A critical moment came after he'd secured the h-file with <24...Rh6>.

click for larger view

I know it was a 20 board simul., but <25.Ne4?> was still pretty careless of Tal. Not only does it leave his back rank woefully weak but it also blocks the long diagonal for his Q.

In contrast, <25.Nf1> would really have taken the sting out of Black's attack. Now if <25...Ra8> White can simply lop off the B with <26.Rxd6>. Black can't recapture 26...Rxd6 because his Ra8 is en prise and <26...Ra1> is easily answered <27.Re8+ Kh7 28.Rxh6+> etc..

Yes, I had the same thought while clicking through the game that 25. Nf1 was the natural move.

Hints?! Much like a sledgehammer hints about bashing.

I think he's OK, but perhaps his last series of posts provide a hint at his recent departure.

I just saw this today and since you expressed some concern I want to assure you that, yes, I'm OK. I just finally got fed up with all the trolls and I decided that I was no longer going to bother to participate on this site and post anything. Not enough meaningful chess-related discussions to make it worth my time to reply to. So I took a step that I thought I would never do, I put those that I considered the most obnoxious trolls on my Ignore List and restricted myself to visiting this site in a "Read Only Mode" (ROM) only. Although sometimes it's hard to do so.

I pretty much visit this sight daily but I do refrain from, no matter how tempting, to reply to any posts I see. I did let my Premium Membership run out but I couldn't tolerate all the ads when I visited the site so I rejoined. I'll probably do that each year since it is only a nominal amount.

I do miss some of the discussions but, hey, in the grand scheme of things, it's not all that important.

(been ages since I said that.)

Great to hear you are OK, you should not go (ROM) in the middle of a pandemic, people worry.

I've stuck to my New Years resolution, no more forum fighting, (though I enjoy the occasional wind up.)

The blog is coming along find, today posted about an unknown talent I had, 'art.' I can draw just as good that bloke who chopped off his ear...I think that was Beethoven...I know he went deaf.

here:
https://www.redhotpawn.com/chess-bl...

...and here after 30 years I now look like a cartoon drawn in a British Chess Magazine.

https://www.redhotpawn.com/chess-bl...

My latest idea....A chess magazine...not an online thing...(I think the internet has had it's day, to be honest I'm surprised it's lasted this long.)

It will be called 'Just Chess' it will only use games from from Greco to 1975 and no computer analysis.

Each issue will cover an old tournament, not necessarily a famous one. I'll note it up the games (or I may employ Keg - he is wasted here. This place feels like it is about to keel over 'This site cannot be reached' on every post. He needs his stuff in hard copy else it will all be lost. Hopefully the Bio Bunch are copying their stuff as well, a lot of work by them could go down the drain.)

I've done my research, the older generation are fed up clicking though online games played by kids that don't shave, these sprogs know more about pawn endings than they do about puberty. We/they/us want Man Chess, not Alekhines with acne.

Trolls!
Here we are not too bad. One or two but these are easily spotted and ignored.

I'd run it along MAD magazine lines. Games we'd like to see, Morphy v Karpov, Blackburne v Botvinnik etc...White Spy v Black Spy (traps and counter traps)....and today I decided that Magnus Carlsen looks like Alfred E. Neuman.

If only I had a Don Martin to do the art work (it was him who drew the flappy feet on his characters.)