Pawn Sac, Knight sac ... Tal!

At the Chess Olympiad of Muniche 1958 the later chess word champion Michael Tal reached with 13,5/15 points (board 5) a very impressive result. More than this he played also one of the best games in that tournament.

After 16 moves he reached  following position against the Bulgarian Minev

Here it is very important to know that Black had already lost the right of castling. So, Tal decided instead of playing a positional move as Nc5 or Rac1 to open the position immediately for a strong piece attack

17. d5!!

This pawn sac reveals a deep understanding of the position. The black king in the midst will become the target

17. ... exd5

Without any doubt Black has to accept the offer. Otherwise fxe6 would have damaged his position

18. Rfe1!

A knight sac, which Black had to deny (move list). But what else could he do?

Having lost the right of castling before, black king couldn`t get easily out of the danger zone. And White pieces were already on the road ...