@ Fischer Chess Academy !!
, 30/01/2025 1
2165 E69 Indian Defense, usually selected
Mikhail Botvinnik an old-fashioned continuation
Mikhail Tal connected with the fianchettoing
Botvinnik - Tal World Championsh.. of the king bishop which, in my
[Mandar Shiraskar] opinion, does not give White an
opening advantage." 8.e4 c6 9.h3
to stop ...Ng4 9...Qb6 threatening
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 to capture with 10...exd4 11.Nxd4
4.Bg2 0-0 5.d4 d6 Nxe4 10.d5 cxd5
h g f e d c b a h g f e d c b a
1 1 1 1
2 21 2 22
3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6
7 7 7 7
8 8 8 8
h g f e d c b a h g f e d c b a
6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 Learning : 11.cxd5 Nc5 [ little relaxation for
How G rea t t ry t o o ut play th e i r TAL] 12.Ne1 playing to exchange
oppponent in Opening. [ the knight on c5. 12...Bd7 13.Nd3
Discussion point] Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Rfc8 15.Rb1
"The King's Indian Defense with Nh5?!
2...c5 and the Nimzo-Indian [ 15...Qd4 perhaps a move like
Defense had, in general, not this was obvectively better.
produced the desired effect. There The co mmit al ...Nh5 m ust b e
was still one other double-edged admired for the creativity, but
opening - the classical King's we should also acknowledge that
Indian Defense. This is what we the position is difficult for
chose. One of the things that Black. ]
h e l p e d s h a pe o u r d e c i s i o n w a s
that Botvinnik, against the King's (Diagram 3)
@ Fischer Chess Academy !!, 30/01/2025 2
h g f e d c b a move.\" 20.exf5 Bxf5
1 1 h g f e d c b a
1 1
2 23
2 24
3 3
3 3
4 4
4 4
5 5
5 5
6 6
6 6
7 7
7 7
8 8
h g f e d c b a 8 8
h g f e d c b a
16.Be3 Qb4 17.Qe2 Rc4
[ \ " T h e v a r i a t i o n \ " 17...f5 21.Ra1 \"Botvinnik probably
18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Rbc1 thought that now Black's pieces,
\"conceding the square e4, b e c au s e o f t h e t hr e a t o f 2 2. g 4 ,
would be positionally unjustified. were forced to retreat and White
Bl ac k deci des t o ca rry o ut f5 would be able to occupy e4 at his
w i t h g r e a t e r e ff e c t , a nd no w own convenience, but there is a
the sacrifice of the knight on f4 surprise waiting for him.\"
becomes less hazy.\" ] 21...Nf4!! [ Kasparov Wrote : A
18.Rfc1 \"White wants to 'smoke surprise! I t i s very hard to
out' Black's pieces with Bf1 and evaluate sucha move: objectively,
then satisfactorily carry out a as shown by a detailed computer
mass of exc hange s. The en di ng analysis, it is losing, but on the
will be ext r em ely fav ora ble fo r other
him because of the fact that hand this bold sacrifice shocked
Black's knight and king's bishop Botvinnik and to a considerable
are stuck on the kingside and will extent predetennined Tal's victory
not be able to switch over to in the match. From his customary
d e f e n s e q u i c k l y . \ " 18...Rac8 field of clear strategy the world
19.Kh2 f5 \"After having waited a champion suddenly found himself
move, Black feels that everything in a minefield of wild
is read for the combination and complications, where any
makes the initial 'anti-positional' incautious step would be fatal ...
@ Fischer Chess Academy !!, 30/01/2025 3
Black's brilliant play provoked a say, after his 17th. Be that as it
STORM not only on the board, but may, afte r the knight sacrifice,
also in the auditorium. Black's pieces (especially the
Disciplined Soviet chess fans, who recently 'unemployed' bishop on
had already seen Botvinnik play g7) become very active all over the
four matches, were so excited by board, and White has to seriously
Tal's inspired play that they take into account all the
began applauding, noisily talking numerous sharp variations. The
and even shouting. Botvinnik was sacrifice must be accepted.\"
obviously upset and irritated by [ 21...Nf6 22.g4 Bd7 23.Qd2 ]
these distractions. Noticing this, 22.gxf4 exf4 23.Bd2?
his second, Goldberg, asked the [ 23.a3!! This surprising
chief arbiter Stahlberg to transfer intermediate move disrupts
play to an isolated room. And six Tal's coordination and permits
moves later, after numerous the capture on a7 next move
fruitless attempts to calm the since the bishop will no longer
public, the controllers transferred be trapped by ...Qa5 after... Qb3
play to a separate room - a rare 24.Bxa7 Be5 25.f3 Stopping ...
instance in the history of matches f3+ $1 and the bishop can come
for the world championship back to g1 or f2 now. b6 26.a4!+-
(the same happened in the 23rd Tal's analysis of this game is
game of the 1 958 return match, incredible, and he shows that he
when Smyslov was sealing his 41 saw almost all of the relevant
st move, while the third game of computer analysis and MUCH
the 1 972 Spassky-Fischer match more in the notes. However, he
was 'closed' from beginning to end). does miss this computer move
R e f: M y G r e a t P r e d e c e s s o r s I I which goes a long way toward
:Chapter 4 Mikhail Nekhemevich securing a win for White. White
the Eighth. page 422] now has ideas of a5, Ra3, and
The arguments that this move sometimes Nb5. The position is
raised were completely pointless. still messy, but it's hard to
Suffice it to say that all the other believe that Tal could have
continuations are bad and if the generated his magic from this
knight sacrifice is incorrect, then position if Botvinnik had
a q u e s t i o n m a r k s ho ul d n o t b e defended so perfectly. ]
placed after Black's 21st move but, [ 23.Bxa7? Qa5! traps the
@ Fischer Chess Academy !!, 30/01/2025 4
bishop. ] h g f e d c b a
23...Qxb2? 1 1
[ \"I rejected the continuation in
2 25
view of the variation\" 23...Be5!
24.f3 Qxb2 25.Nd1! Qd4 3 3
26.Rxc4 Rxc4 27.Rc1 Rxc1 4 4
28.Bxc1 Qxd5 29.Bf1
5 5
\"and Black's three pawns do
not outweigh White's extra piece. 6 6
\" ] 7 7
24.Rab1 f3! \"Black had placed 8 8
all of his hopes on this move.\" h g f e d c b a
25.Rxb2?
[ 25.Bxf3! \"Botvinnik thought 26.Rb3 Rd4! \"Black's clumsy
that the capture on f3 was rook suddenly finds colossal
a dv a n t a g e o u s f or B la c k , a n d strength in the middle of the board.
preferred the immediate \" 27.Be1 Be5+ 28.Kg1 Bf4
exchange of queens ... but in his [ \"Unfortunately, Black missed
calculation s, White a pos sibility t o e nd the gam e
underestimated the strength of q ui c k ly a n d b e a u t i ful l y b y \ "
B l a c k ' s 2 6 t h m o v e . \ " Bxb1 28...Rxc3! 29.Rbxc3 Rd1 30.Rc4
26.Rxb1 Qc2 Bb2-+ ]
A) 27.Be4!! (Flohr) Rxe4 29.Nxe2 Rxc1 30.Nxd4 Rxe1+
28.Nxe4 Qxb1 29.Nxd6 Rf8 h g f e d c b a
30.Qe6+ Kh8 31.Nf7+ Rxf7 1 1
( 31...Kg8 32.Nh6+ Kh8
2 26
33.Qg8+ Rxg8 34.Nf7# )
32.Qxf7+-; 3 3
B) 27.Rc1! Qf5 ( 27...Qb2 4 4
28.Bg4+- ) 28.Bg4 Qe5+
5 5
29.Qxe5 Bxe5+ 30.f4+- Rxc3
31.Bxc8 \"this was the move 6 6
that had been missed.\" ] 7 7
25...fxe2 8 8
h g f e d c b a
(Diagram 5)
@ Fischer Chess Academy !!, 30/01/2025 5
31.Bf1 Be4 32.Ne2 Be5 33.f4 h g f e d c b a
Bf6 34.Rxb7 Bxd5 35.Rc7 1 1
tactics
2 29
35...Bxa2
3 3
h g f e d c b a
1 1 4 4
2 27 5 5
3 3 6 6
4 4 7 7
5 5 8 8
h g f e d c b a
6 6
7 7 46.Rc7 Kd4 47.Rd7+
8 8 h g f e d c b a
h g f e d c b a 1 1
2 2 10
36.Rxa7 tactics 36...Bc4 37.Ra8+
Kf7 38.Ra7+ Ke6 39.Ra3 tactics 3 3
39...d5 40.Kf2 Bh4+ 4 4
h g f e d c b a 5 5
1 1
6 6
2 28
7 7
3 3
8 8
4 4 h g f e d c b a
5 5
R e f: M y G r e a t P r e d e c e s s o r s I I
6 6
:Chapter 4 Mikhail Nekhemevich
7 7 the Eighth
8 8
Ref : Tal Botvinnik 1960 : Game 6
h g f e d c b a
0-1
41.Kg2 Kd6 42.Ng3 Bxg3
43.Bxc4 dxc4 44.Kxg3 Kd5
45.Ra7 c3