Mikhail Tal, the Great Endgame Player, Part I, and a Great Set-Up Against the English
Like many, if not most chess players, I have admired Tal and his wonderful games and combinations. His ability to "open up" a closed position seemed like magic to me! No wonder people nicknamed him "The Magician from Riga". Here is an example of his magic:
How on Earth did Tal turn this "boring", closed position:
Into this exciting, open position?
Magic! A true Wizard!
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Now, to the main topic. Tal was a great endgame player. This I found out by reading Tibor Karolyi's 3-volume set on Tal....
The books are extremely well written and the material is thoroughly researched. Before each game, a small review of each opponent is offered. The analysis is thorough, but not overwhelming. Totally recommend this three-volume set.
Three other books about Tal I will recommend; the first one is by his coach and friend, Alexander Koblents:
An excellent book, with really entertaining notes AND good analysis.
The next book is the book about the World Championship Match between Tal and Botvinnik in 1960. This book is written by Tal himself. One of the best books ever written, as Tal provides an inside account to every important moment in the match:
And finally, my favorite Tal book: The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, by Tal himself. Again, one of the best chess books ever written, largely becauses Tal's style is so friendly, he makes you feel like you are visiting him and he just served you a cup of tea, to proceed and show you some of his games and regale you with his stories and humor.
A fantastic book! The only problem I have with it is that it tends to fall apart; the actual physical constitution of this book is not the best; it deserves better.
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In this Part I of Tal as a great endgame player, I bring forth a partner in this exploration, someone I encountered by chance but who has great imagination: GM Andras Adorjan from Hungary.
(Photo credit: L. Petrovits, MTI, via http://origo.hu.) #chess Via Douglas Griffin on Twitter, https://twitter.com/dgriffinchess/status/1150076416001826816
Adorjan was one of Kasparov's trainers for his matches against Karpov, and was instrumental in preparing Kasparov with innovative and courageous ideas in quite a few openings.
Adorjan is well known for his books on chess from the Black side; he holds the opinion that "Black is OK", which is the name of his first book on this subject.
He has four books on this subject:
Black is OK!
Black is Still OK!
Black is OK Forever!
Black is Back!
They are excellent! His explanations are lucid and numerous. Great players like Adorjan, Bronstein, Tal and others can make your chess better just by exploring their games; and if you add their comments, so much the better.
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GREAT SET-UP AGAINST THE ENGLISH
In his recent book, "Black is Back!" (2016), Adorjan gives credit to different Masters, International Masters and Grandmasters from Hungary who were an influence in his formation.
On page 259 he gives homage to IM Laszlo Liptay (1937- ):
"Another thing he provided me with was a weapon against the English. When I was nineteen, I played reasonably well, and I had a repertoire, but I couldn't find anything solid against the English. He showed me something which served me for a lifetime. I can propose it to you, dear reader. here it goes:
"This handling of the line promises active counterplay, and is a pleasure to play. Among others, I beat Csom with it in the 1993 Hungarian Championship. I'm grateful to the good Doc. for all this."
Let us look at the game against Csom:
And here is where these two, Tal and Adorjan, intersect in this article about Tal as an endgame player. In the following game, Tal plays this setup AND sacrifices his Queen for two pieces, in order to get.....an endgame with a better minor piece! That's all!
Here is the game, with comments by GM Mikhail Tal, ex-World Champion:
Another game recommended by Simaginfan is the game Smyslov-Fischer, from the Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca, 1970. Smyslov goes for the same inferior idea of exchanging the black-squared bishops.
