Tal’s Killer Instinct

    Mikhail Tal was born in Riga, Latvia in 1936 and became the youngest world chess champion in 1960 at the age of 23 and died in Moscow in 1992 at the age of 55. 

    Known as the Magician from Riga he had a highly imaginative and explosive style that led to complicated positions in which even the best players of the day went astray. His attacks were often rife with sacrifices (sometimes unsound!) and often resulted in some amazing games. 

    His opponent in the following instructive game was Anatoli Bannik (1921-2013, 91 years old) who was born in Kiev. A five-time Ukrainian champion, he qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship final seven times. Tal won the event with a score of 12.5-5.5. In this game Tal's sacrifice was a bit unusual...it was perfectly sound!

[Event "USSR Champ Semi-Finals, Riga"] [Site "Riga URS"] [Date "1955.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anatolij Bannik"] [Black "Mikhail Tal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E65"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "1955.11.??"] {E65: King's Indian: Fianchetto} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 {Ar the time this game was played Tal already had a reputation as a fierce attacker, so it appears that Bannik is going to play the opening on a conservative manner.} g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. g3 {While not often seen, this move is statistically on a par with 5.e4} d6 6. Bg2 {One annotator was of the opinion that 6.e4 is better because it gives white a broad Pawn center. Although the text move has been very rarely played the statistics do not support the claim. With either move white's winning percentage renains almost identical, but after 6.e4 black's winning percentage more than doubles and he wins more games than white.} c5 { This move is not part of the main line theory (either 6...Nc6 or 6...Nbd7), but Purdy gave it a ! and it’s Stockfish’s top choice. The idea behind it is to open the a1-h8 diagonal by playing ...cxd4. Of course if white advances his d-Pawn the diagonal still becomes open.} 7. O-O {Equally popular is 7.d5} Nc6 {It’s interesting that this is by far the most popular move, but 7.d5 preventing the N from developing on c6 from where it has an effect on the center seems like a reasonale alternative.} 8. h3 {This is probably not a very good idea because it ever so slighly loosens the position of white’s K without good reason as neither ...Bg4 or ...Ng4 are immediate threats. Additionally, the P on h3 will come under attack. Either 8.dxc5 or 8.d5 were good alternatives.} cxd4 {A good move that opens the long diagonal and opens up the game. Black wants an open game because it will make it easier for him to take advantage of the small weakness white has created on the K-side.} 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Be6 {The c4-Pawn is a target.} 11. Qh4 {A good move as the Q was somewhat exposed on d4 and in any case there is no better square. 11. Bg5 was a reasonable alternative.} Rc8 12. b3 {He has to play this to defend the P because 12.Nd5 fails.} (12. Nd5 b5 {Undermining the N.} 13. Bg5 (13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bg5 Rxc4 {us even better for black.}) 13... Rxc4 {Black has the superior position}) 12... Nh5 {Tal’s plan is to play ...Bf6, attacking the Q which isn’t particularly dangerous to white. On any case, the position is equal.} (12... Rc5 13. Bf3 Nh5 14. Bd2 Bf6 15. Qe4 Bxh3 {Black has picked up a P, but white has sufficient compensation. Karlsson,L (2495)-Hellers,F (2490) Malmo 1987}) 13. Bd2 Qd7 14. Rac1 Bf6 15. Bg5 {Purdy unnecessarily questioned tnns move and recommended 15.Qe4, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with Babbik’s move.} (15. Qe4 Bxh3 16. Bxh3 Qxh3 17. Qxb7 Bd4 18. e3 Rb8 19. Qe4 { is completely equal. Palmason,G-Book,E Munich 1958}) 15... Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Bxh3 17. Bxh3 Qxh3 18. Qxe7 {[%mdl 8192] The position remains dead equal after 18. Nd5, but this move results in a lost position because it leaves g3 weak.} (18. Nd5 {and white has nothing about which to worry.} Rce8 19. Rfd1 {is completely equal.}) 18... Nxg3 {[%mdl 512] ...and wins. The move might be a bit surprising because black has no minor pieces to join in the attack, so haw is he going to win with only a Q and two Rs? One R actually because one of them has to guard f7.} 19. fxg3 Qxg3+ 20. Kh1 Rce8 {[%mdl 32]} 21. Qxb7 {aiming for Qg2 which is more important than pickong up the P.} Re5 22. Qg2 Rh5+ 23. Kg1 Qe3+ 24. Qf2 Qh6 {White has no way to meet the threat of ...Rh1+} 25. Qxa7 { This allows a mate in 11...not that ot matters.} (25. Qf6 Rg5+ 26. Kf2 Rf5+) ( 25. Qf3 Rh3 26. Qg4 f5 27. Qf4 Rh1+ 28. Kg2 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 Rxc1 {wins}) 25... Qg5+ {Missing the mate, but Tal still has everything under control.} (25... Rh1+ 26. Kg2 Rh2+ 27. Kf3 Re8 28. Qg1 Qh5+ 29. Qg4 Rh3+ 30. Kf2 Qxg4 31. Rg1 Rh2+ 32. Kf1 Qf4+ 33. Ke1 Qxc1+ 34. Nd1 Rhxe2+ 35. Kf1 Qxd1#) 26. Kf2 Rh2+ 27. Ke1 Qxc1+ 28. Nd1 Qc2 29. Qe7 Qxa2 {Threatens to win with ...Qa5+.} 30. Rf2 Qa5+ {...anyway.} 31. Kf1 Rh1+ {White resigned.} (31... Rh1+ 32. Kg2 Qh5 33. Qe3 Qh2+ 34. Kf3 Qh3+ 35. Ke4 Re8+ 36. Kd5 Rxd1+ 37. Qd3 Qe6+ 38. Kc6 Qc8+ 39. Kb6 Qc5+ 40. Kb7 Re7+ 41. Kb8 Qc7+ 42. Ka8 Qc8#) 0-1