Mikhail Tal – too complicated for one show

Dennis Monokroussos writes:

As I warned in my preview to last week's show, the game Tal-Keller, Zurich 1959 was just a mess of complications. In order to do the game justice, therefore, we had to break off the show after Black's 21st move. The audience has really enjoyed the game so far, so I encourage those of you who missed the first part to show up for part two. I'll quickly bring everyone up to speed on what has been missed so far, and then we'll all be on the same page for the dramatic, insanely complex reminder.

In last week’s show, I presented a game from my all-time favorite player, Mikhail Tal. Not just any game, mind you, but one so complicated Tal himself refused to annotate it for his chess autobiography. On the one hand, this might seem hubristic on my part, but I’d prefer to put a more optimistic cast on it: (a) at least I tried, and (b) there will probably be mistakes in anyone’s analysis of this game. So I have nothing to lose by trying!

Those of you familiar with The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal might know what game I have in mind, but for those lacking that outstanding book, I’m referring to his epic battle with the Swiss player Dieter Keller from Zurich 1959. Keller invites trouble by playing the ultra-sharp Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav, and he finds it in spades. Tal’s attack comes in wave after wave, and although Keller defends exceptionally for a long time, he finally cracks under the pressure – just when he had almost consolidated with an advantage.

This is a game which will repay careful analysis, but in addition to its utilitarian value, it’s a beautiful, brilliant game that exemplifies the magic and ferocity of Tal’s chess at its best. So join me this Monday as we take a look at this masterpiece; you'll be glad you did!

Dennis Monokroussos is 38, lives in South Bend, IN (the site of the University of Notre Dame), and is writing a Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy (in the philosophy of mind) while adjuncting at the University.

He is fairly inactive as a player right now, spending most of his non-philosophy time being a husband and teaching chess. At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S., but quit for about eight years starting in his early 20s. His highest rating was 2434 USCF, but he has now fallen to the low-mid 2300s – "too much blitz, too little tournament chess", he says.

Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for seven years now, giving lessons to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.

When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame (or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database), which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess software.

Here are the exact times for different locations in the world