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Chessville
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Did you ever notice how some famous GM games are more interesting to play through than others? For instance, tell me you have a Tartakower or Nimzowitsch game and I’m sorry, but I just can’t get that excited. But tell me you have a Fischer, Alekhine, or Tal game you want to show me and woo-hoo!, break out the milk and cookies because I know I’m in for a real treat! And Mikhail Tal: Tactical Genius by Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik is loaded with enough tasty treats to satisfy the most demanding of palates. Raetsky, a Russian IM has put out several other books including, Meeting 1. e4, and Chetverik, a Russian FM, who co-wrote English…e5 with Raetsky, have created that rare book that is both instructive AND entertaining. Of course, the entertaining part is expected given that their subject is considered the most exciting sacrificial attacker in our games history. Tal was nicknamed the “Wizard from Riga,” but today his nickname might have been “The Harry Potter of Chess” as many of his attacks were truly magical in the way he seemed to create crushing attacks seemly out of thin air. There’s no doubt about it, Dumbledore would have been proud of this wizard!
Let’s take a brief look at each chapter: Chapter One: Mikhail Tal: A Short Biography
Raetsky and Chetverik kick things off with a brief 6 page biography of Tal,
who was born in Riga on the 9th of November 1936, the son of a
doctor. While obviously the coverage is not extensive, it does cover
the highlights of Tal’s illustrious career, followed by giving three of his
games: Tal-Panno, Portoroz, 1958; Tal-Botvinnik, World Ch. Game 1, 1960; and
Tal-Flesch, Lvov, 1981. Chapter Two: Simple but Effective This section contains a “sampler” of some of Tal’s easier finishes. Throughout the book, it is obvious that Raetsky and Chetverik have a great affection for the 8th world champion. For example, to start this chapter they write:
While I can’t say that I “pretended” to be Tal even for “a brief moment,” I can say that after playing through several of these puzzles, I did get the feeling that Tal simply played the game on a whole different level than his contemporaries. Although the combinations in this chapter are not deep, their simplicity doesn’t make them any less instructive. For example, take Puzzle 10 from the game Tal-Timman, Reykjavik 1988:
White to Move and Win In the above diagram, Tal plays a basic tactic that even GM Timman missed! (Note: I will give all the solutions to the puzzles at the end of my review.) In addition to the puzzles, Raetsky and Chetverik make interesting observations such as:
While I generally liked what the authors had to say, in this case I would
argue that Tal more than “hoped,” he KNEW the shock his sacs would have on
his flustered opponents and was supremely confident he could outplay them in
the complications. Otherwise, why would he have gone into them?
Yep, Tal knew what he was doing, no doubt about it. Chapter Three: Stepping Up This section contains slightly more difficult Tal combinations, such as puzzle # 22 (Tal-Holm, Kapfenberg 1970):
White to Move and Win
The solution is classic Tal. Chapter Four: Getting There! Logically, this section contains puzzles that are more advanced than the previous ones. For example, take a look at the diagram below (Tal-NN, USSR Simul 1964):
White to Move and Win
Black’s King is unhappy, but White’s rook is hanging. See if you can
find Tal’s next move which is not only clever, but once you see it you
think, “Ah yes, but of course!” Chapter Five: Tal’s World of Magic Now come the toughies. For example, from the game Tal-Hecht, Varna Olympiad 1962:
White to Move and Win Says Raetsky and Chetverik: “Tal has sacrificed his queen, and at the moment he has only a minor piece for it, and his bishop is hanging! However, he had foreseen everything. How did he continue?”
I have to tell you that not only could I not solve this one, but when I
finally looked at the solution to see what Tal played in the diagram
position, I couldn’t believe it! So, since the solution is quite long
(Tal actually wins it in the endgame), just see if you can get the move that
Tal played here. Chapter Six: Chess Wizardry
This chapter contains five of Tal’s greatest combinations. (If you
solve all five of these without looking at the hints or solutions your last
name is either Shirov or Morozevich!) Chapter Seven: Endgame Magic
This section contains puzzles where Tal worked his magic in the endings. Chapter Eight: A Taste of his own Medicine
Tal didn’t win all his games. Here are some puzzles where he was on the
losing side. Chapter Nine: Tal Tips
If you have trouble solving any of the puzzles, you can look here for a hint
without being told the solution. Chapter Ten: Solutions to Puzzles
The solution to every puzzle (including many complete games) is listed here.
(Trust me, you will be spending some time here!) The Bottom Line If you enjoy solving chess puzzles from real games and you want to improve your chess creativity, going through these amazing Tal combinations will not only bring you hours of enjoyment but will definitely improve your game. While there are quite a few other books out there on Tal, Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik have done a good job of organizing the material as well as adding in their own instructive comments. As I mentioned in the opening to this review, this is one of those rare books that both entertains and instructs. Highly recommended.
Solutions: (1) Tal - Timman
(2) Tal – Holm
(3) Tal - N.N.
(4) Tal - Hecht
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