2/21/2024 – The 1959 Candidates Tournament saw an inspired Mikhail Tal emerging victorious with 20/28 points in a quadruple round-robin. On his way to victory, Tal, aged 22 at the time, defeated Bobby Fischer, aged 16, in all four of their confrontations. GM Daniel King analysed one of these games, where Tal fearlessly grabs material, allowing Fischer to create a dangerous attack. The game, along with Daniel King’s voice-over, was featured in an animation produced by Umang Mankodiya.
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Tal beats a 16-year-old Fischer
In contrast to the Candidates Tournaments in Zürich 1953 and in Amsterdam 1956, only eight players took part in the 1959 edition of the event. But they played a quadruple round-robin, i.e. 28 games altogether. Mihail Tal coped best with this challenge. He won the tournament with 20 points to his name, while Keres finished second with 18½ points.
This result is even more remarkable given that only a few days before the start of the tournament, Tal had to go into a hospital to get his appendix removed. Yuri Averbakh, who worked as Tal’s second at the Candidates, was ‘horrified’ when he met him:
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
He looked pale and haggard. Only his eyes were just as piercing, burning with an unquenchable fire.
- Dmitry Plisetsky and Sergey Voronkov, Russians vs. Fischer, Everyman 2005, p.32
Tal himself played down the operation:
I was allowed ten days to recover. [...] I was not much troubled by the effects of the operation, apart from in a purely mechanical sense; during a game I did not feel inclined to stroll about, and I was unable to walk quickly. I was able to devote myself to the battle.
- Mihail Tal, The Life and Games of Mihail Tal, RHM Press 1976, p.118
It was the way in which Tal won his games that enchanted chess players all over the world. He did not shy away from risk nor sacrifice. This style caused the occasional defeat but also led to numerous brilliancies.
Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal and Tigran Petrosian in 1959
Great interest was caused by the duel between Tal and the 16-year-old Bobby Fischer. Tal won all four games against the young American, even when Fischer managed to outplay him.
Fischer later included one of his four losses against Tal in his 60 Memorable Games — an indicator of how much the defeat had affected him.
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. These DVDs contain all you need to know to play the King's Gambit.
Umang Mankodiya produced an animation titled “d4 or e4?”, featuring this memorable game and a voice-over by GM Daniel King.
Replay the game
Variations reproduced from Fischer’s “60 Memorable Games”
No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.
Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.
Daniel KingDaniel King is a regular on playchess.com. Commentating on live events such as the World Championship or analysing themes for his monthly Power Play Show. He also produces a DVD series called Power Play for ChessBase in the Fritztrainer format.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
€21.90
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