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Chess 02 Aug 1992, Sun The Daily Times (Mamaroneck, New York) Newspapers.com
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Chess by Shelby Lyman
Mikhail Tal Was A True Inspiration
BEGINNER'S CORNER - hint and explanation: Divert its defender.
Beginner's Corner
White Wins The Queen
FEN 6q1/5Qpk/6R1/4rp2/4p3/4P1PP/5PK1/8 w - - 0 1
White moves
Mikhail Tal, the former world champion who recently died in Moscow at the age of 55, was an authentic genius of chess. So awesome were his mental powers that one famous grandmaster complained that it was unfair to have to play Tal because he had the memory and calculating ability of a computer.
But Tal was much more than a human chess machine. He was an elemental creative force as well, a man who had a passionate love affair with chess and life itself. His brilliance at the chessboard, charming wit, modesty and warmth earned him worldwide admiration and affection.
From his youth, the “magician of Riga” suffered from chronic and often debilitating illness, resulting finally in his premature death.
I first met Tal in 1956, a vital dark-haired youth with a piercing but friendly stare and a striking charisma.
Thirty years later, I met him again in Brussels. He seemed 10 or 15 years older than his actual age. But it was the same Tal with the same chess powers and wit, and he was even more respected and admired than before.
Below is a dynamic draw Tal played with Bobby Fischer in the 1960 Leipzig World Chess Olympics.
Robert James Fischer vs Mikhail Tal
Leipzig Olympiad Final-A (1960), Leipzig GDR, rd 5, Nov-01
French Defense: Winawer. Retreat Variation Armenian Line (C18) 1/2-1/2
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4 cxd4 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. bxa5 dxc3 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 Nbc6 11. Nf3 Qc7 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. O-O O-O-O 14. Bg5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxb5 16. Nxf7 Bxf1 17. Nxd8 Rxg5 18. Nxe6 Rxg2+ 19. Kh1 Qe5 20. Rxf1 Qxe6
SOLVE-IT
After 21. Kxg2
Tal
Fischer
Black To Play
(See text & game score)
21. Kxg2 Qg4+(a) 1/2-1/2
(a) White cannot avoid perpetual check.
Solution to Beginner's Corner: 1. Rh6ch! Kxh6 (the pawn is “pinned” Qxg8).
Shelby Lyman is a syndicated writer whose column appears weekly.
