Attack With Mikhail Tal
The legendary Mikhail Tal was the finest ever exponent of attacking chess. His all-out sacrificial style took him all the way to the World Championship title. Dogged by ill-health, Tal's reign was a short one, and he was never able to regain his crown, but Tal remained an outstanding player right up to his death in 1992. His departure has taken away one of the chess world's most charismatic figures; a player who excited chess passions wherever he went. In this, his last book, written together with Russian sports journalist Iakov Damsky, Tal shows how to unleash devastating attacks in all kinds of positions.
Attack with Mikhail Tal
The legendary Mikhail Tal was the finest ever exponent of attacking chess. His all-out sacrificial style took him all the way to the World Championship title. Dogged by ill-health, Tal's reign was a short one, and he was never able to regain his crown, but Tal remained an outstanding player right up to his death in 1992. His departure has taken away one of the chess world's most charismatic figures; a player who excited chess passions wherever he went. In this, his last book, written together with Russian sports journalist Iakov Damsky, Tal shows how to unleash devastating attacks in all kinds of positions.Specifications184 Pages
Paperback
Publisher: Everyman
Published: August, 1994
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Mikhail Tal, the 'magician from Riga,' was the greatest attacking World Champion of them all, and this enchanting autobiography chronicles his extraordinary career with charm and humor. Dazzling games are interspersed throughout with anecdotes and witty self-interviews, and in typically objective fashion he related both the downs and ups of his encounters. An inveterate smoker and drinker, Tal's life on the circuit was punctuated by bouts in the hospital with kidney problems, but nothing could dull his love for chess and his sheer genius on the chessboard. His illustrious tournament record, up to his death in 1992, is included here in full, along with 100 complete games and nearly as many positions. Tal's annotations in this book are a world apart from ordinary games collections. No reader could fail to be swept along by his passion and vitality as he sets the scene for an encounter and then recounts every psychological twist and turn.
World Champion Gary Kasparov trailed Yugoslav Lubo Ljubojevic by half a point heading into the final round of the elite SWIFT International (the subject of our last column). When the Yugoslav with the White pieces quickly drew with Anatoly Karpov, it gave Kasparov the opportunity to catch up with him if only he could defeat his redoubtable adversary, Soviet Mikhail Tal, a former world champion. When this was accomplished, some of the journalists in the press room claimed Tal's defense was poor and alleged a Soviet fix, recalling similar charges at Cura,cao, 1962, Palma, 1970, and more recently on a couple of occasions when Karpov met and defeated Soviet colleagues to win tournaments ahead of outsiders. Such a charge, however, has never been leveled at Kasparov, and a kinder view of the win is that he took full advantage of Tal's plausible but faulty strategy. Further, it is noted that Tal made his reputation for his great attacking ability rather than his skill in defense. Today we give the game in question and allow you to judge for yourself.
A.Another possibility is 10.PxB, PxN; 11.P-N5, N-K4 (11.... PxP; 12.BxP, N-K2; 13.N-Q4 gives White the initiative and positional compensation for the sacrificed pawn); 12.PxP or 12.NxP, with White enjoying a slight edge. Apparently Kasparov is after bigger game.
Botvinnik is the only player in the history of the game to have lost and regained the title twice. He lost it to V. Smyslov in 1955 and regained it two years later. Then came the real challenge when Mikhail Tal was playing incredible chess. Tal fireworks added a new dimension to the game. He challenged the classical theories with his magnificent tactical play that even a player of Botvinnik's class found rather hard to handle. But Botvinnik prepared himself well for the return match in 1961 and blunted the force of Tal's attacks. He finally lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1963 when he was 52 years old.
The Botvinnik era saw the rise of many great players and the Soviet supremacy was established beyond any doubt, until the rise of Bobby Fischer. The Soviets viewed chess as a form of art and never welcomed the professionalism that Fischer preached with great zeal. In fact, Botvinnik once said that high prize money was a bane to the game! 041b061a72