Mikhail Tal: Energy Build-Up and Explosive Sacrifices

One of Mikhail Tal's most beautiful games. Tal sacrifices a pawn right in the opening and grabs the initiative. Then by playing positional chess he accumulates a tremendous amount of energy. After that he executes sophisticated maneuvers in order to create weaknesses in the enemy position. And of course, all this sets the stage for explosive sacrifices and a devastating attack.
Thorbergsson vs Tal, Reykjavik 1964
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. f4 d6 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Be2 exd5 9. exd5 b5 10. Nxb5 Ne4 11. O-O a6 12. Na3 Ra7 13. Bd3 Re7 14. Nc2 Rfe8 15. Re1 Nd7 16. Ne3 Ndf6 17. Qc2 Nh5 18. g3 Bd4 19. Nxd4 cxd4 20. Ng2 Ng5 21. Rxe7 Nh3+ 22. Kf1 Rxe7 23. Bd2 Nf6 24. Nh4 Ng4 25. Nf3 Re3 26. Kg2 Qe7 27. Re1 Nxf4+ 28. gxf4 Rxe1 29. Nxe1 Qh4 30. Bc1 Qxe1 31. h3 Nh6 32. f5 Nxf5 33. Bf4 Nh4+ 34. Kh2 Nf3+ 35. Kg2 Bxh3+ 36. Kxf3 Qg1 37. Bxg6 Qg4+ 38. Kf2 Qxf4+ 39. Kg1 hxg6 0-1

[@rodrigoapache2146]

Very good ❣ And in this match Tal's sacrifices were peaceful

[@00prth]

i recently discovered your channel and i cannot express in words how addicted i am to these videos. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING

[@chesswisdom]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@ashoksafaya5397]

Thanks for the beautiful historical game with enough lessons to learn.

[@chesswisdom]

My pleasure.

[@columkenn]

Tals games are the most interesting

[@chessthinker500]

Love the way you analyze the games & explain why the players made the move.😊👍👍👍

[@TheGloryofMusic]

I experimented at home, and pawns DO move backwards.

[@largin386]

“He executes sophisticated manures” 😂 Great work again, my new favorite chess analysis channel

[@chesswisdom]

Yes, Tal's magic can make even manure look sophisticated. :) Thank you.

[@parkashpanar9105]

Keep these coming

[@furiousangel8960]

more tall games pls,great video btw,tnx,big hug..

[@raphaelzrihen9607]

What a game, The brilliancy is unmatched. We shall all try to play Tal's style. Enjoyable always. Thank you.

[@chesswisdom]

My pleasure.

[@kingofillyria601]

Good video but dont repeat words often, be more synthetic

[@kingofillyria601]

​@@chesswisdomjust a little

[@kingberzerk]

Very valuable comments. Please continue the fabulous work.

[@mcronrn]

Thx for this great KID game by Tal! 👏👏

[@chesswisdom]

My pleasure!

[@Ulrich_He_Kanal]

top explained!

[@bornon221269]

Great game to show, great analysis

[@ayaxorozco449]

thanks! one of the best games i ever watch. very instructive; as all of tal's games.

[@gimhana_menaka7928]

Superb analysis 👌

[@louiscypher6919]

Thank You!

[@chesswisdom]

My pleasure!

[@mousumighoshal8433]

Really amazing explanation❤❤❤

[@alonzobalmaskez5729]

Very smart and enjoying game. Great plaesure to follow your teaching.

[@lukemarks3281]

Loved the koblence inclusion, and i can't believe I haven't seen (or at least truly felt) this game before.

Michail Nechemjewitsch Tal. He was a good chess player from Riga, Latvia. Baltic states.

[@GNeuman]

What a superb game and beautifully described, all with a fantastic Eastern European accent! Thank you!

[@chesswisdom]

My pleasure!

[@fritzgw7094]

If you want to study classical games don't go any further guys this is the channel that's right for you . Truly a magnificient channel. Stay up and upload more ^^

[@chesswisdom]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@amosdraak3536]

A great game by the Magician. 9. …b5 is a great move that I’d like to think was prepared given how early it was played and that it could’ve been risky if not calculated deeply enough. Either way, it was a strong practical move as activating your pieces when cramped supersedes a single pawn, and the option of either regaining the pawn or dis-coordinating the enemy position was there. The rest was a very natural occupation of the center and then successful transfer of those forces towards the enemy king tactically, and a crushing combination that finished the game. The tournament was nearly perfect for Tal, who won 12.5/13 and had some excellent games. Gligoric was second with only one loss to Tal and a draw, and Olafsson managed to take third in his home country with a loss to Tal, Gligoric, & Robert Wade (the former British Chess Champion in 1952)

[@chesswisdom]

Yes, as Tal writes, during this encounter he remembered a game (Tchaikovskaya vs Rozhlapa) in which Black played 9...b5. As always, thank you for the insightful summaries and the valuable background information. It really helps everyone understand the broader context of the tournaments. Good day.

[@michael-grandpamoses2571]

Fantastic tactical game by Tal and very well presented. It's a shame computers have ruined beautiful games such as this. I'd bet the engine would give Tal at least 2 "??" and 1 "X" in this game, yet only masterpieces are derived from minds like his.

[@lebm878]

👏

[@ayubikhan5174]

Sir plz analyze the currently ongoing candidate tournament..... Other people are just doing formality things....

[@chesswisdom]

Thank you for your suggestion, sir. I would love to, but unfortunately I can only make one video a week at the moment.

[@kurzackd]

22:51 -- but what if White *simply DOES NOT CAPTURE the Black Rook **_AT ALL_** ?? :O* Then he _SHOULD_ be OK, no ?? :O .

[@chesswisdom]

In this case Black will be up the exchange and his attack will continue.

[@raskreia8326]

Tal’s evey move are related. Mine acting like Tal but sacrificing meaningless and 3-4 time blunder, cannot see whole chess board and finally losing with a styles.

[@MilindGavkar]

Can anybody explain how gm arranges pieces cohesively?

[@BREAKocean]

Can you be more specific? The coordination of pieces must meet the demands of the pieces (weak squares,diagonals, pawn structures, open files etc

[@bajnicestanko4047]

As a professional, I tell you dear student that you must realise that Talj saw everything down the line when he played Bd4. If you don't believe this just keep studying. If you believe it is impossible not that you never going to be as strong player as Tal or any other GM is, you better quit on chess immediately. The way you comment the game dear host proves me you didn't consider Tal calculated everything at the moment he plays Bd4, but you do explain the moves right. Afterwards, one first learns the letters and words to be able to compose the novel, and these videos do make their purpose in that way.

[@fredpennington6180]

You speak the name of Tals teacher; but, dont spell the teachers name! Who?

[@chesswisdom]

Alexander Koblencs.