Remembering Mihail Tal

Remembering Mihail Tal

Tal's World Championship match against Mihail Botvinnik in the Spring of 1960 was one of the most interesting World Championship matches in the history of chess. Tal's convincing victory surprised and rattled the chess world. A bit later I had the chance to see the new World Champion in person: in the Fall of 1960 Tal came to Leipzig, East Germany, to take part in the Chess Olympiad 1960. Here he played a fantastic game against the young American Bobby Fischer, which made headlines. We memorised the game by heart and were simply stunned by the bold moves and maneuvers of this exciting duel. Of course, as a 14-year old I could not imagine that I would one day meet these two chess heores face to face.

Fischer vs. Tal, Leipzig 1960

The story of Tal's life and his immortal games have been the subject of many books and chess magazines and need not be recounted here. Moreover, I have always been more fascinated by Tal's qualities as a human being. Everyone who met the chess magician from Riga in person was impressed by his play and his natural, modest nature. I had this fortune a couple of times.

Tal always created an atmosphere of friendliness and goodwill. His humor was infectious and seemingly inexhaustible. He was a megastar without any affectation. He almost never refused if someone wanted to play a skittles game with him and took part in all kinds of blitz tournaments imaginable, winning most of them. In 1988, a few years before his death, the former World Champion in classical chess, also became the first Blitz World Champion.

In the summer of 1973 the "International Festival of Students and Young People" took place in East Berlin. Mihail Tal and the young Anatoly Karpov played an open air simul which was followed by a large number of spectators. For some reason I missed this event but a chess friend captured the historic moment.

Open air simul in Berlin 1973

In the last years of his life Mihail Tal also played in the German Bundesliga. First for SK Zehlendorf Berlin, later for the SG Köln Porz. That is one reason why he had a lot of friends in Germany. Two episodes from Tal's performances in the Bundesliga I remember particularly well.

In March 1990 Kirchheim and Zehlendorf played a match in Berlin. On board one Tal faced Andras Adorjan. The delicate Hungarian had put some cotton into his ears to avoid being disturbed during the game. However, it took a while before Tal appeared. The clocks had already been started and a concerned kibitzer next to me said: „Let us hope he is not ill again." When the magician finally arrived a lot of spectators flocked to his board. The game started with an English Opening but after 13 moves Tal and Adorjan settled for peace and agreed to a draw. Well, though the chess fans were not happy about this turn of events, for me it was a lucky chance.

Because now I had ample time to interview Tal - it was my first interview with him. Among other things we talked about the upcoming World Championship match between Garry Kasparov und Anatoly Karpov in New York. „On the board they are rivals but they are not enemies“, Tal told me with a smile. About ten years later Karpov confirmed this statement and said to me: „Despite all rivalry Kasparov and I have always entertained diplomatic relations.“

In another Bundesliga match, SG Köln Porz vs Hamburg, Tal played against the young German Sönke Maus. Maus had the white pieces and was not afraid of his renowned opponent. He reached a promising position but then made a terrible mistake which Tal immediately used to win his opponent's queen and the game.

After the game the chess magician apologised to his bewildered opponent. That was Tal. At the board he was wild and without pity, but in life he was kind and extremely pleasant. He also liked to analyse for hours with colleagues and ordinary chess friends alike, regularly coming up with one brillant move after the other.

In my archive I discovered a number of pictures from that time when photos were not digital.

Tal shows the best move (the white player is Ulf von Herman from Berlin)

In June 1992 the eighth World Champion died as result of his severe illness. Much too early - he was only 55 years old. The chess world mourned one of its most remarkable personalities. During the Tal Memorial 1995 in Riga I visited the Jewish cemetery and put flowers on Misha's grave. Dmitri Shirov, the father of Alexei Shirov, told me that his son always used to visit Tal's final resting place before important tournaments or Chess Olympiads. I also visited the home of the former World Champion in Riga. The idea of chess fans in Riga to make a museum of Tal's unfortunately was not supported by the Latvian government due to financial reasons. „That is more than sad“, says Engelina, Tal's widow.

Boris Spassky was a long-time companion of Tal. The two were rivals, teammates and friends. During chess olympiads they often shared a room. In 1962, at the Olympiad in Varna, Spassky even saved Tal's life - Tal had fallen asleep with a burning cigarette and the room was about to catch fire. I have often talked with Spassky about Tal. Spassky, who nine years after his friend also became World Champion, said:

Spasski, Kasparov, Tal

„Misha was a special human being and a messiah of chess. He simply exuded great magic. When he played a tournament, the public was immediately charged. All spectators in the hall were charged. Tal infected the masses. He electrified the people because he played such extraordinary chess. As if from another planet. With his rich imagination and his incredible inspiration Mihail Tal opened new horizons to chess. That is why he is still admired so much today."

Translation: Johannes Fischer

Mihail Tal at ChessBase