal in Moscow. The game had started but there was no Tal. The Soviets rushed and got Tal who was in a drunk stupor from the night before. They even had to put a fully clothed Tal under a shower to wake him! Sadly, Tal didn't pull off the miracle feat and defeat Hort.

Nov-24-12		SimonWebbsTiger: ps. the Hort v. Tal game in question with the (correct) account is here Hort vs Tal, 1963

Nov-26-12		Gottschalk: Players die, the tournaments are forgotten, but the games of the great artists of the board remain for posterity, making eternal remembrance of their creators. Mikhail Tal

Dec-14-12		The Rocket: Does somebody know a list of famous(and controversial) Tal sacrifice games?

Dec-14-12		TheFocus: <The Rocket>< Does somebody know a list of famous(and controversial) Tal sacrifice games?> Yes, here it is: 1. The first game he ever played. 2. The last he ever played. 3. Every game in between.

Dec-28-12		Njcleri: The first time that I had ever heard of Tal was in an analysis video on YouTube. As I watched, there was an incredible series of sacrifices, which shows just how creative he was, and still hugely successful. He has to be one of my favorite players in history. His name belongs in the same standing as those of Fischer, Kasparov, Morphy, and Petrosian.

Dec-28-12		RookFile: I would put this game right at the top of the list: Tal vs Larsen, 1965 Here is Tal, in a tense match in the world championship cycle, the fate very much in doubt. We come to the key game, and he throws a knight out the window for a speculative attack. There are very few people who would have done such a thing. <The auditorium went still: what was this - ultra-boldness, recklessness? No one found an answer to these questions, it was simply not possible. The sacrifice provoked numerous arguments, whole forests of variations... At any event, Tal's boldness in such an important game is a unique phenomenon in the praxis of leading grandmasters!>

Mar-18-13		John Abraham: Does anyone think a young Tal resembles Fez from That 70s Show? :o

Mar-18-13		Jim Bartle: Which 70s show? You need to be more specific.

Mar-18-13		parisattack: It was called 'That 70s Show' actually...

Mar-18-13		FSR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_'... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165598/

Mar-18-13		Jim Bartle: Oh right, that show with those cute teenagers Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. I wonder whatever happened to them.

Mar-25-13		Sho: Quote from Tal (also posted on Fischer), "When I asked Fischer why he had not played a certain move in our game, he replied: 'Well, you laughed when I wrote it down.'" So, which game? Thanks, Sho.

Mar-25-13		cro777: <Which Game?> Robert Fischer - Mikhail Tal Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959) Position after 21...Qxb8 click for larger view "Every player has his own habit: one will first make his move and then write it down, while another will do things the other way around...In our game Fischer first wrote down the move <22.Rae1!>, without a doubt the strongest, and wrote it not in his usual English notation but in European, almost Russian! Then he not very deftly pushed the scoresheet towards me. 'He's asking for an endorsement', I thought to myself, but how was I to react? To frown was impossible, if I smiled he would suspect 'trickery', so I did the natural thing. I got up and began to calmly walk up and down the stage. I met Petrosian, made some joke to him, and he replied. The 15-year-old Fischer, who was essentially still only a large child, sat with a confused expression on his face, looking first at the front row of spectators where his second was sitting, and then at me. Then he wrote down another move. <22.Qc6?>, and after 22...Rd7 23.Rae1+ Be7 24.Rxf7 Kxf7 25.Qe6+ Kf8! 26.Qxd7 Qd6 I held on to my extra piece and adjourned the game in a won position. When I later asked Fischer why he hadn't played 22.Rae1, he replied: 'Well, you laughed when I wrote it down!'" (Mikhail Tal)

Apr-03-13		Marmot PFL: If wikipedia is correct, Tal did not have an especially good record against the world elite players- Mikhail Botvinnik: +12 −12 =20 David Bronstein: +8 −5 =18 Viktor Korchnoi: +7 −11 =5 Bent Larsen: +12 −7 =18 Bobby Fischer: +4 −2 =5 (all Tal wins happened when Fischer was 15 or 16) Paul Keres: +4 −8 =20 Efim Geller: +6 −6 =23 Lev Polugaevsky: +2 −8 =25 Boris Spassky: +6 −9 =25 Anatoly Karpov: +0 −1 =19 Vasily Smyslov: +3 −4 =21 Tigran Petrosian: +6 −9 =27 Leonid Stein: +0 −3 =15 Lajos Portisch: +9 −5 =18 A losing score against 8 out of 14. Probably he could have improved with a more conservative style but would have given up some wins against weaker players.

Apr-03-13		RookFile: Well, that is career wise, of course. Around 1960 Tal kept it simple and beat just about everybody, Keres excepted.

Apr-03-13		Novirasputin: Here is the difference. Tal was unquestionably the best in his prime (and at other times too). The thing is he never let his health act as a crutch even though it was a logical reason for some of his subpar performance. That is admirable and showed he just loved the game. The hospital escape to defeat Kasparov was the icing.

Apr-28-13		Tal7777777: <Marmot PFL> Watch it, that's my hero you're talking about...besides...when he did win, he did it in style!

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