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TWK92.711
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1992-07-15
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THE WEEKLY KNIGHT
-------------------
(for July 11, 1992)
While 1992 has seen the highest rated tournament of all-time
at Reggio Emilia and the emergence of a surprise challenger
for next year's world title match, it has also witnessed some
sad events. Only three months after having lost Sammy
Reshevsky, another great has passed on. Known affectionately
as the "Wizard of Riga", former World Champion Mikhail Tal
died recently from a kidney ailment.
The Latvian-born Tal will undoubtedly be remembered as one of
the most brilliant tacticians ever to sit down at the board.
Truly a great player, he won the first of six Soviet
Championships at the age of 20, receiving the Grandmaster
title at the same time. In 1960, at age 23, he defeated
Botvinnik to become World Champion. From July of 1972 through
April 1973, Tal compiled one of the greatest streaks in chess
history--he played 86 consecutive games, at the highest
levels, without a loss.
What kind of talent was Tal? Beginning in the late 1950s,
through the 70s and into the 80s, he remained at the
forefront of the chess world. Despite the presence of a
collection of other great players such as Fischer, Botvinnik,
Petrosian, Spassky, Bronstein, Smyslov, Keres, Karpov, and
Larsen, more often than not it was Mikhail Tal's name who
appeared at the top of the final standings.
Although Tal won numerous tournaments, he may have been at
his best in Olympiad competitions. Playing for the Soviet
Union, he produced some awe-inspiring results: 13.5 out of 15
at Munich in 1958; 11/15 at Leipzig 1960; 10-3 at Varna in
1962; 12-1 at Havana in 1966 and, 14 out of 16 at 1972
Skopje.
Mikhail Tal, 1936-1992, you will be missed. Your play
provided inspiration and enjoyment for many of us.
The mark of a true champion is the ability to foresee one
move farther than the opponent. Tal demonstrates this talent
in the following game from an international tournament held
in Moscow in 1963.
White: M.Tal Black: Kuijpers Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.c3 Bg4 7.Re1
Be7 8.h3 Bh5 9.Bxc6+ bc 10.d4 ed 11.cd 0-0 12.Nc3 Re8 13.Bf4
Qd7 14.Rc1 h6 15.Qd3 Bf8 16.e5 Nd5 17.Bg3 Nb4 18.Qe3 Nd5
19.Qe4 Rab8 20.Nxd5 cd 21.Qxd5 Rxb2 22.e6 Qb5 23.Rc5!! dc
24.Qxh5 Rxe6 25.Rxe6 fe 26.Ne5 Bd6 27.Qf7+ Kh7 28.Qg6+ Kg8
29.Qxe6+ Kh7 30.Qg6+ Kg8 31.Qf7+ Kh7 32.dc Qxc5 33.Nd7 Qd4
34.Bxd6 Qxd6 35.f4 Rb4 36.Nf8+ Kh8 37.Ne6 1-0
Glenn Budzinski
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