Starting in mid-August back in 1985, the 2nd Jurmala International Chess Tournament was played. Six of the 14 players were living in Latvia and the other eight had not played in Latvia before.
Hungary was represented by its 1983 champion IM Tamas Utasi, Bulgaria by GM Ventzislav Inkiov, Denmark by IM Carsten Hoi, the Philippines by IM Andronico Yap and England by IM Daniel King.
The Latvians were headed by Mikhail Tal. A talented young player named Alexander Shabalov was also playing. In 1991 Shabalov found his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and became one of the top players in the US for a while. He won the US Championship in 1993, 2000, 2003, 2007 and won or tied for first place in the US Open in 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016.
According to GM Daniel King, "...for much of the tournament Tal cruised along, not giving the chess his all; instead he was enjoying relaxing with his wife and young daughter."
In the last round Tal could share first place if he beat Danish IM Carsten Hoi and according to King, "Hoi didn't stand a chance. Tal was gunning for him."
King described Tal's intense concentration and told how he "lit up a cigarette, sucking in the nicotine as though it were his life-blood, but never averting his gaze from the chessboard through the whole operation."
[Event "Jurmala"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1985.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mikhail Tal"]
[Black "Carsten Hoi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "1985.08.29"]
{Pirc Defense} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7.
Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Nh5 (8... Qe8 {The reason for this is soon clear.} 9. Nbd2 Nh5
10. Re1 e5 {This why black moved his Q.} 11. dxe5 dxe5 {equals. Van Wely,L
(2560)-Reinderman,D (2415) Wijk aan Zee 1993}) (8... e5 {This is the usual
move here.} 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Na3 Be6 11. Re1 Qe8 {with equal chances. Jussupow,
A (2600)-Seirawan,Y (2570) Montpellier 1985}) 9. Na3 {The book moves here are
9.Nbd2 and 9.Re1 and as far as I know this is the only game in which this move
has been played. The reason for developing the N on a3 turns out to be an idea
that Tal had which will soon be apparent.} (9. Nbd2 Nf4 10. Bc2 g5 11. Bg3 Bg4
12. Nc4 {equals. Rasmussen,K (2295)-Hoi,C (2380) Naestved 1985}) (9. Re1 Nf4
10. Bf1 g5 11. Bg3 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Nfd2 Qf6 14. Na3 Be6 15. Qc2 {equals.
Zysk,R (2395)-Mohr,S (2400) Budapest 1988}) 9... Nf4 {Tal had foreseen that
black was going to play ...Nf4 and that's the reason he played 9.Na3...so the
Q could go to d2 as part of his plan to drive back the N.} 10. Bc2 {White must
keep this B as it is one of his attacking pieces.} Bg4 11. Qd2 {Attacking the N
} g5 12. Nxg5 {Very nice! Retreating the B would leave him at a disadvantage.
King believed Tal saw the rough outlines of this sacrifice when he played 9.
Na3.} (12. Bg3 Bxf3 13. Bxf4 gxf4 14. gxf3 e5 15. Kh1 Qh4 16. Rg1 Kh8 {and
black has a promising position.}) 12... hxg5 {White gets the advantage after
this, but retreating the N was worse.} (12... Ng6 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 {If he takes
with the R then white has 14.Bb3}) 13. Bxg5 Ng6 14. f4 {The threat is 15.f5
driving the N back and trapping the B on g4.} f6 15. f5 {A tricky position has
resulted and before reaching it Tal had to visualize everything.} e6 {[%mdl
8192] After this black's position is in the trash.} (15... fxg5 {Challenging
Tal's last move was the only correct plan.} 16. Qxg5 (16. fxg6 {allows black
to equalize with} Bf6) 16... Nge5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Rf4 e6 19. Rxg4 Nxg4 20.
Qxg4 exf5 21. exf5 {White has all the play. Still, this was black's best
chance at survival.}) 16. Bh6 (16. fxg6 {This allows black to equalize because
it gives him good defensive possibilities after} fxg5 17. Rxf8+ Bxf8) 16...
exf5 17. h3 (17. exf5 {was even stronger.} Nge7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Rf4 Bh5 20.
Rh4 Rh8 21. Qf4 {White still has a strong attack going. For example...} Kf7 22.
g4 Qg8 23. Kh1 Qg5 24. Bb3+ d5 25. Qxg5 fxg5 26. Rxh5 {White is winning.})
17... f4 {A fine idea. Black must lose the piece anyway he plays to close the
K-side and thereby blunt white's attack.} (17... Bh5 {loses quickly after} 18.
Rxf5) (17... Bxh3 {is best met by} 18. exf5 {with two pieces under attack
black is losing.}) 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. hxg4 Rh8 20. Rxf4 {This followup is the
only way white can maintain any advantage.} Nxf4 21. Qxf4 {Materially white
has a B+2Ps vs a R, but white has the initiative and black's K is exposed.} Rh6
22. Kf2 {Anticipating... h8. Anyway, white's K will be safer behind the mass
of Ps in the center.} Ne5 {[%mdl 8192] With two Ps for the exchange and such a
strong centre, white has the better chances, but the win is a long way of.
This move, a panicky one made in time pressure, loses the game. Such things
happened a lot to Tal's opponents!} (22... Qh8 {was his best try. After} 23.
Rf1 Rh1 24. Rxh1 Qxh1 25. Nb5 Qh4+ 26. Kf3 Ne5+ 27. Ke2 (27. dxe5 fxe5 28. Qe3
Rf8+ 29. Ke2 Qxg4+ 30. Kd3 Qxg2 {and black has equalized.}) 27... Qxg4+ 28.
Qxg4+ Nxg4 29. Nxc7 {white is better, but here, too, the win is a long way off.
}) 23. dxe5 {White is now winning.} fxe5 24. Qg3 {The best because it stops
the unpleasant check on h4.} (24. Qe3 Qh4+ 25. Ke2 Rf6 {White is still better,
but at least black has some play.}) 24... Qg5 25. Nc4 {Tjis prevents ...Qd2+
plus, once the N is centralized black is finished.} Rf8+ 26. Ke2 Rf4 27. Ne3
Kf8 28. Rf1 Ke8 29. Rf3 Rh1 30. Qf2 Ra1 31. Bb3 Rb1 32. Kd3 c6 33. g3 {[%mdl
32] This is what white has been building up to playing for the last few moves.}
Rxb2 (33... Rxf3 34. Qxf3 Rxb2 35. Qf7+ Kd8 36. Qxb7 {is winning rather easily.
}) 34. gxf4 {White has a won ending but it must be noted that he can still
lose the game if he is not careful!.} (34. Qxb2 Rxf3 35. Qe2 Rxg3 36. Qf2 {
and a draw is likely going to be the outcome.}) 34... Rxf2 35. fxg5 Rxf3 36.
Ke2 Rf4 37. Kd3 Kf8 38. g6 Rf3 39. Bf7 b5 40. Ke2 Rf4 41. Nf5 Rxe4+ (41... Rxg4
42. Nxd6 Rg2+ 43. Kf3 {with a won ending.}) 42. Kf3 Rf4+ 43. Kg3 {In this
final position black actually has a small material advantage of a R+2Ps vs. a
B+N, white has a mate in 20 moves.} (43. Kg3 b4 44. Be6 Rxf5 (44... d5 45. g7+
Ke8 46. g8=R#) (44... Ke8 45. g7 Rf3+ 46. Kxf3 e4+ 47. Ke3 Kd8 48. g8=Q+ Kc7
49. Qc8+ Kb6 50. Qb8+ Ka5 51. Qxa7+ Kb5 52. c4#) 45. gxf5 Kg7 46. Kg4 Kf6 47.
cxb4 e4 48. Kf4 e3 49. Kxe3 Kg7 50. Bd7 c5 51. bxc5 dxc5 52. Be6 c4 53. Bxc4
Kf6 54. Kf4 a5 55. a4 Kg7 56. Ke5 Kh6 57. Bd3 Kg7 58. f6+ Kf8 59. g7+ Ke8 60.
g8=Q+ Kd7 61. Qb8 Kc6 62. Bb5+ Kc5 63. Qd6#) 1-0
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