I'd like to hear more about his views on Internet blitz. After all, he's arguably the greatest Internet blitz player of all time. Most people today think that title belongs to Carlsen or Nakamura, but I've made what I think is a convincing case for Tal:
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-players/is-mikhail-tal-the-greatest-internet-blitz-player-of-all-time
Why don't you continue your blog? These high quality posts don't belong here.
That's an interesting observation. It's my personal feeling that the Forums should be a mixed bag of things.... serious chess with experts commenting, more casual chess with the rest of us partaking, silly stuff, random topics ... and a smattering of history. Unfortunately perhaps, silly things tend to dominate the Forum and history isn't valued very highly, but whatever the reality, there still needs to be an infusion of all these different things to make the Forums a truly all-encompassing and worthwhile area.
Totally concur. A+ post. Thanks, batgirl.
tal was a nice man
Kramnik sneaks in a lot of jokes, often about this or that move that his opponent played in the opening.
Anish Giri is trying to be funny in his writings for New In Chess.
(2A) coffee, black? have to try that
I can confirm!
Normally I only drink a strong cup of coffee in the morning, but since last months I drink one before every chess match. Haven't lost any of my 12 last games. You have to make it really strong though, I use an Italian bialetti filled to the top.
I do have to compensate the coffee-kick with a lot of smoking during the game to cool my nerves though. I think Tal would concur :D
I saw a study a while back where they tested i.q. before and after a strong cup of coffee and it temporarily raised i.q. about 10 points on average...but the effect only lasted about half an hour. Coffee is a strange drug, it is a mild stimulant at first, then acts a mild sedative after about half an hour....so make sure you drink a little more after half an hour or split it up if you are playing a long game. Batgirl rules, I agree!!!!
I saw a study a while back where they tested i.q. before and after a strong cup of coffee and it temporarily raised i.q. about 10 points on average...but the effect only lasted about half an hour.
By the time of the rematch with Botvinnik, Tal was already suffering from the chronic kidney ailment that later forced his withdrawal from the next Candidates tournament & affected his results for several years afterward. Tal later reported that although there were five other Soviet players in the Candidates, the only opponent to visit him in the hospital was Fischer.
By the early 1970s, he seemed to have recovered although he never again quite made it to the Candidates final match. He did, however set the record for the two (!) longest unbeaten streaks in grandmaster chess.
The young Tal looks totally different from the old Tal.
Thanks Rob.