Tal's Immortal: Bobotsov-Tal 1958
A few years back, I visited my local library. Like always, I walked straight to the nonfiction section, Dewey Decimal code 794. As you may have guessed, that is "Indoor Games Of Skill". Well, for me that means chess. I immediately pulled 3 books off the shelf. Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, Calculate Like a Grandmaster, and Grandmaster Chess: Move by Move. After picking up a few other books, I headed home with my family. After arriving at the house, I lugged my books inside, put some of them on the shelf, walked upstairs, grabbed a chess set, and plopped down on the couch. I opened Calculate Like A Grandmaster and dug in. Now, this book is basically a collection of GM games, with a focus on attacking. The first two chapters were about Tal. I quickly played through the first 4 or 5 games. As I started looking at the next game, I was hooked. Something about it fascinated me. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the coordination of Tal's pieces as they descended upon Bobotsov's king. Maybe it was the amazing queen sacrifice. Whatever it was, it hooked me. I have annotated, analyzed, and played through that game scores of times.
Here it is, all for you. Enjoy!
Unannotated Game:
Computer Evaluation:
Annotated Game:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 c5 7. Be3 Nbd7 8. Qd2
a6 9. O-O-O Qa5 10. Kb1 b5 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Qxa5 Nxe3 13. Rc1 Nxc4 14. Rxc4 bxc4
15. Nc1 Rb8 16. Bxc4 Nb6 17. Bb3 Bxd4 18. Qd2 Bg7 19. Ne2 c4 20. Bc2 c3 21. Qd3
cxb2 22. Nd4 Bd7 23. Rd1 Rfc8 24. Bb3 Na4 25. Bxa4 Bxa4 26. Nb3 Rc3 27. Qxa6
Bxb3 28. axb3 Rbc8 29. Qa3 Rc1+ 30. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 0-1
1. d4 Nf6 The Magician from Riga quite often opened with Benonis, King's Indians, and other Indian Defenses.
2. c4 g6 Showing that Tal will most likely go for a King's Indian Defence.
3. Nc3 Bg7 Quite standard play.
4. e4 d6 Chess.com's Opening Explorer says that over 90,000 players have played this variation.
5. f3 This move signals a Samisch Defense, a very aggressive opening. Is aggression wise against the Latvian Wizard? We will see! ...0-0 A very popular choice, although I prefer a6.
6. Nge2 An interesting choice, though not the most popular nowadays. ...c5 This move strikes back in the center, counterattacking quickly.
7. Be3 Defending the d4 square, which is very important in these openings. ...Nbd7 At this point we are mostly out of book.
8. Qd2 Preparing queenside castling. ...a6 Anticipating queenside castling.
9. 0-0-0 Qa5 Getting the queen into the battle!
10. Kb1 A little extra defense for the a-pawn. ...b5 Charge the king! Man your battle stations!
11. Nd5 Agression! ... Nxd5!? What a move!
"I also saw how Tal defeated Milko Bobotsov. The day before, after Tal finished his main-event game, he played speed chess, one game after another with Nikola Padevsky, all of those games were with Black pieces, so that he could play over and over the same variation, which made everybody -- and Tal most of all -- giggle, because it was a variation where Black -- that is Tal -- always at the same place sacrificed his queen for two light pieces, just so, as if for not apparent reason at all, just so that there was some good entertainment. Of those speed games, Tal won some, lost some -- of course, he was a good chunk of queen behind -- and everyone around was taking it as such a clever jest, a form of handicapping self. Tal clearly wanted to amuse himself, and thus he 'sacrificed' his queen game after game. There was much mirth about it all around, even a swim guard was watching the circus, and a Bulgarian woman player, with which Tal played speed chess the day before under the unusual rule that gave him a win only when the game was a draw.
Among the many spectators that laughed merrily about those funny games between Tal and Padevsky was also Bobotsov. He too had a great time watching it all. The next day came the time for their 'serious game' Bobotsov-Tal which was a part of the match USSR-Bulgaria. The opening was a King Indian and it was played in a lightning speed; it was clear how eager was Bobocov to find out what had Tal prepared instead of that funny queen sac. And, right away, the position on the board was the one from yesterday speed games; and, right away, Bobotsov played that Nd5 and spectators gasped: Tal, without a flinch, grabbed the knight and sacrificed his queen, just the same as in all those crazy speed games of the day before. Even Bobotsov did not quite believe his eyes. He gave a bit embarrassed side-way smile and took the queen. The rest of the game lasted only a few moves -- and Bobotsov did not get to play much."
Jiri Vesely, White-and-Black Memories
Version 2- Tal tells the story as an introduction to the game (Translation by Spektrowski from the Russian edition of "Attack with Mikhail Tal")
"At the Varna 1958 student olympiad, a group of participants was playing blitz (unlike the "adults", we youngsters allowed ourself such "recklessness"). In a well-known position, I sacrificed my Queen a couple of times, following the game Zamikhovsky - Nezhmetdinov from the USSR championship semi-final in Kharkov that took place 1.5 years ago. I won both games quite easily, but Milko Bobotsov, the future Bulgarian grandmaster who also was in our company, openly mocked the correctness of this sacrifice. Of course, I rashly told him, "Milko, we can check it in our tournament game, if you'd like!"
And on the very next day, practically the same position appeared on the board in the Bulgaria - USSR match..."
Well! Now you know the fascinating backstory. By the way, thanks to @Kamalakanta for unearthing some of this.
12. Qxa5 Is there another option? 12. cxd5 has been played, but doesn't really work. Interestingly enough, out of the 6 games in the database, Black wins only two. In case you want to look the other one up, here it is.
...Nxe3 Taking the bishop, getting another minor piece.
13. Rc1 "Run!", shouts the Rook. ...Nxc4 This move really shows the power of the knight on the c4-square.
14. Rxc4 Milko decides that the knight is really too strong, so he chops it off. ...bxc4 Obviously. I am not sure about White's last move, as it gives Tal an open file.
15. Nc1? This only makes the knight more passive. Far superior was Nf4, putting the knight on a nice square. ...Rb8 Tal jumps on the open file!
16. Bxc4 Grabbing a pawn, which surprisingly enough is actually best. ...Nb6? Not the fastest road to the win. Bxd4 was better.
17. Bb3 Too passive. Bxa6 was much stronger, attempting to grab the attack! ...Bxd4 Picking up a pawn.
18. Qd2?? This move is again, too passive. Ne2 would have given Bobotsov a chance, albeit a small one. ...Bg7 The main purpose of this move is to free the c-pawn.
19. Ne2 It's too late. The rest is mopping up. ...c4 Here comes the pawn.
20. Bc2 Hide! Run from the c-pawn! ...c3 This pawn is on a roll! Tal: "Destroying the White King's position with a false pawn sacrifice. The rest is simple."
21. Qd3 You can't take the pawn safely. ...cxb2 What an audacious pawn!
22. Nd4 Bd7 Bringing in all the firepower!
23. Rd1 Rfc8 This was a mistake, but it doesn't matter.
24. Bb3 Na4 The end draws near.
25. Bxa4 Bxa4
26. Nb3 Rc3 Crushing!
27. Qxa6 Bxb3
28. axb3 That was the last defender, really. ...Rbc8 Threatening the rook check.
29. Qa3 This is the end. ...Rc1+
30. Rxc1+ Rxc1+ Can you find why this wins?
0-1
Ok, I hope you enjoyed this game. You probably can tell why this is one of my favorite games. I also love the great story behind it. So, what are the main lessons from this game?
- Never give Tal an open file on your king!
- Never be afraid to sacrifice. No one ever won a brilliancy prize by being cautious!
- In the Samisch variation of King's Indian Defense, you can often sacrifice to get a powerful g7 bishop combined with an open b-file.
- In opposite-sides castling positions, you often need to throw everything at your opponent's king!
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Have a great day!
@SPickwick
