Michail Tal

[TEDOVSKY]

Sadly, apart from smoking 60 cigarettes a day tal also drank huge amounts of vodka. Still, the last game he ever played was when he was ill in hospital (he had to creep past the nurses to leave) He played kasparov in a sicilian and WON in a position where gary lost on time and was completely thrown by a novelty in an opening!! In fact, you can see him playing the moves here on " LAST DAYS OF TAL"

[TEDOVSKY]

I once read a chess book on combinations. "White to move and win" came up in an attacking position. I sweated for an hour but couldnt solve it. Turned the page and the solution was incredible with sacrifices abound, with a freak queen sacrifice towards the end and finally a last gasp rook move on the back rank for mate. And then, at the end of the solution were the words " And this combination occurred spontaneously on one of 27 boards the world champion was playing, blind folded!"(Alekhine!!)

[ottogunsche]

Tal was a freak. And I say this as a compliment. The mans ability was unique and being able to play the way he played has rarely been achieved. RIP Mikhail Tal.

[esraretin]

hes cute like most genius like perelman :)

[Faramarzrastin]

Why do people smoke? It makes me sick. He could have been the world champion in 20 years or more If he had been healthy.

[ArrogantJew]

@Faramarzrastin He felt superhuman.

[mikko522]

I think of all the great games I have seen played none have I found as mystifying and exciting as Tals.

[geonerd]

10 people is nothing! Tal could play the whole world simultaneously if provided with enough cigarettes! :)

[AlexDraifinger]

The greatest attacking magical chess player of all time

[FDGOD74]

NO CHTO?????????

[IgnatzKolisch]

Damn you Tal, damn you for smoking and drinking. I've met people who analysed and analysed with you, IMs and GMs, and several of them have literally HAD TEARS IN THEIR EYES when I ask about you. They loved you so much. Who doesn't love you? You should still be alive today, dammit. It's no guarantee, of course, anybody could die at any minute. Maybe with no smoking and drinking you'd have died anyway, but you wouldn't even be all that old.  I wish I could have met you, great Mikhail Tal.

[lazimofo90]

where can I see the whole television broadcast?

[MrAlliar]

один из ярчайших шахматистов в истории...

[abfgy8382]

I hope there is more footage like this!

[Ronbo710]

I wish there was more vintage footage of GM Tal. Showing us his amazing games.

[KnightJourney]

R.I.P TAL may you rest in peace and sacrifice happily in heaven.

[NoPrivacyANYMORE10]

Tal was out of this world brilliant --some of the combinations his mind conjured up are extraordinary

[Ruxistico]

my absolute fave chess player

[youvebeenthunderstru]

Blind chess is one thing. Blind chess in a simultaneous display is damn near impossible.

[Wehrmachtas]

one of the milion can do this??? play blind in 10 boards? I think about one of thousand canmake it

[CubanColonel]

Polish-born Argentinean player Miguel Najdorf, blindfolded chess champion, has the record of most blindfolded boards played at the same time: 56 boards blindfolded! Amazing!

[BuckshotLaFunke]

CubanColonel, Najdorf played 'only' 45 boards blindfolded; it was Belgian chess master George Koltanowski who played more than Najdorf did.

[CubanColonel]

Right!

[neelaakaasham]

@CubanColonel Did he win something?? or just played 56? I can do 57, you know, if playing is all whats needed ;)

[Ruxistico]

one of a thousand serious chessplayers yea. Maybe. But hey - it's Tal...

[tuoljg]

ROFL more like 1 in 10 million

[SuperChessnuts]

@tuoljg or a 100 mill

[barrackisastupidnig]

Ha everyone was distracted by the "claw" !

[TheSSBMDude]

Narrator: "...of the chess federation replied: "We don't do such things but you can try asking Tal..."

Tal easily agreed. He played blind chess on 10 boards sitting in an isolated room, without writing anything down and only being connected to the playing room via a microphone. Only a chess-genius is able to do something like that ...one out of a million."

[TheSSBMDude]

Mikhail Tal: "On board 9 it was as follows: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 playing calmly and holding back for a while."

Narrator: "At this point he was already 33 years old, having recently overcome a terrible surgery while barely surviving and now still shaky on his legs. This makes the result of this event with 7 wins and 3 draws even more impressive, but...[video cuts off]"

[joestl314]

@TheSSBMDude Tal was incredible. I'm an expert (2012 USCF) and it's difficult for me to play one blindfold game. Ten seems impossible. Wow!

[SuperChessnuts]

@TheSSBMDude Tal was amazing

[eZoren11]

@TheSSBMDude one out of a million? Kasparov reckons someone like Carlsen is once every 100 years... pretty sure its more than a million!

[ArrogantJew]

@eZoren11 Carlsen is shit as person

[offrampt]

What is the name of the disease that affected his hand?

[sevno1]

Tal had the congenital deformity of ectrodactyly in his right hand

[yautzu]

The great Tal!!

[vegetta20]

yep that lazy eye of tal is scary men... just like on the short stories of edgar allan poe.. hehehehehe

[TVC17]

Tal was the man....

[2TheDeath]

I asked my good Ukrainian buddy to translate the video- For anyone interested the jist of it is he was playing blindfold (making moves without sight of the board) and he had an amazing memory because he made all moves against his opponents in the exhibition without looking at a board- they put him in a special room without anything to show how good a memory he had just after having a major surgery at 33 years old.

[bashbrannigan]

Thanks for this video. Tal never seemed like a typical communist Russian. Fischer always admired him. He had a deformed right hand. But he was a genius and an artist.

[vibovitold]

Tal was not Russian.

[evrei909]

Maybe he was a Khazar, he looked weird.

[vibovitold]

I don't know about his ethnical origin but as for his nationality, he was Latvian

[girtkaz]

He is Latvian Jew if it matters. He was genius Chess player. His first trainer was Krūzkops from the very same group comes Jānis Klovāns (3times seniors world chempion), Aivars Ģipslis GM and wonderful trainer(Gaprindashvili), Jānis Vitiomskis corespondence GM world finalist.

[mozart20dlubos]

Wow, he had a lazy eye

[omaristheman]

I cant believe someone as smart as a grandmaster used to smoke and drink.

[vibovitold]

modern nanny states have had a big impact on our mentality

[viriatovitch]

English translation, please.

[loveroftalsgames]

I drink, i smoke, i chase girls, i gamble, but postal chess is a vice i don't have!

[studentofpetrosian]

If anyone is wondering...this is a quote from Tal.

[karpov88]

If I was able to meet Tal,I would beg him to have all vices in the world and quit drinking and smoking instead.The two terrible habbits that led him from the sky to under the earth...

[DtheProfessor23]

also made him look like a complete zombie later in life.

[phlorky]

Tal was a goddamn assassin over the board.

[theoak111]

Blindfold Simultane excibition from one of the bests!