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Jan Timman vs Mikhail Tal
Montpellier Candidates Playoff (1985), Montpellier FRA, rd 2, Dec-03
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation. McDonnell Defense (D20)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-09-02
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: It may seem like Black's 7...Qf6 move gets him into trouble, but that's the line.

See Van Wely vs Jeroen Piket, 2001

Mar-30-09  Dredge Rivers: <Sneaky>

<but that's the line.>

Well, then, the line sucks!

Feb-26-11  dalwand: In his book "Het smalle pad" Timman shows the end position in a diagram and says "the positioning of the black pieces looks very sad." Indeed, the final position is quite funny.
Jul-16-16  zydeco: 13...Be7 and 15...Qxe6 both seem like mistakes.

In other games with this line, black has played 13...Nge7. I like 13....0-0-0 although it doesn't look like it's ever been played.

15...fxe6 seems much better, allowing black to castle queenside.

An uncharacteristically weak game from Tal.

Jul-17-16  zydeco: Actually, Robert Byrne points out that if 15...fxe6 16.Qh5+ Kd8 17.Rd1 and white has an overwhelming position.

But 13....Be7 is probably the decisive mistake.

Jul-17-16  drollere: remarkable how long white's e5 pawn endures out there by itself.

<Well, then, the line sucks!>

tinman got a lot of development done by kicking around the Q, then doubling the Qside pawns. tal never had time to catch his breath, as apparent in the final position. Kf8 is a sad concession, equivalent to losing his rook. but pinning the Q was a white threat ever since 8. e5.

Jul-04-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I've never seen such a train wreck after an exchange of pieces.
Oct-29-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: One would have thought colours were reversed and Tal was administering this hiding rather than receiving one in this QGA-cum-open game.

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