chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
Mikhail Tal vs Bent Larsen
Montreal (1979), Montreal CAN, rd 5, Apr-16
Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer. Classical Variation (B63)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Click Here to play Guess-the-Move
Given 37 times; par: 22 [what's this?]

explore this opening
find similar games 38 more Tal/Larsen games
sac: 15.Bf3 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: At the top of the page we display the common English name for the opening, followed by the ECO code (e.g. "B63"). The ECO codes are links that take you to opening pages.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE OF THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE.  [CLICK HERE]

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-02-06  zev22407: A clasic "In between move"
Mar-02-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Mateo: <Brian Watson: I believe the motivation for 14..Nxc3 is that 14..Nxe7 15.Bxb5+ axb5 16.Nxb5 Qa5 (or ..Qd7, also leading to difficulties) 17.Ne6+ Kf8 18.Nc4 Nf5 19.Qd8+, winning the rook. Is that right?> If 14... Ne7 15. Bb5! ab 16. Nb5 Qa5, the point is 17. b4! Nc6 18. Qc5, White wins. In this variation, if 16... Qd7 17. Qd7 Bd7 18. Nc7, White wins.

15... Nd1? is the losing move. Larsen should have played 15... Ne2! 16. Be2 Qe7. White stands better, but Black can defend.

Nov-08-06  Sularus: Tal's kung fu is too strong.
Jan-26-08  talisman: sonny liston-floyd patterson...quick...white's 17th and 18th pretty tough 1,2.
Sep-12-08  pom nasayao: man!!! one can see a lot of explosives packed in a 22-move game.
Oct-20-08  dwavechess: 19/22 Tal`s moves concur with rybka 3 at 3 minutes per move, last 16 moves.
Dec-25-08  notyetagm: <zev22407: A clasic "In between move">

Which one? This game is full(!) of <ZWISCHENZUG>!

Dec-25-08  notyetagm: <ZWISCHENZUG>

15 ♗e2-f3!
16 ♗e7-d6!

Wow.

Dec-25-08  notyetagm: <dwavechess: 19/22 Tal`s moves concur with rybka 3 at 3 minutes per move, <<<last 16 moves>>>.>

Wow.

So Tal goes <16/16(!)> in agreement with <Rybka 3> on the strongest move in the position, scoring 100%(!) accuracy with Rybka 3 on moves 7-22 (16 moves!) in a highly tactical position, almost 30 years before Rybka 3 is created!

Wow.

Dec-25-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: <So Tal goes <16/16(!)> in agreement with <Rybka 3> on the strongest move in the position, scoring 100%(!) accuracy with Rybka 3 on moves 7-22 (16 moves!) in a highly tactical position, almost 30 years before Rybka 3 is created!

Wow.> IMHO thats more a compliment to Rybka than Tal....

Dec-25-08  M.D. Wilson: Tal tied with Karpov at the Montreal Tournament of Stars, a great achievement. The 70s saw Tal's renaissance.
Sep-14-09  WhiteRook48: Tal kept bashing Larsen in the Sicilian
Aug-25-10  Whitehat1963: So simple, so beautiful. 22. Qa7 makes for an excellent Monday puzzle solution.
May-11-11  TheFocus: <Preparing for a game with Larsen is a matter which is either too complicated, or too simple. The Dane's repertoire contains practically all opening systems, and one's chances of guessing the variation are no better than in a lottery. Therefore at home it was decided to begin the game with the advance of the king's pawn. At that the preparation came to an end.>

Mikhail Tal - writing about his game with Larsen at Montreal 1979.

May-12-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <TheFocus> This was very funny, as the typical Tal wit shines through.

After my last encounter with Louis A Mercuri, he annotated the game in Chess Horizons. The amusing thing about it was that his first note came after 1.e4 c6; he was surprised, as he'd fully anticipated either the French or 1....e5, though I'd also been using the Caro-Kann for years.

As I then played an average of 150+ games per year, I'd get bored playing the same old thing all the time, plus playing with opponents such as Mercuri (who was heavily booked up), I tried to stay a step ahead all the time.

Apr-06-12  talisman: 12. e5 "the thematic advance in such positions, after all the black king is still in the center! - Tal

15. Bf3! a very important intermediate move after which white gains a clear advantage...the move made by Larsen loses rapidly - Tal

Aug-07-12  MarkFinan: Well I THINK Tal (must) be channelling his chess (and Brandy Intake!) through me, because I just scored 33 points on GTM, and the par Is ONLY!!!!!!!!<18> !!

I recieved an email (*sigh*) telling me how great I AM from one of my many FANS..

My greatest achievement In chess ??

Perhaps !!!!!!!!!

I will now ANSWER any questions!!! ((By E-mail))

MCF (THE) III.

:D

I made It to 1000 posts for the first time without AJ having me banished to sockpuppetdom lol.

Aug-02-13  Zhbugnoimt: This was beautiful!!, though heavily one-sided.

This game was featured in a book by Colin Crouch, and it said there that on playing the losing blunder 15...Nxd1?? Larsen took 20 minutes!! This shows how much better Tal's tactical vision was.

And although Tal may have played with 100% accuracy for 16 straight moves according to Rybka 3 it is not so according to Houdini 3

Dec-18-13  BKITU: Bent out of shape.
Dec-18-13  RookFile: Let's get into a tactical slugfest with Tal and see what happens.
Dec-01-14  gmelfranco: todo un maestro en el calculo jeje!!!
Apr-23-20  carpovius: Una de las más bellas partidas de ajedrez.
Sep-14-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: Although 11...b5 looks pretty standard and routine, it seems Bd7 is a much safer move here. The King is still in the center, and remained stranded in the center after b5.
Sep-14-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <Preparing for a game with Larsen is a matter which is either too complicated, or too simple. The Dane's repertoire contains practically all opening systems, and one's chances of guessing the variation are no better than in a lottery. Therefore at home it was decided to begin the game with the advance of the king's pawn. At that the preparation came to an end.>

The Soviet tournament book has a nearly unreadable graph showing how long the players took on each move. Larsen took six minutes on 1....c5, so I guess he was having preparation problems too. Tal's longest think was on 12.Bxe7 (20 minutes), while as someone noted Larsen took 22 minutes on the losing 15....Nxd1. He also took a while on 16....Qc4, but it was too late by then. Neither of them took much time on the last few moves.

After <Mateo>'s stronger 15....Ne2+ 16.Bxe2 Qxe7, the engine gives 17.Bf3 Bb7 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Qd6 Rc8 20.Rd2 Qc6 21.Qxc6+ Rxc8 22.Rhd1 Rc8 23.Rd7. You can see how that ending wouldn't have appealed to Larsen.

Oct-18-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: 17...Ne3 18. Qe3 and Larsen's rook on a8 has nowhere to go.
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: CLASSICAL. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC