Studi Permainkan Akhir

Salam catur

Sekarang kita akan mempelajari permainan akhir ( ending game ), seperti yang telah diterangkan pada posting-posting yang lalu, didalam permainan catur kita melalui 3 tahap, yaitu : pembukaan ( opening ). Pertengahan ( middle ) dan akhir ( ending ).

Untuk menjadi pecatur tangguh, maka kita harus mempelajari ketiga phase ini,..hei klo gitu main catur susah ya?..ah ngak lah !..kenapa?? sebab didalam setiap tahapan ada teorinya…nah dengan mempelajari teori...maka permainan ini gampang dipelajari..yang penting disini anda harus memahami prinsip/teori dasarnya dan paham posisi basicnya…yang di maksud dengan “posisi basic”(untuk permainan akhir),misalnya: posisi menang R+M vs R, R+B vs R, R+G+G vs R, R+G+K vs R dan lain-lain, untuk posisi remis R+K+K vs R, R+M vs R+bidak a7,c7,f7 dan h7 (untuk putih),a2,c2,f2,h2 (untuk hitam) dan lain-lain
Baiklah supaya anda nggak pusing dengan uraian saya diatas kita lanjut aja pada pelajaran catur permainan akhirnya..nanti anda akan paham dengan sendirinya

Prinsip Permainan Akhir menurut para ahli antara lain :

1. Memanfaatkan kelemahan lawan berupa bidak rangkap, bidak terisolir, bidak terbelakang.
2. Usahakan pembentukan bidak bebas dan promosi secepatnya.
3. Bila unggul bidak lakukan penyederhanaan buah.
4. Babak Akhir termudah untuk menang ialah Babak Akhir Bidak.
5. Bentuk Remis termudah ialah Babak Akhir Gajah berlainan warna.
6. Raja sangat potensi dibabak Akhir, gunakanlah bila memungkinkan.
7. Sebaiknya posisi bidak-bidak tidak sewarna dengan Gajahnya.
8. Lakukan blokade atas bidak bebas lawan dengan buah yang tepat termasuk Raja.
9. Sebaiknya Benteng berada dibelakang bidak bebasnya.
10. Jangan melupakan kemungkinan adanya bentuk taktik/kombinasi.

Nah itulah prinsip main akhir yang perlu anda pahami, semakin anda paham maka semakin gampang anda mempelajari permainan akhir dan mempraktekkannya dalam main catur….nah sekarang kita lanjut!!

1. Cara membuat Mat dengan Menteri

Membuat Mat dengan Menteri dilakukan dengan cara menggiring dan membatasi gerak Raja lawan sampai seminimal mungkin, baru kemudian Raja kita datang membantu, atau bisa dilakukan secara bersama.
Kemungkinan menggiring sendiri tanpa bantuan Raja hanya berlaku bagi Menteri, karena ia satu-satunya buah yang tidak bisa didekati Raja lawan.
Selama membatasi gerak Raja lawan, agar waspada akan kemungkinan bentuk Pat/Remis

Contoh posisi



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Mb6+ Rd7, (jika 1…..Re7 2.Mc6 Rf7 3.Md6 dan seterusnya), 2.Re5 (langkah Raja diperlukan disini karena posisi Menteri sudah tepat) 2…..Re7 (jika 2…..Rc8 3.Ma7!, jangan 3.Re6 Pat (remis) 3.Mc7 Rf8 4.Rf6 Rg8 (bila 4…..Re8 5.Me7+ Mat) Mg7+ Mat

2. Cara membuat Mat dengan Benteng

Membuat mat dengan Benteng dilakukan cara menggiring dan membatasi gerak Raja lawan dengan bantuan Raja dan usahakan seefisien mungkin.

Contoh posisi



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Bd5 Re7 (bila 1…..Rf6 2.Be5 dan seterusnya) 2.Rf5!....Rf7 3Bd7+ Re8 4.Re6 Rf8 5.Bc7 Rg8 6.Rf6 Rh8 7.Rg6 Rg8 8.Bc8+ Mat

3. Cara membuat Mat dengan Sepasang Gajah

Membuat Mat dengan sepasang Gajah harus dilakukan penggiringan melalui penguasaan diagonal bersama dan dibantu Raja.

Contoh posisi



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Gf3+ Rd7 2.Gg3 (perhatikan penguasaan diagonal sepasang Gajah mampu membatasi gerak Raja lawan) 2…..Re6 3.Gg4+ Rf6 4.Rd5 (Raja harus membantu) Rg5 5.Gd7 Rf6 6.Gh4 Rf7 7.Re5 Rg6 8.Ge8 Rh6 9.Rf6 Rh7 10.Gg5 Rg8 11.Gh6 Rh7 12.Rg5 Rg8 13.Gg6 Rh8 14.Gf5 Rg8 15.Rg6 Rh8 16.Gg7+ Rg8 17.Ge6+ Mat. Agar diperhatikan posisi Mat nya serta berakan langkah membuat Mat.

4. Cara membuat Mat dengan Gajah dan Kuda.

Membuat Mat dengan Gajah dan Kuda hanya bisa dilakukan pada sudut dimana warna petaknya sesuai dengan warna Gajah.

Contoh posisi



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Rb2 Rd3 2.Kc7 Rc4 3.Ke6 Rd5 4.Kd4 Rc4 5.Rc2 Rb4 6.Rd3 Rc5 7.Gh2 Rd5 8.Kb3 (diposisi ini perhatikan fungsi Raja membantu menguasai petak warna putih!) Kc6 9.Rc4 Rb6 10.Kc5 Rc6 11.Ka4 (lagi cara penguasaan yang membatasi gerak Raja lawan) Rb7 12.Rb5 Rc8 13.Rc6 Rd8 14. Rd6 Rc8 (jika 14….Re8 15.Re6 Rf8 16.Ge5! atau 15…..Rd8 16.Kb6!) 15.Kb6+ Rb7 16.Rc5 Ra6 17.Rc6 Ra6 18.Gd6 Ra6 19.Gb8 (perhatikan Raja lawan harus digiring kepetak –a1!!) Ra5…20.Kd5! Ra4 (dengan 20….Ra6 21.Kb4+ Ra5 22.Rc5 Ra4 23.Rc4 Ra5 24.Gc7 dan seterusnya) 21.Rc5 Rb3 22.Kb4!! (ingat selalu langkah kunci ini untuk menggiring Raja lawan) 22…..Rc3 23.Gf4 Rb3 24.Ge5 Ra4 25.Rc4 Ra5 26.Gc7+ Ra4 27.Kd3 Ka3 28.Gb6!! (langkah tunggu!) Ra4 29.Kb2+ Ra3 30.Rc3 Ra2 31.Rc2 Ra3 32.Gc5+ Ra2 33.Kd3 Ra1 ( Raja lawan telah berada dipetak yang “tepat” untuk dimatikan) 34.Gb4 Ra2 35.Kc1+ Ra1 36.Gc3+ Mat

5. Cara membuat Mat dengan sepasang Kuda.

Berdasarkan penelitian tak mungkin bisa membuat Mat dengan sepasang Kuda murni, kecuali adanya langkah salah dari lawan.

Contoh posisi



Penyelesaiannya :
1.Kf8 (jangan 1.Ke7 Pat atau !.Kh6 Pat) Rg8 2.Kd7 Rh8 3.Kd6 Rg8 4.Kf6+ Rf8!! (jangan Rh8?? 5.Kf7+ Mat) dan Remis

Jadi bagaimana kemungkinan sepasang Kuda bisa membuat Mat. Hal ini mungkin apabila antara lain :

1. Adanya satu bidak bebas lawan yang secara tempo bisa membuat terbentuknya zugzwang (langkah paksaan)
2. Adanya komposisi Mat.

Contoh posisi 1



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Ke2+ Rh1 2.Kd1! g4 (terpaksa karena Raja terjepit) 3.Kg3+ Mat

Contoh posisi 2



Penyelesaian Mat :
1.Kh3 gxh3 2.Rf2! h2 (terpaksa!!) dan 3.Kg3+ Mat

Demikianlah bentuk-bentuk basic Mat, saya anjurkan anda untuk menghafalkannya…oke sampai disini dulu postingan permainan akhir caturnya…nanti kita akan jumpa lagi dalam berbagai jenis main akhir lainnya bye bye!!

Note : R = Raja, M = Menteri, B = Benteng, G = Gajah, K = Kuda

Problem catur 3 langkah Mati

Salam Catur

Kita tambah problem caturnya biar lebih seru lagi..oya bagi anda yang belum tahu cara dan peraturannya, baca aja seri sebelumnya, disana dah diterangkan semuanya dengan lengkap,

Saya rencana mau posting problem catur 3 langkah mat ini sebanyak 35 kali, itu artinya ada 700 problem yang akan anda dapatkan dari blog ini, hehe…biar anda pusing 7 keliling untuk memecahkannya.

Tahukah anda!!! Dengan hanya melihat700 problem catur ini, permainan catur anda akan meningkat 10%, klo sanggup pecahkan separoh aja maka kemampuan catur anda akan nambah 25 %..nah klo bisa jawab semuanya berarti catur anda akan meningkat 50% (haha..emangnya jago ngeramal ya ??)

Oke! Kita lanjut aja, sekali lagi ingat ya…pecahkan dulu problemnya dan klo benar-benar ngak dapat baru lihat jawabannya dibagian paling bawah, tapi jawabannya yang dikasih cuma langkah satu aja ya dan langkah kedua dan ketiganya cari sendiri biar lebih seru ….

Oya pada posting kali ini saya juga ikutkan 2 buah problem catur 3 langkah mat ciptaan Sansan dari Bogor ( he..he..ini asli karya putra Indonesia lho ) silahkan anda beri komentar tentang problem ini, bagi anda yang ngak bisa pecahkan dan ingin tau jawabannya..ya tanya aja sama penciptanya melalui kotak komentar yang ada dibawah postingan ini…oke kita lanjut!!

Yang 2 buah diatas karya Sansan-Bogor

Nah..gimana?? capek ya…kita stop aja sampai disini, nanti kita lanjutkan problem catur 3 langkah mat nya pada posting belajar catur yang akan datang..bye …

Note : K = King = Raja, Q = Queen = Menteri, R = Rock = Benteng, B = Bisop = Gajah, N = kNight = Kuda,

Jawaban problem 3 langkah Mat

41...Qd1 42...Kd8 43...Be5 44...Qg6 45...Bd4 46...Rf6 47...Ra5 48...Bg6 49...Nd5 50...Qc1 51... Ne4 52...Bg4 53...Bh7 54...Qf1 55...Nb4 56...Qa7 57...Rd6 58...[Ng3] 59...Bh3 60...Nd4

PERCASI

PERCASI- singkatan dari Persatuan Catur Seluruh Indonesia, merupakan induk organisasi cabang olahraga catur di Indonesia.
Alamat PERCASI:

Kanselarij KONI Pusat Pintu IV
Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno Senayan,
Jakarta Pusat 10270
Tel : (021) 5739685, 5704879
Fax : (021) 5739686

Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal
Full name	Russian: Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal Latvian: Mihails Tāls
Country	Soviet Union
Born	November 9, 1936 Riga, Latvia
Died	June 28, 1992[1] (aged 55) Moscow, Russia
Title	Grandmaster (1957)
World Champion	1960–1961

Mikhail Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls; Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, Michail Nechem'evič Tal' , IPA: [mʲixa'iɫ̺ n̻ʲɛ'xɛmjɛvʲiʨ t̺al̻]; sometimes transliterated Mihails Tals or Mihail Tal) (November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992)^[1] was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.
He was often called "Misha" (a diminutive for Mikhail) and also "The magician from Riga" for his daring combinational style. Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player.
Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer. Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking player of all time.

Career 1

Early years

Tal was born in Riga, Latvia. At the age of eight, Tal learned to play chess while watching his father, a doctor. Shortly thereafter he joined the Riga Palace of Young Pioneers chess club. His play was not exceptional at first but he worked hard to improve. Alexander Koblents began tutoring Tal in 1949. Tal's game improved rapidly thereafter, and by 1951 he had qualified for the Latvian Championship. In the 1952 Latvian Championship Tal finished ahead of his trainer, and also drawing 1 game against Alfred Acaling and winning the rest. Tal won his first Latvian title in 1953, and was awarded the title of candidate master. He became a Soviet master in 1954 by defeating Vladimir Saigin in a qualifying match. That same year he also scored his first win over a grandmaster when Yuri Averbakh lost on time in a drawn position. Tal graduated in Literature from the University of Riga, writing a thesis on the satirical works of Ilf and Petrov, and taught school in Riga for a time in his early 20s. He was a member of the Daugava Sports Society, and represented Latvia in internal Soviet team competitions.

Soviet champion

Tal qualified for the USSR Chess Championship final in 1956, finishing joint fifth, and became the youngest player to win it the following year, at the age of 20. He had not played in enough international tournaments to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, but FIDE decided to waive the normal restrictions and award him the title anyway because of his achievement in winning the Soviet Championship.^[2]
Tal made three appearances for the USSR at Student Olympiads, from 1956–1958, winning three team gold medals and three board gold medals. He won nineteen games, drew eight, and lost none, for 85.2 percent.^[3]
He retained the Soviet Championship title the following year, and competed in the World Chess Championship for the first time. He won the 1958 Interzonal tournament at Portorož, then helped the Soviet Union retain the Chess Olympiad.

World champion

Tal and Botvinnik, 1960 match

Tal won a very strong tournament at Zürich, 1959. Following the Interzonal, the top players carried on to the Candidates' Tournament, Yugoslavia 1959. Tal showed superior form by winning with 20/28 points, ahead of Paul Keres with 18.5, followed by Tigran Petrosian, Vasily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, Svetozar Gligorić, Friðrik Ólafsson, and Pal Benko. Tal's victory was attributed to his dominance over the lower half of the field;^[4] whilst scoring only one win and three loses versus Keres, he won all four individual games against Fischer, and took 3½ points out of 4 from each of Gligorić, Olafsson, and Benko.^[5]
In 1960, at the age of 23, Tal thoroughly defeated the relatively staid and strategic Mikhail Botvinnik in a World Championship match, held in Moscow, by 12.5–8.5 (six wins, two losses, and thirteen draws), making him the youngest-ever world champion (a record later broken by Garry Kasparov, who earned the title at 22). Botvinnik won the return match against Tal in 1961, also held in Moscow, 13–8 (ten wins to five, with six draws). In the period between the matches Botvinnik had thoroughly analyzed Tal's style, and turned most of the return match's games into slow wars of maneuver or endgames, rather than the complicated tactical melees which were Tal's happy hunting ground.^[6] Tal's chronic kidney problems contributed to his defeat, and his doctors in Riga advised that he should postpone the match for health reasons. Yuri Averbakh claimed that Botvinnik would agree to a postponement only if Tal was certified unfit by Moscow doctors, and that Tal then decided to play.^[7] His short reign atop the chess world made him one of the two so-called "winter kings" who interrupted Botvinnik's long reign from 1948 to 1963 (the other was Smyslov, world champion 1957–1958).
His highest Elo rating was 2705, achieved in 1980. His highest Historical Chessmetrics Rating was 2799, in September 1960. This capped his torrid stretch which had begun in early 1957.

[edit] Later achievements

Mikhail Tal, 1971

Immediately after he lost his title back to Botvinnik, Tal won the 1961 Bled supertournament, ahead of a star-studded field which included Fischer, Petrosian, Keres, Gligorić, Efim Geller, and Miguel Najdorf.
Subsequently Tal played in several Candidates' Tournaments. In 1962 at Curaçao, he had serious health problems, having undergone a major operation shortly before the tournament, and had to withdraw three-quarters of the way through, scoring just 7 out of 21. In 1965, he lost the final match against Boris Spassky, after defeating Lajos Portisch and Bent Larsen. He lost a 1968 semi-final match against Viktor Korchnoi, after defeating Gligoric. Health worries caused a slump in his play from late 1968 to late 1969, but he recovered his form after having a kidney removed. He won the 1979 Riga Interzonal with a dominant score of 14/17, but the next year he lost a quarter-final match against Lev Polugaevsky, one of the players to hold a positive score against him. He also played in the 1985 Montpellier Candidates' Tournament, a round-robin of 16 qualifiers, finishing in a tie for fourth and fifth places, and narrowly missing further advancement after drawing a playoff match with Jan Timman. He later defeated Timman in a 1988 exhibition match.
From July 1972 to April 1973, Tal played a record 86 consecutive games without a loss (47 wins and 39 draws). Between October 23, 1973 and October 16, 1974, he played 95 consecutive games without a loss (46 wins and 49 draws), shattering his previous record. These are the two longest unbeaten streaks in modern chess history.^[8]
A measure of Tal's strength also in his later years is given by his excellent score against Karpov in tournament games: one loss and nineteen draws out of 20 games they played, arguably the best score of any player against Karpov apart of course from Kasparov. One of Tal's greatest achievements during his later career was an equal first place with Anatoly Karpov (whom he seconded in a number of tournaments and world championships) in the 1979 Montreal "Tournament of Stars", one of the strongest events held in the 1960-1970s.
Tal played in 21 Soviet Championships^[9], winning it a record six times (1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978), a number only equalled by Botvinnik. He was also a five-time winner of the International Chess Tournament in Tallinn, Estonia, with victories in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1981, and 1983.
Tal was also a formidable blitz chess player. In 1970 he took second place to Bobby Fischer (who scored a sensational 19/22) in a super-strong blitz tournament at Herceg Novi, Yugoslavia. In 1988, aged 51, he won the second official World Blitz Championship (the first was won by Kasparov the previous year in Brussels) at Saint John, ahead of such players as Garry Kasparov, the reigning world champion, and ex-champion Anatoly Karpov. In the last decisive match he defeated Rafael Vaganian by 4-0.

Team competitions

In Olympiad play, Mikhail Tal was a member of eight gold medal winning Soviet teams (1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1980, and 1982), won sixty-five games, drew thirty-four, and lost only two games (81.2 percent). This percentage makes him the player with the best score among those participating in at least four Olympiads. Individually, Tal won seven Olympiad board medals, including five gold (1958, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1974), and two silver (1960, 1982).^[3]
Tal also represented the Soviet Union at six European Team Championships (1957, 1961, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1980), winning team gold medals each time, and three board gold medals (1957, 1970, and 1977). He scored 14 wins, 20 draws, and three losses, for 64.9 percent.^[3] Tal played board nine for the USSR in the first match against the Rest of the World team at Belgrade 1970, scoring 2 out of 4. He was on board seven for the USSR in the second match against the Rest of the World team at London 1984, scoring 2 out of 3. The USSR won both team matches. He was an Honoured Master of Sport.^[10]
From 1950 (when he won the Latvian junior championship) to 1991 Tal won or tied for first in 68 tournaments (see table below). During his 41-years career he played about 2,700 tournament or match games, scoring over 65 percent.

Tournament and match wins (or equal first)

1950-1966

Year	Tournament	Match / Team competition
1950	Riga - Latvia Junior championship, 1st
1953	Riga - 10th Latvian championship, 1st (14,5/19)
1955	Riga - 23rd Soviet Championship Semifinal, 1st (12,5/18)
1956		Uppsala - World students team championship, board 3 (6/7)
1957	Moscow - 24th URS-ch, 1st (14/21)	Reykjavik - Wch-team students, board 1 (8,5/10) Baden/Vienna - European Team Championship, board 4, 1st-2nd (3/5)
1958	Riga - 25th URS-ch, 1st (12/19) Portorož - Interzonal, 1st (13,5/20)	Varna- Wch-team students, board 1 (8,5/10) Munich Olympiad, board 5 (13,5/15)
1959	Riga - Latvian Olympiad, 1st (7/7) Zürich tournament, 1st (11,5/15) Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade - Candidates tournament, 1st (20/28)
1960		Hamburg - Match Germany vs USSR, 1st (7,5/8) Moscow - Match for the World title with Mikhail Botvinnik: (+6 -2 =13)
1960/61	Stockholm tournament, 1st (9,5/11)
1961	Bled tournament, 1st (14,5/19)
1962		Varna Olympiad, board 6 (10/13)
1963	Miskolc tournament, 1st (12,5/15)
1963/64	Hastings Premier tournament, 1st (7/9)
1964	Reykjavik tournament, 1st (12,5/13) Amsterdam Interzonal, 1st-4th (17/23) Kislovodsk tournament, 1st (7,5/10)
1965	Riga, Latvian championship, 1st (10/13)	Match with Lajos Portisch: (+4 -1 =3) Match with Bent Larsen: (+3 -2 =5)
1966	Sarajevo tournament, 1st-2nd (11/15) Palma de Mallorca tournament, 1st (12/15)	La Habana Olympiad, board 3 (12/13)

1967-1979

Year	Tournament	Match / Team competition
1967	Kharkov 35th URS-ch, = 1st (12/15)
1968	Gori tournament, 1st (7,5/10)	Belgrade, Match with Svetozar Gligoric: (+3 -1 =5)
1969/70	Tbilisi, Goglidze memorial tournament, 1st-2nd (10,5/15)
1970	Poti - Georgian Open championship (hors concours), 1st (11/14) Sochi - Grandmasters vs Young Masters, 1st (10,5/14)	Kapfenberg, European Team Championship, board 6 (5/6)
1971	Tallinn tournament, 1st-2nd (11,5/15)
1972	Sukhumi tournament, 1st (11/15) Baku 40th URS-ch, 1st (15/21)	Skopje Olympiad, board 4 (14/16)
1973	Wijk aan Zee tournament, 1st (10,5/15) Tallinn tournament, 1st (12/15) Sochi - Chigorin memorial, 1st (11/15) Dubna tournament, 1st-2nd (10/15)
1973/74	Hastings tournament, 1st-4th (10/15)
1974	Lublin tournament, 1st (12,5/15) Halle tournament, 1st (11,5/15) Novi Sad tournament, 1st (11,5/15) Leningrad 42nd URS-ch, = 1st (9,5/15)	Nice Olympiad, board 5 (11,5/15) Moscow, USSR Club Team Championship, board 1, 1st (6,5/9)
1977	Tallin - Keres memorial, 1st (11,5/17) Leningrad 60th October Rev., 1st-2nd (11,5/17) Sochi - Chigorin memorial, 1st (11/15)
1978	Tbilisi 46th URS-ch, 1st (11/17)
1979	Montreal tournament, 1st-2nd (12/18) Riga Interzonal, 1st (14/17)

[edit] 1981-1991

Year	Tournament
1981	Tallinn - Keres memorial, 1st Malaga tournament, 1st Riga tournament, 1st (11/15) Porz tournament, 1st Lviv tournament, 1st-2nd
1982	Moscow - Alekhine memorial, 1st (9/13) Erevan tournament, 1st (10/15) Sochi - Chigorin memorial, 1st (10/15) Pforzheim tournament, 1st (9/11)
1983	Tallinn - Keres memorial, 1st (10/15)
1984	Albena tournament, 1st-2nd (7/11)
1985	Jurmala tournament, 1st (9/13)
1986	West Berlin open, 1st-2nd (7,5/9) Tbilisi - Goglidze memorial, 1st-2nd (9/13)
1987	Termas de Rio Hondo (Brazil), 1st (8/11) Jurmala tournament, 1st-4th (7,5/13)
1988	Chicago open, 1st 2nd World blitz Championship at Saint John: 1st
1991	Buenos Aires - Najdorf memorial, 1st-3rd (8,5/13) Porz open, =4th (7/9)

Score with some major Grandmasters

Only official tournament or match games have been taken into account. The sign "+" means that Tal won those games.

Mikhail Botvinnik: +11 -12 =20	Vasily Smyslov: + 3 - 4 =21	David Bronstein: + 8 - 5 =18	Paul Keres: + 4 - 8 =20
Tigran Petrosian: + 6 - 9 =27	Boris Spassky: + 6 - 9 =25	Bobby Fischer: + 4 - 2 =5	Viktor Korchnoi: + 7 - 11 =5
Efim Geller: + 6 - 6 =23	Lajos Portisch: + 9 - 5 =18	Bent Larsen: +12 - 7 =18	Anatoly Karpov: + 0 - 1 =19

[edit] Health problems

Famous hospital visit by Fischer, Curaçao, 1962

Tal suffered from bad health, and had to be hospitalized frequently throughout his career, mainly for kidney problems. Eventually one of his diseased kidneys was removed. Tal was a chain smoker and a heavy drinker. He was also briefly addicted to morphine. On June 28, 1992,^[1] Tal died in a Moscow hospital, officially of kidney failure. But his friend and fellow Soviet grandmaster Genna Sosonko reported that "in reality, all his organs had stopped functioning."^{[11][not in citation given]}

Playing style

Tal's gravestone, showing a death date of "1992 27 VI" (June 27, 1992)

Tal loved the game in itself and considered that "Chess, first of all, is Art." He was capable of playing numerous blitz games against unknown or relatively weak players purely for the joy of playing.
Known as "The Magician from Riga", Tal was the archetype of the attacking player, developing an extremely powerful and imaginative style of play. His approach over the board was very pragmatic – in that respect, he is one of the heirs of ex-World Champion Emanuel Lasker. He often sacrificed material in search for the initiative in chess, which is defined by the ability to make threats to which the opponent must respond. With such intuitive sacrifices, he created vast complications, and many masters found it impossible to solve all the problems he created over the board, though deeper post-game analysis found flaws in some of his conceptions. The famous sixth game of his first world championship match with Botvinnik is typical in that regard: Tal sacrificed a knight with little compensation but prevailed when the unsettled Botvinnik failed to find the correct response.
Although his playing style was scorned by ex-World Champion Vasily Smyslov as nothing more than "tricks", Tal convincingly beat virtually every notable grandmaster with his trademark aggression. Viktor Korchnoi and Paul Keres are two of the very few with a significant plus record against him. It is also notable that he adopted a more sedate and positional style in his later years; for many chess lovers, the apex of Tal's style corresponds with the period (approximately from 1971 to 1979) when he was able to integrate the solidity of classic chess with the imagination of his youth.^[12]
Of the current top-level players, the Latvian-born Spaniard Alexei Shirov has probably been most influenced or inspired by Tal's sacrificial style. In fact, he studied with Tal as a youth. Many other Latvian grandmasters and masters, for instance Alexander Shabalov and Alvis Vitolins, have played in a similar vein, causing some to speak of a "Latvian School of Chess."^[13] Tal contributed little to opening theory, despite a deep knowledge of most systems, the Sicilian and the Ruy Lopez in particular. But his aggressive use of the Modern Benoni defense, particularly in his early years, led to a complete re-evaluation of this variation at the time, though it is seldom seen in tournament play in the 21st century.

Quotations on chess

• "There are two kinds of sacrifices: sound ones, and mine."^[14]
• "To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess."^[15]
• "If Black is going for victory, he is practically forced to allow his opponent to get some kind of well-known positional advantage."
• "It is also important to remember that Bobby Fischer was a real chess gentleman during games. He was always very fair and very correct."
• "I drink, I smoke, I gamble, I chase girls – but postal chess is one vice I don't have."^[16]
• "They compare me to Lasker, which is an exaggerated honor. He made mistakes in every game and I only in every second one!"
• Nevertheless, when asked about his opinion on who was the greatest player of all time, he answered: "Lasker, for he made miracles on the chessboard."
• Referring to his piece sacrifices: "They can only take them one at a time!"
• "If playing chess were made illegal by law, I would become an outlaw."
• "You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."

Notable chess games

• Mikhail Tal vs Alexander Tolush, USSR Championship, Moscow 1957, King's Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E81), 1–0 In a critical last-round game, Tal spares no fireworks as he scores the win which clinches his first Soviet title.
• Boris Spassky vs Mikhail Tal, USSR Championship, Riga 1958, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E26), 0–1 Spassky plays for a win to avoid a playoff for an Interzonal berth, but Tal hangs on by his fingernails before turning the tables in a complex endgame; with the win, he captures his second straight Soviet title.
• Mikhail Tal vs Vasily Smyslov, Yugoslavia Candidates' Tournament 1959, Caro-Kann Defence (B10), 1–0 A daring piece sacrifice to win a Brilliancy Prize game.
• Robert James Fischer vs Mikhail Tal, Belgrade, Candidates' Tournament 1959, Sicilian Defence, Fischer-Sozin Variation (B87), 0–1 In 1959, Bobby Fischer was too young and inexperienced to meet Tal with success. Still, their games from this time are full of interesting tactics.
• Mikhail Botvinnik vs Mikhail Tal, World Championship Match, Moscow 1960, 6th game, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Classical Main line (E69), 0–1 An excellent sample of Tal's style from the first Botvinnik-Tal match. Tal sacrifices a knight for the attack and Botvinnik is not able to find a good defence in the given time; his 25th move is a mistake spoiling the game for him.
• Istvan Bilek vs Mikhail Tal, Moscow 1967, King's Indian Attack, Spassky Variation (A05), 0–1 A risky counterattack is crowned with success, winning the Brilliancy Prize.
• Boris Spassky vs Mikhail Tal, Tallinn tt 1973, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Leningrad Variation (E30), 0–1 A game fuelled with tactics from its first moves. Black attacks in the centre and then starts a king chase.
• Mikhail Tal vs Tigran Petrosian, Moscow 1974, Pirc Defence (B08), 1–0 Tal destroys perhaps the greatest defensive player of all time in a miniature.

Writings

Although he did not publish much, Tal became also known as an exceptional chess writer who did not provide an abundance of variations but was able to communicate the intuition behind his reasoning to the reader. His account of his successful World Championship match against Botvinnik is very highly regarded: American Grandmaster Andrew Soltis reviewed it as "simply the best book written about a world championship match by a contestant. That shouldn't be a surprise because Tal was the finest writer to become world champion". New Zealand Grandmaster Murray Chandler wrote in the introduction to the 1997 reissued algebraic edition of The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal that the book was possibly the best chess book ever written. Tal also served as editor of the Riga magazine Šahs ("Chess") from 1960 to 1970.
One amusing anecdote frequently quoted from Tal's autobiography takes the form of a hypothetical conversation between Tal and a journalist. It offers a modest, self-deprecating view of his reputation for unerring calculation at the board:

Journalist: - "It might be inconvenient to interrupt our profound discussion and change the subject slightly, but I would like to know whether extraneous, abstract thoughts ever enter your head while playing a game?"
Tal: - "Yes. For example, I will never forget my game with GM Vasiukov on a USSR Championship. We reached a very complicated position where I was intending to sacrifice a knight. The sacrifice was not obvious; there was a large number of possible variations; but when I began to study hard and work through them, I found to my horror that nothing would come of it. Ideas piled up one after another. I would transport a subtle reply by my opponent, which worked in one case, to another situation where it would naturally prove to be quite useless. As a result my head became filled with a completely chaotic pile of all sorts of moves, and the infamous "tree of variations", from which the chess trainers recommend that you cut off the small branches, in this case spread with unbelievable rapidity.
And then suddenly, for some reason, I remembered the classic couplet by Korney Ivanovic Chukovsky: "Oh, what a difficult job it was. To drag out of the marsh the hippopotamus".^[17]
I do not know from what associations the hippopotamus got into the chess board, but although the spectators were convinced that I was continuing to study the position, I, despite my humanitarian education, was trying at this time to work out: just how WOULD you drag a hippopotamus out of the marsh ? I remember how jacks figured in my thoughts, as well as levers, helicopters, and even a rope ladder.
After a lengthy consideration I admitted defeat as an engineer, and thought spitefully to myself: "Well, just let it drown!" And suddenly the hippopotamus disappeared. Went right off the chessboard just as he had come on ... of his own accord! And straightaway the position did not appear to be so complicated. Now I somehow realized that it was not possible to calculate all the variations, and that the knight sacrifice was, by its very nature, purely intuitive. And since it promised an interesting game, I could not refrain from making it."
Journalist: - "And the following day, it was with pleasure that I read in the paper how Mikhail Tal, after carefully thinking over the position for 40 minutes, made an accurately-calculated piece sacrifice".

– Mikhail Tal, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal.

End Game

Combining beauty and practicality, the Endgame Study is one of the unique and subtle wonders of the Royal Game. ChessCafe.com is pleased to present, on a weekly basis, a selected endgame study for your enjoyment.

Unless specifically designated otherwise, it is always White to move. Unlike problems, studies usually do not require a solution in a pre-determined number of moves. Simply look for the best moves and replies to work out the win or draw. And don't be discouraged if at first you don't succeed – working out the solution will be satisfying – even instructive!

The current study is presented immediately following. Items in our Archives, including this week's selection, are available for you to download.

Endgame Study #634
The solution to this week's Endgame Study may be found further down the page.
	J. Lewin 64 1926 White to Play

If you are interested in endgame studies, look into the premier international endgame study magazine EG. To subscribe, 25 euros or the equivalent in USD may be sent to Marcel van Herck, Brialmontlei 66 B 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium arves@skynet.be Payment is also possible via Paypal to this e-mail address. The complete PDF archives of EG Volumes 1-152 are available here.

---

Solution to This Week's Endgame Study

1 h7 d2 2 Bh5 Bb6/i 3 h8B/ii 1–0

i 2...Bxf4 3 h8Q.
ii 3 h8Q d1Q+ 4 Bxd1 Bd4+ 5 Qxd4.