Quote of the Day: Former World Chess Champion Tal

Richard Easton
Richard Easton
339
 

Tal was an exuberant person. He was closer to a bohemian than a dissident in the Soviet Union. He became world champion by defeating Botvinnik in 1960. He was known for his wild attacking style. One game had to be moved to a private room because the crowd was so amazed by Tal’s slashing attack that they refused to be quiet.

In the mid 1980s, an Englishman who was working towards the grandmaster title was playing at the same tournament had this encounter. After Rogers drew an endgame minus 2 pawns vs. Viktor Garikov, Ian and his wife Cathy were joined in the lift by Tal, who asked how the adjourned game had gone. On being told, Tal cracked up with laughter…

“Soviet champion!..2 pawns up!..Only a draw!!

He was known for his hypnotic stare during games.


GM Pal Benko wore sunglasses when he played Tal in the 1959 candidates match.

Tal plays future world champion Spassky in speed chess.

Here are two more casual pictures.

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  1. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston
    Post author
    2:19 PM EDT ⋅ Aug 10, 2020

    Chris Hutchinson (View Comment):

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    I played competitive chess while in high school and I don’t see anything in this post or the pictures that seem unusual. Every opponent I ever played either tried to intimidate me with a fierce stare or blew cigar smoke in my face aggressively. I decided to quit competitive chess when I went two nights in a row without sleeping because of the stress. I left pediatrics after 11 years when I went two nights without sleep because of worries about the changes coming. I retired from my lucrative practice in radiology not too many years later for the same reason. There is nothing in life that is worth losing sleep over.

    So did I and a tournament player for a number of years afterwards. Yes, there were lots of little intimidation techniques but none ever as intimidating as playing the little kids who looks almost bored to be there.

    A decade ago, I was playing a lot of tournaments. I’d come home and tell my wife that I beat a nine year old and drew with a ten year old. She’d tease me that I should beat someone closer to my age. But the kids are frequently significantly underrated.

    • #31
  2. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster
    3:08 PM EDT ⋅ Aug 10, 2020

    Steven Seward (View Comment):
    As he strolled to each chess board making his moves, he carried a brown paper bag from which he would take sips of an unknown liquid that he would not reveal by taking it out of the bag. Like Tal, he also died at a young age.

    Maybe he was like Dolphus Raymond and was drinking Coke just to throw his opponents off.

    • #32
  3. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward
    5:09 PM EDT ⋅ Aug 10, 2020

    Chris Hutchinson (View Comment):

    Southern Pessimist (View Comment):

    I played competitive chess while in high school and I don’t see anything in this post or the pictures that seem unusual. Every opponent I ever played either tried to intimidate me with a fierce stare or blew cigar smoke in my face aggressively. I decided to quit competitive chess when I went two nights in a row without sleeping because of the stress. I left pediatrics after 11 years when I went two nights without sleep because of worries about the changes coming. I retired from my lucrative practice in radiology not too many years later for the same reason. There is nothing in life that is worth losing sleep over.

    So did I and a tournament player for a number of years afterwards. Yes, there were lots of little intimidation techniques but none ever as intimidating as playing the little kids who looks almost bored to be there.

    This is so true!  Viktor Kortchnoi, who lost a couple of World Championship  matches said in his autobiography that he once sat across the board from an 11 year-old boy, Ulf Anderson (a future Grandmaster).  He said he could not concentrate with the youngster sitting so sheepishly and motionless.  Kortchnoi, one of the World’s top  players, lost the game ignominiously.

    World Champion Gary Kasparov played future World Champion Magnus Carlsen when Kasparov was 41 years old and Carlsen was 13.  The game was ultimately agreed a draw, but Carlsen was actually winning at some point.  This video captures the mood, but doesn’t show the nervous Kasparov impatiently pacing back and forth while Carlsen was on the move.

    • #33
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