FoxyChess › Grandmasters › Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
The eighth World Champion, known as the Magician from Riga for imaginative sacrifices, tactical complications and fearless attacking chess.
How Tal plays
The 'Magician from Riga' sacrificed pieces on intuition and dared his opponents to find the refutation over the board. Many of his sacrifices were later found to be unsound, and it didn't matter: the positions were so complicated that nobody could defend them with a clock ticking. He became World Champion in 1960 at 23.
What to learn from Tal
Tal's games are the best cure for playing too safely. Notice that his sacrifices always open lines towards the king and bring more pieces into the attack; the material is a price for time. Try to find his moves before you look at them.
A game to play through
Tal, M. vs Koblentz - Riga 1957 1-0 — the final position. Tal vs his trainer Alexander Koblentz, Riga 1957: a training game that became famous for its sacrifices.
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Mikhail Tal games on FoxyChess
Watch each game move by move, or play the winner's moves yourself and see how close you get.
- Nimzowitsch, Aaron vs Chigorin, Mikhail - Karlsbad 1907 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Koblentz - Riga 1957 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Panno, O. - Portoroz izt 1958 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Russell - Munich Ol 1958 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Giplis - 25th USSR ch 1958 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Bronstein, D. - 26th USSR ch 1959 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Smyslov, V. - JUG ct 1959 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Fischer, R. - JUG ct 1959 1-0
- Fischer, R. vs Tal, M. - Leipzig ol 1960 Draw
- Tal, M. vs Lutikov - sf USSR tch 1964 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Portisch - ct qf 1965 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Larsen, B. - ct sf 1965 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Byrne, R. - Havana ol 1966 1-0
- Bilek vs Tal, M. - Moscow 1967 0-1
- Barcza, G. vs Tal, M. - Tallin 1971 0-1
- Tal, M. vs Vooremaa - Tallin 1971 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Petrosian, T. - USSR t-ch 1974 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Velimirovic, D. - USSR-Yugoslavia 1979 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Speelman, J. - Subotica izt 1987 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Speelman, J. - Reykjavik WCup 1988 1-0
- Tal, M. vs Akopyan, V. - Barcelona 1992 1-0
- Tal,M vs Larsen,B - cs 1965 1-0
- Tal,M vs Hjartarson,J - Reykjavik 1987 1-0
- Karpov, Anatoly vs Steinberg, Mikhail - URS-ch U18 playoff 1969 1-0
- Karpov, Anatoly vs Steinberg, Mikhail - URS-ch U18 playoff 1969 1-0
- Steinberg, Mikhail vs Karpov, Anatoly - URS-ch U18 playoff 1969 0-1
- Fischer, Robert James vs Tal, Mihail - Bled 1961 1-0
- Fischer, Robert James vs Tal, Mihail - Candidats Tournament 1962 1-0
- Gurevich, Mikhail vs Gelfand, Boris - Belgrade Invest 1991 0-1
- Chigorin, Mikhail vs Lasker, Emanuel - St Petersburg9596 1895 0-1
- Chigorin, Mikhail vs Lasker, Emanuel - St Petersburg9596 1895 0-1
- Lasker, Emanuel vs Chigorin, Mikhail - St Petersburg9596 1895 1-0
- Lasker, Emanuel vs Chigorin, Mikhail - St Petersburg9596 1895 1-0
- Lasker, Emanuel vs Chigorin, Mikhail - Nuremberg 1896 1-0
- Gurevich, Mikhail vs Polgar, Judit - Groningen PCA 1993 0-1
- Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Mukhin, Mikhail A - Leningrad-5ch sf 1926 1-0
- Dobropistsev, J. vs Botvinnik, Mikhail - Leningrad-5ch sf 1926 0-1
- Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Chekhover, Vitaly - Moscow 1935 1-0
- Dubinin, Peter Vasilievich vs Botvinnik, Mikhail - URS-ch11 1939 0-1
- Botvinnik, Mikhail vs Bondarevsky, Igor - URS-ch14 1945 1-0
…and 396 more inside FoxyChess.
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