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Vasily Smyslov vs Mikhail Tal
Ol URS, URS 1964  ·  English Opening: Symmetrical. Symmetrical Variation (A36)  ·  0-1


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Kibitzer's Corner
Dec-24-03   MoonlitKnight: The date here is wrong. This game is from the USSR Team Championship in Moscow, 1964.
Dec-24-03   CapablancaRules: Nice... what about 26.Qc1?
Dec-24-03   MoonlitKnight: In the case of 26.Qc1 then 26...Rg2+ 27.Kf1 Rxh2 28.Ne1 Bd5 29.Rb2 Rh1+ 30.Kf2 Re8 according to Tal.
Dec-24-03   MoonlitKnight: The point being that Smyslov's pieces then will be terribly placed.
Dec-24-03   CapablancaRules: MoonlitKnight, you must be a very big fan of Talīs games...
Dec-24-03   MoonlitKnight: Yes, I have always been!
Mar-23-04   seoulmama: This is a brilliant game. The queen sac is just gorgeus.
Apr-30-04   Shadow 812: There can be no doubt that Tal was well
known as a tactical genius, that it is easy to overlook that he was a good endgame player as well. Indeed, in Bernard Cafferty's 1973 book
Tal's 100 best games, Tal himself rates
this game as one of the best that he ever played!!
This was Tal's only win against Smyslov
with the black pieces, in fact at this stage Tal led Smyslov by 4-1 after 11 games, but he never managed to defeat Smyslov again during the remaining 20 games that they were to play over the next 24 years:
Jan-08-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: Tal's combo is truly incredible. Does anyone out there know how many times this game has been annotated ... and in what books?
Jan-08-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hesam7: <LIFE Master AJ> I have read annotations of this incredible game from Tal himself in the following book:

"Learn from grandmasters, Ed.Raymond Keene"

If I have time I will post some of his notes and commentaries on this game.

Jan-08-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hesam7: Dear <Chessgames.com> please correct this game as mentioned by <MoonlitKnight> it is played in "USSR Team Championship"
Jan-08-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Hesam7: Tal on the game:

<Victory in the ending>

<Leading chess players, in the course of their 'work', often have to answer questions from journalists. Naturally enough, these questions vay a great deal. Much depends on the interviewer and on his experience, knowledge, chess ability and finally on the theme chosen for the discussion. Hence, along with professional questions such as 'How do you regard 11...Rfc8 in the Dragon instead of 11...Rac8?' one sometimes finds that one's questioner is intrested in gastronomic, cultural, or even sexual questions ('Do you prefer blondes or brunettes?') as seen from the grandmaster's point of view). One could even draw up a list of the most frequently asked questions. It is simple enough to answer some of them, but one's reactions to others are not very enthusiastic, while others, yet again, cause one to take offence. A frequently occuring question is: which game is your most intresting one?>

<Strange as it may seem, it is not easy to answer this. There are games which leave a trace in the memory because of their competitive significance, such as the 1st games of my two matches with Botvinnik; the first of which brought me the title of World Champion, and the second of ex-World Champion. There are games in which the competitive side clearly overshadows the creative - the best example I can think of is the 10th game of my match with Larsen in 1965.>

<However, the games which stick in the mind are the 'pure' chess games, and in this respect the one I annotate below is one of the most pleasant I have ever played. I think the memorable part of it springs from the fact that it was the first time I managed to beat a leading specialist of the endgame in a long ending, though this phase was preceded by intermezzo of a middlegame combination.>

Jan-08-05   ughaibu: Hesam7: thanks for that. His comment about the famous Larsen game is very interesting.
Jan-18-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: <Hesam7> Thanks!

It can also be found in Tal's own book, and also the book: "Tal - The Magnificent," (1990) by GM Andrew Soltis and also FM Ken Smith.

Mar-07-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: <Hesam> If you will e-mail me, I will send you my annotations of this game ... on the following conditions.

# 1.) You cannot copy it, nor give it to anyone else. # 2.) You provide me some type of feedback. (Rate my annotations, comment on them, etc.) # 3.) You simply give me your word that you will not violate my copyright in any shape or form.

Do you agree?

Aug-31-05   Sergey Sorokhtin: 2 LIFE Master AJ
I want yuors annotations too
sorokhtin@yandex.ru
Mar-16-07   Vollmer: An excellent positional game by Tal . The fireworks of Queen pseudo-sac punctuate a long term plan culminating with the Black Bishop dominating the hapless White Knight due to the favorable pawn structure . Good advice to players of all levels : Liquidate to a won endgame whenever possible .

I am wondering if I will find a win by Smyslov over Tal involving a stunning combination (returning the favor) .

Mar-17-07   themanfrommanila: The Magician from Riga is one of the strongest players when it comes to middlegame but no doubt of endgames as well.
Apr-28-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  arifattar: What a beautiful endgame.
Apr-28-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: <arifattar: What a beautiful endgame.>

Yes, this is the game that Tal fans always show the idiots who say that Tal could not play the endgame.

There is no greater endgame accompishment than beating Smyslov in the endgame.

Apr-28-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: 24 ... Qe7-e2!!
Apr-28-07   Kwesi: Epic endgame.
Apr-29-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  arifattar: This is a perfect illustration of the point that in an endgame where there are pawns on both sides of the board, the bishop is more powerful than the knight.
May-04-07   PEANUTS: In the line 26. Qc1 Rg2+ 27. Kf1 Rxh2 28. Ne1 Bd5, White could play Nxc5 (maybe after g4 to prevent Nxf5). Play might go: 29. g4 gxf5 30. Nxc5 Rc8 (bxc5 allows the queen to activate and is hopeless) 31. Qa3 Nb5 32. Qa4 Rxc5. Black might still claim an advantage, but the queen has targets and all results are possible if he oversteps. At the very least, White does not have to defend a miserable ending as in the game.
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