At the time Tal was 20 years old and had just beginning his meteoric rise that ended with his winning the World Championship just over 3 years later.
In other chess news out of Russia, Vasily Smyslov defeated Mikhail Botvinnik to become world champion.
That wasn’t the only exciting news that came out of the Soviet Union; they launched Sputnik, the first space satellite, starting the Space Race. I remember the excitement when ham (amateur) radio operators in the United States anxiously listened as the 184-pound Sputnik emitted a mechanical ...beep...beep...beep while passing over the eastern US.
The beeping was recorded and quickly broadcast all over the country. Americans in their living rooms heard Sputnik's transmission on their radios and televisions. It was awesome!
Not only was it exciting, but America's worst fears has become a reality... the Russians had technologically surpassed the United States and gained supremacy of outer space.
The USSR also demonstrated their chess superiority when the first European team chess championship was held in Vienna and the USSR team took first place. And, the first women's Olympiad was held in The Netherlands. The USSR took first in that one, too.
Not all the exciting news was coming out of the Soviet Union. The US had an answer to Tal in Bobby Fischer. In May of 1957, he was a 2231 rated Master, the country’s youngest, after having gained over 500 rating points in one year.
The same year Fischer won the US Junior Championship in San Francisco. Then after some confusion over the winner of the US Open held in Cleveland, Ohio, Fischer was declared the winner on tiebreaks over Arthur Bisguier.
In shades of what was to come, in 1957, Alex Bernstein at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote a chess program for an IBM computer. The monster executed 42,000 instructions per second and it did a 4-ply (two moves) search in 8 minutes. It was predicted that that within 10 years a computer would be world champion. It didn’t happen; it wasn’t until 1997 that Deep Blue edged Garry Kasparov in a match 3.5-2.5.
We lost some players in 1957. Three time Czech Champion (1905, 1909 and 1911) GM Oldrich Duras (1888-1957) died in Prague. The 1942 Swedish Correspondence Champion, Correspondence GM Harald Malmgren (1904-1957) died in Uppsula, Sweden.
The 1955 US Women’s Champion Nancy Roos (1905-1957) died of cancer in Los Angeles. Hans Haberditz (1901-1957) died in Vienna; he was best known for his analysis of the French Defense. Finally, The strong US Master Max Pavey (1918-1957) died of leukemia in New York.
Back to Tal’s gane in the 1957 USSR Championship...his opponent was Lev Aronin (1920-1983) who was awarded the IM title in 1950 although in reality he was probably of GM strength. Chess metrics estimates his best ever rating to have been 2674 in 1952, ranking him #22 in the world.
During the 1940s he was a leading authority on the K-Indian and although he was a positional player by nature, when the occasion demanded it, he could also go toe-to-toe with the tacticians.
Mikhail Tal–Lev Aronin½–½D32USSR Championship, MoscowMoscow URS15.02.1957Stockfish 16
D40: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch 1.d4 Already a surprise for
Aronin who had prepared for the expected 1.e4. He decided on the opening at
the board. The Semi-Tarrasch. It's not without risks, but it promisies active
piece play. d5 2.c4 e6 3.c3 c5 4.e3 The theoretically preferred move is
4.cxd5 followed by developing his B at g2. That's modern theory, but Tarrasch
himself considered 4.e3 to be the only correct move. The reson Tal choce the
text is because it promises the possibility of his obtaining a K-side attack.
At the same time, since the game was played near the end of the tournament Tal
did not want to risk running into the complicated Hennig-Schara Gambit by
playing 4.cxd5 4.cxd5 cxd4 The Hennig-Schara can be quite effective and in
its early days it was used by players like Alekhine. Additionally, a large
number of Soviet players experimented with it. 5.a4+ d7 6.xd4 exd5 7.xd5 c6 8.f3 f6 9.d1 c5 10.e3 e7 The chances are approximately equal.
4...f6 5.f3 c6 6.a3 d6 Nowadays maintaining the symmetry with 6...
a6 is invariably played, but at the time it was thought to be favorable to
white. Aronin's move invite the tempo gaining 7.dxc5 which Tal concluded not
to be too desireable. 7.dxc5 In fact, this move is the recommended one. xc5 8.b4 d6 White intends to develop his B at b2 and in the ensuing
struggle to control e5 this B is best deployed on d6. 9.b2 0-0 10.c2
Aronin wrote that he didn't expect that this move was associated with white
playing O-O-O, but rather that it was Tal's intention to strengthen the
pressure on the d-file with Rd1. e5 This move was praised by Aronin because
it puts pressure on the important square c4 10...e7 as played in Pilnick,
C-Hearst,E New York 1954 is actually more precise. 11.e2 dxc4 12.0-0 e5
Black stands slightly better and eventually managed to score the win. 10...a5 worked out to be in white's favor after 11.b5 e5 12.xe5 xe5 with a
slight plus. Wang,D (2219)-Ding,Y (2439) Jinan CHN 2014 10...d7 is also
possible. 11.d1 c8 12.g5 e5 equals. Appel,I-Seitz,J Lodz 1938 11.0-0-0 This is not as risky as it might look at first glance. It's to be
expected that an attack is coming in which the players will be attacking on
opposite sides. 11.c5 was not, as Tal thought, unfavorable because after xf3+ 12.gxf3 e7 13.d3 white can claim a small advantage. 11...e7
Aronin incorrectly assessed 11...a5 as being bad whereas Tal correctly
assessed it as best. 11...a5 12.c5 axb4 13.axb4 c7 14.xe5 xe5 15.f4
Black can play 15...Bb8, 15...Bc7 or 15...Bxc3 all of which lead to sharp play.
12.b5 White now has slightly the better position. ed7 Both players
rejected 12...Nxf3 as a possibility because after 13.gxf3 white might have
play on the g-file. However, in the light of subsequent events that may have
been black's best option because exactly how white will get any play on the
g-file is not at all clear. 13.xd6 xd6 14.c3 With the exchange of the
dark squared Bs white's presence on the a1-h8 diagonal takes on real
significance. Black's immediate concern is to do something about the threat of
g2-g4 e8 This frees up the f8 square and black hopes at some point get in ..
.e5 15.g4 Typical aggressive play by Tal. f8 16.d3 Tal wants to play
g4–g5, but first he must get e4 under control. However, the text allows
Aronin the opportunity to launch a counterattack. 16.c5 was the move...it
prevent ...Nb6. a5 17.d3 e5 18.g5 a sharp position with chances for both
sides. 16...b6 This is not the correct counterattack! 16...dxc4 17.xc4 b5 Here is is! 18.f4 18.xb5 a5 19.bxa5 b8 20.c4 b7 Black is
winning. 18...b7 19.g5 e5 20.g3 e4 Black is doinf quite well for
himself. 17.g5 a4 18.c2 After the game Tal admitted that he considered
sacrificing his Q! How would it have worked out?! 18.gxf6 xc3 19.xc3 e5
And now the best play for both sides is 19...gxf6 Of course this clearly
justifies the Q-sac. 20.dg1+ g7 21.xg7+ xg7 22.g1+ f8 23.xf6
with mate in 5. e7 24.e5 c7 25.c5 Mate in 3 is unavoidable. a5 26.xh7 xc5+ 27.bxc5 a4 28.g8# 20.xe5 a5 21.f4 d6 22.cxd5 axb4 23.xb4 xf6 Technically black is much better, but in OTB play it's complicated and there
is plenty of roo for error. In any casem avoidung the Q-sac was clearly the
wisest decision. 18...xb2 19.xb2 dxc4 Black needed to play this because
it lessens the double attack on h7. 20.gxf6 Correct was 20,Bxc4. Now Tal
likely went for the complications arising from the text At this point Aronin
notrd that both players were satisfied with their position, each thinking they
had the advantage. In fact, the position is dead equal. cxd3 21.xd3 e5
Absolutely essential. Other moves lose. 21...g6 22.e5 The winner which
21...e5 prevented. a5 23.b5 b6 24.d6 b7 25.xf8+ xf8 26.f3 ac8 27.c1 White's N dominates the position and as a result white is winning. Just a
sample line... h5 28.hd1 xc1 29.xc1 a8 30.c7 d5 31.e4 a8 32.d7 d8 33.c3 Note that black is running out of moves. g5 34.xb6 g4 35.fxg4 hxg4 36.d7 h7 36...xe4 37.b6 wins 37.d4 g6 38.e5 h8 39.b6 xh2 40.b7 xb7 41.xb7 g3 42.f8+ h6 43.xf7 g2 44.h7+ g5 45.g7+ h6 46.xe6 etc. 22.g5 g6 23.h4 All white has to do now is play h4-h5 and
black will be pretty much without any defense. However, Aronin has a move that
puts Tal in a critical situation. f5 Excellent! 24.e4 This is not good
at all. Now black gets the advantage. 24.e2 is correct. e4 25.h5 ed8 26.hxg6 xg6 27.xh7 xh7 falls into a mate in 7... 28.h5 d2+ 29.xd2 g7 30.fxg7 xg7 31.xh7+ f6 32.h6+ mates in two against any move. 24...g4 Rendering the advance of the P to h5 useless, but Tal plays it
anyway. 25.h5 This generates no attack therefore his best move was 25.Rc1
awaiting developments. ad8 Aronin made this good looking move almost
without thinking and in doing so he let Tal off the hook. How many times has
it been said in the past...This is the wrong Rook! The reason it's the wrong R
is soon clear...black's Q is unable to get into play. 25...ed8 26.hxg6 xd3 27.gxh7+ h8 28.xd3 e8 Black is winning. 26.hxg6 xd3 27.xd3 27.gxh7+ h8 28.xd3 leaves black with the better position. 27...hxg6 27...fxg6 28.f7+ g7 29.fxe8 xe8 30.xh7+ f6 31.f3 is unclear and
the chances would be equal. 28.h7 The threat is 29.f3. Note that black's
Q is imprisoned. c8 29.f3 c6 Only this move saves the day! 29...h5 30.d7 c6 31.hxf7 30.xf7 Wisely transposing into a R ending which he can
draw. 30.fxg4 would lose. xf6 31.dh3 f2+ 32.b3 d6 33.h8+ g7 34.3h7+ f6 35.xf7+ xg5 36.xf2 d3+ 37.a2 c4+ Black has a won ending. 30...xf7 31.xf7 xf7 32.fxg4 xf6 33.d7 b6 34.c3 g5 35.a4 a6 36.c4 xg4 Draw agreed. ½–½
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