Play Like Tal

Who was Mikhail Tal?

Mikhail Tal was a Latvian Grandmaster known for his sharp attacking chess and wild sacrifices. Born on November 9, 1936, he quickly rose the ranks of chess to become one of the most promising players of the time. He became the youngest World Champion at the time in 1960. Tal was extremely creative, and often terrified his opponents with wild moves.

Here are some examples of his brilliant sacrifices:

P.S. These puzzles are extremely tough (not even his highly skilled opponents saw these moves coming!) Give it a try or feel free to just look at the answers and appreciate the beauty of his combinations.

Tal vs. Veders (1951) White to move.

Several moves win but can you guess the one that Tal played?

Tal played: 1. Re8+!! Qxe8 2. Nf6+ Rxf6 in order not to lose the queen 3. Qxg7#

These also work and lead to a quicker forced mate: 1.Nf6+ Kh8 2.Qxg7+ Rxg7 3. Hxg7+ Qxg7 4. Re8+ Qg8 5. Rexg8# or 1.Hxg7+ Rxg7 2. Nh6+ Kh8 3. Qxg7+ Qxg7 4. Re8+... also leading to mate

Ufimtsev vs. Tal, 1967

Black to sac!

Answer: 1. Bh3+ Kxh3 2. Ng5+ Kg2 3. Qe4+ Kf1 4. Qf3+ Kg1 5. Nh3#

1. Bh3+ Kh1 2. Nf2+ wins the queen!

1. Bh3+ Kg1 2.Nf3+ Kh1 3. Nf2#

How to play like Tal

• Work on your calculation! While not all of Tal's sacs were sound, he could often navigate himself out of tricky situations better than his opponents through calculation. Solving puzzles, and if you're up for a challenge, solving studies will help your calculation!

• Tal often led the position to something extremely complicated and dynamic - his favorite. If your style is similar, you may want to consider sharper openings that lead to crazier positions. For example, playing the Sicilian or Kings Indian as black can often lead to positions where tactics are key!

  
  

• Tal was extremely creative and found many interesting combinations. This skill can come from having good knowledge of previous games. Often ideas come to someone during a game because they've seen something similar elsewhere, or are combining multiple ideas they've seen in games. Study games to develop this skill (including Tal's!)

  
  

Check out one of my favorite Tal games with annotations here: