Tal vs. Geller | 1958 USSR Championship - GM Yasser Seirawan - 2014.02.05

Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan analyzes the games of the legendary Mikhail Tal.

[@ronwilliams357]

I'd like to see an hour of Yasser Seirawan, Fred Rogers and Bob Ross talking to each other and sharing stories.

[@STLChessClub]

Seirawan knew Tal personally if I'm not mistaken so to him: Michael. To you: Mikhail. He's not mispronouncing Tal's name, he is simply calling a personal friend by the moniker he's used with him in person.

[@Katalattein]

is he also calling Fabiano Caruana constantly "CARIUANA" because he knows the guy personally?

[@sergi-13]

Ivan Jankovic That was funny XD

[@naromecuas8635]

Its very common I guess....here in Argentina in chess magazines they call him Miguel Tal, what can you do right?

[@RicardoAGuitar]

He not only knew Tal personally, but beat him 4.5-0.5 in their classical games.

[@kojiattwood]

Yes, it's like calling Baryshnikov "Misha"

[@Biggus63]

Have to love his cheshire cat smile. When he talks about something that particularly delights him his whole face except that disappears. What a great chess teacher he is! As a guitar teacher I always felt that the ability to convey your sense of enthusiasm and joy in your subject to your student was crucial. After all if they don't play they can't improve. Conversely the more they play the better they get which feeds back into the desire to play and you get a snowball effect. I get this with Yasser's lectures.

[@svfox]

i love Yasser's talking

[@inside91]

I just love Yasser Seirawan! Thank you so much for sharing! I'm watching this from Sweden :)

[@eshuphoenix]

Thanks for the wonderful analysis Yasser Sir. You are awesome!!!

[@samcatsam]

Yasser is an asset to human kind. what a treasure. what a treat.

[@MrGoMaster]

yeah a new Seirawan lesson^^ hope there will be some more soon...*excited*

[@orangenexuss4119]

I love these GM lectures.

[@Lion-ee1mq]

I think Tal is my favorite chess player.. his games are fascinating to review & his nickname is very fitting.

[@DreamWizard9]

I played over the games of the world championship match "Tal - Botvinnik 1960" and was amazed at how 'positional' Tal's games were! I mean before he started the tactics, his strategical foundation was always there! Maybe the opponent (Botvinnik) made him change his berserker style a bit? Anyways by studying the games of Tal I realised chess is not either tactics or strategy. They both are intertwined and even feed eachother. The tactics cannot be there without a positional base. And strategical play needs to be backed up by 'correct' tactics. That's just my opinion and current view on things...

[@ZiggyZugzwang]

well put, bro!

[@jackismname]

Yea Id say you‘re spot on

[@brianjacob8728]

At the highest level, you have to be able to play either way.

[@moniqueheubel8970]

Interesting point

[@martm216]

Yasser is a wonderful expositor.

[@dago6410]

id LOVE to see another video with GM Yasser Seirawan talking about Tal... Would be fascinating to hear more of this typo of his personal insight into who tal was and so on, as he knew him personally and could give us all more of different perspective on this guy... Also, Yasser talkign about liuterally anything is amazing, so... win win XD... So sad he is no longer GM in residence in st louis

[@shonl8460]

Wow. Capablanca refuted the Marshall gambit after years of prep by Frank Marshall. Amazing

[@dmaster20ify]

Note to self. Analyse different move orders to see how well each stands up to a defensive idea.

[@svfox]

Tal.. he was really a magician

[@fravatel]

I have the deepest respect for Yasser as a GM and human being. However, I think (30:13) the correct way of attacking is just the prosaic Qg4+ in stead of Qh4, since after Kf8 there is Bxh7 and the will be no escape from Qg8# (Bxf2+ just Kh2). Or Kh8, then Qf5 will cost Black the house. The line he improvised with Qh4-f6 f5 and Bxf5 just failes to Re6 and besides that after Bxf5 f6 there is d7!. A better defense for Black seems to be Qh4 Bxf2+ in stead of f5 and after Kxf2 Black has Qb6+xd6 or after Qxf2 the attack will have lost some momentum. allowing Black to play Qa7 Nd4 Re5.

[@jimmyranaway]

your smile is absolutely infectious.

[@mikejohn1978]

Yasser chess achievements are greater than both ben and ron putogether!! Yaz ur the best

[@kontrapunkti]

Yes, he was one of the top guy`s in the world back in the days. And according to Jeremy Silman, he`s one of the greatest positional player ever... 4 time US Champion is also not bad

[@octavianeandracles5868]

soooo for those who's complaining about how to pronounce the name of Tal... how do you pronounce "Yasser Seirawan" ? Act as fan of Tal on a chess board.

[@flaming-sword007]

Good and smooth analysis !

[@skittsoidz4853]

Tal was really a Boss!!!

[@stefanholbek2449]

Juz luuv Tal's play ... and no doubt who's the World Champion in presenting chess!

[@phrytsak1]

Does GM Seirawan have a plus score against Tal? He does, according to chessgames (I was curious to see if they've ever played each other), but I don't know if that's the complete record.

[@BrulydePesche58]

Found in MegaDatabase 5 games Seirawan vs Tal from 1980 to 89. Four win for Seirawan with White, 1 draw with Black. ;)

[@tinytim8173]

At about 33:30 does Rc8 work? Pinning blacks rook to his king threatening to take the rook and if the white rook is captured recapturing with the pawn and making a queen?

[@jumpyjoie]

I love Seirawan's way of explaining great games! It's fun watching the lectures! Had one doubt though:In the variation where black's Queen takes white rook on b7 after Bxf6 gxf6 white could play Qg4+ instead of Qh4. Black's only responses are: Kh8 then Qf5 and white wins or Kf8 in which case Bxh7 threatening Qg8++ & wins again is this correct or am I missing something?

[@TexasSizzle]

Thanks Yasser! Great stuff! BTW, what is book's title? Thanks!

[@fburton8]

I think it the book is Ivan Sokolov's "Sacrifice and Initiative in Chess". It has both Tal-Geller 1958 and Tal-Lutikov 1964 games.

[@theresnoonehereatall4807]

"Consensus", is the word you're looking for.

[@johnvandenberg8883]

Qg4+ is a much stronger move than Qh4 (with the idea of Qf5 if Kh8 and Bxh7 if Kf8).

[@christopher74w]

after bxf6 re6 and there is no more attack and he would have been 2 exchanges down, it is the computer evaluation

[@christopher74w]

i actually found the defense on my own, after qxb7 bxf6, you play re6 giving material back and at the end of everything black's rook will defend using the 6th rank and they are up 2 exchanges with an advantage even the computer says so, and i have the specialty of giving some material back to defend

[@christopher74w]

the computer line gives -0.97

[@kBj500]

With all respect Yasser looks like Cheshire Cat from Alice and wonder land

[@marcgordon6381]

After White plays Q-h4 (This is the what if analysis starting at the time 28:54 on the video) p-f6 is not the only reply for Black. B x f2 check equalizes because White must take the bishop to save his queen. If White takes with the king then Black checks with queen to b-3 and then takes the White pawn on d6. If White takes with the queen then q-a7 forces the trade of queens.

[@Digifier]

1:20 - 1:26 repeat :P

[@DavideMartiniCommentatore]

I'm sorry, but it much simpler than that: If the black Q takes the R, it allows the WQ to give check on g4 after BxN, gxB, and it leads almost surely to mate in few moves. Note that the black K can't escape via e7 because of the pawn. Tal put the pawn there to escape (black could have taken it for several moves, including after the Bg5 pin, and this was not commented at any time). ...QxRb7, BxNf6, gxN (otherwise, Qh4), Qg4+, ...Kf8, Bxa7, and if Kh8, Qh4. By abandoning Nf6's guard black simply made a mistake. It's a common pattern, white has his pieces perfectly placed for attack, and black has to defend, not attacking again. Another attacking path for white was d7. If ...QxR, d7xR=Q+, RxQ, Qh4, and the attack goes on.

[@Sharwul]

Yasser = Bob Ross + Cheshire Cat

[@kristianhauservillegas3343]

What book is GM Yasser using?

[@delapuenteignacio]

Really liked this guy's lecture despite the mispronunciation of the name Mikhail -_- Subscribed.

[@superman25671]

He knew him personally and Michael was what he called him in person so that's why he is saying Michael now.

[@franckferrante7164]

Tal was a chessgod !

[@lunardium]

6:46 DOU

[@BongelaMnguni]

at 27:01 Isn't Qg4+ winning on the spot? I mean black has only two legal moves and both look terrible.E.g.. 1. Qg4+ Kf8 2. Bxh7 or 1.Qg4+ Kh8 2. Qf5 game over

[@profdrenz]

As far as I can see you are absolutely right.

[@DanielHimHun]

In reality it is not, in practise it is. Actually double sac on e4 would give "only" i think because of the pawn structure -7. Notice that black cannot just gable up the pawn on f6 because, he cannot leave his bishop unprotected beacuse after Qf6+, Kf8 and there are no more checks and white bishop is undefended so Qf5 again, will result in Queen exchange. Loosing the bishop will result in the protection of both the H7 and F7 squares from the knight via Qg6. So it is not mate, but like -7 for black with the accaptance of the double sac. Than the Q attacks the rook on a8 so Rad8 and Kfxe1. But you are I think right I just wanted to point out that it is not mate because of the double sac.

[@DanielHimHun]

Sorry I mean white cannot on f6. Sorry again

[@wiiliskaako5875]

27:30 , actually white has checkmate in that position , instead of queen h4 , best move is QUEEN to G4 check , ig black plays King g7 , then bishop takes on h7 and its mate in 4, or if king h8 then queen f5 , black will give up the rook and queen to stop checkmate

[@christopher74w]

actually black blundered by recapturing on f6, he could have played re6 and defended fine with 2 exchanges up

[@FirstNameLastName-tc2ok]

1:21 YASSER ARE YOU OK???!!!

[@Mutineer9]

White had BE1 - F2+, next QA7

[@DhuumB]

hey you said something wrong, in 26:40 the best move is Qg4+!, but Qh4 is just losing because of Bf2+!...

[@sabirmemon1986]

B*f6-g*f6, Qg4+ if Kh8, Qf5 threatening Qh7#, if Kf8, Bh7 threatening Qg8#, if B*f2, Kh2.. It doesn't seems draw :-)

[@edmundasjauniskis9347]

1.Qh4 blacks move B x f2+ 2. K x f2 Qb6+ 3. K f1 Q x d6 4. Qh6 Ra7! =

[@SuperDreamliner787]

Nothing against Seirawan, but I prefer Finegold or Ronen. But Seirawan loves to smile I guess xD

[@ZiggyZugzwang]

I like Finegold and Seirawan :).Yasser is the nice guy (doing great analysis), while Finegold is a funny brat (doing funny analysis).

[@Greg_Ulmer]

mikhail, not michael.

[@STLChessClub]

Methinks Yasser has some first-hand experience with Tal. To you: Mikhail. To Yasser: Michael.

[@edwardburroughs1489]

***** Ever thought that Mikhail and Michael might be equivalent?

[@diosdadoapias]

***** u r wrong in ur comparison. Guillermo and william are obviously two very different names. But Michael and Mikhail can be alike. They are idem sonans- they sounds the same.

[@galacticstorm854]

+Rollinlikeabetch I hope you realize Euler's name was pronounced oiler and not Euler. No called him "you" ler because it was incorrect.

[@hyperbolicparaboloid2818]

Wow you have problems.

[@bobfree1226]

i dont think this is a player alive who was better than bobby fischer at his tops in the 1970ties. he would be anyone then and today in a series say 20 games.

[@truli91]

Tal was, and capablanca and others.

[@RicardoAGuitar]

Sure, but Bobby didn't play his entire career at that level. Contrast Bobby's three-year stretch with Kasparov holding the #1 rating spot for 20 years, for one example.

[@user-ts2co4ov5h]

Michael. WTF