An Early Tal Game

    Mikail Tal (1936-1992) was World Champion from 1960 to 1961 and in 1961 I purchased a slim book of his games, The Chess Psychologist World Champion Tal. The book’s author was Alexander Liepnieks (1908–1973) a prominent Latvian-American chess author, editor, and organizer known for his contributions to chess literature and his personal connection to World Champion Tal. 

    He is most famous for authoring the aforementioned book on Tal. Liepnieks (pronounced leep-nyecks) was originally from Riga where he served as the editor of a Latvian chess magazine which gave him unique access to Tal's personal game notes. 

    After leaving Latvia, he eventually settled in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he remained a lifelong promoter of the game and active member of the chess community until his death in 1973. 

    Liepnieks was a strong player who participated in major international tournaments, including Carlsbad in 1923 and 1929. He was many times the champion of Lincoln and the state champion in 1954, 1956 and 1961.

    His book on Tal was important because, as he wrote in the introduction, it was the first definitive collection of Tal's best games published in either English or German and at the time he was unaware of any book on Tal in Russian. He noted that he was able to follow Tal's own analyses and comments in Russian and Latvian in his annotations. 

    This game is a bit unusual because it doesn’t have any of Tal’s flashy tactics. Instead, we see him playing solid chess that simply overcame his opponent who appears to have mode no major errors. 

 

[Event "World Student Team Chp, Uppsala"] [Site ""] [Date "1956.04.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Mikhail Tal (USSR)"] [Black "Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C97"] [Annotator "Stockfoah 18"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "1956.04.05"] {C97: Closed Ruy Lopez: Chigorin Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 {This is the Strong Point variation. Its main idea is to hold the P at e5 as a strong point. White now has two important continuations: 6. Re1 and 6.Qe2. In practice both are equally good. There is a third continuation that's playablem but a bit risky: 6.Bxc6} 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. Nf1 Rfe8 14. Ne3 g6 { So far this has all been theory. Tal's next move has been rarely played. White usually plays 15.dxe5 or 15.Bd2} 15. b4 cxb4 16. cxb4 Nc4 (16... Nc6 {would be wrong because after} 17. Bb2 Rac8 18. Bb3 {white has good development.}) 17. Nxc4 bxc4 {This position has been reached before and white usually playes 18. Bd2, but Tal wants to place his B on c3 and the text is designed to prevent black fron playing ...c3} 18. Re3 Bf8 (18... c3 19. Rb1 Rac8 20. Rb3 {and white is slightly better.}) 19. Bb2 Bh6 (19... Bg7 {is more solid.} 20. d5 a5 21. bxa5 Qxa5 {with approximate equality. Bogdanovic,R-Janosevic,D Sombor 1957} ) 20. Ra3 {Threatening 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Ra5} Qb7 (20... Kh8 {A pass to show the threat.} 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Ra5 {Threatening Rc5} Bf8 23. Nxe5 c3 24. Bc1 Rxe5 25. Bf4 Bd6 26. Qd4 Re6 27. e5 {with the advantage.}) 21. dxe5 Qxb4 22. Qd4 { Ivkov likely expected 22.Rb1 which is equally good.} (22. Rb1 dxe5 23. g4 { with the initiative.}) 22... Nh5 {After this black;s game collapses.} (22... Rab8 {keeps him in the game.} 23. Rb1 dxe5 24. Nxe5 c3 25. Qxb4 Rxb4 26. Nxd7 Nxd7 27. Bxc3 Rxb1+ 28. Bxb1 Rc8 29. Bb2 {with equal chances.}) 23. exd6 { A note in the book says the temptation to play 23,e6 would lead to an even game, but the analysis that was given was totally wrong.} (23. e6 {This is whoye's strongest move.} Bg7 24. exf7+ Kxf7 25. Ng5+ {Even 25.Qd5+ as in the note would win.} (25. Qd5+ Ke7 26. Bxg7 Nxg7 {Material is equal, but the far reaching eye of Stockfish gives white a nearly 3 P advantage.}) 25... Kg8 26. Qd5+ Be6 27. Nxe6 Bxb2 28. Nc7+ Kh8 29. Nxe8 Rxe8 30. Ra4 Qb5 31. Rb1 Qxd5 32. exd5 {White is up the exchange.}) 23... Bg7 24. e5 Bc6 {A bit better would have been 24...Nf4} 25. Re3 Bxf3 26. Bc3 {White is clearly winning.} (26. Rxf3 Bxe5 {and it's black who has the advantage, White's best practical chance is to give up the Q.} 27. Rb3 (27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. Bxe5 Qd2 {The material imbalance R+2Bs vs, Q+N makes for a difficult game for both sides though black must be considered a bit better.}) 27... Qxb3 $17) (26. gxf3 {is playable.} Nf4 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. Qh4 {White is only a P up, but has a winning attack.}) 26... Qb5 27. gxf3 Rad8 28. f4 Re6 29. Rb1 Qc6 {and the idea ...Rexd6 leaves Black hopeful.} 30. Rb6 Qc8 31. Bd1 Bh6 32. Bxh5 gxh5 33. f5 {Black resigned, Playing on would be a waste of time.} (33. f5 h4 34. Rf3 Bg5 35. fxe6 fxe6 36. Qe4 Rd7 37. Qc6 Qxc6 38. Rxc6 Bd8 39. Rxc4 {etc.}) 1-0