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Return of the Wizard!
by Chris Wainscott
Study Chess With Tal by Mikhail Tal & Alexander Koblencs, Batsford 2013,
Paperback, Algebraic Notation, 272pp. $23.95
Mikhail Tal was the most daring of world champions in my opinion. What
sets this book apart from many of the books about the Wizard of Riga is that
this one was written by his long time trainer Alexander Koblencs. Koblencs
worked with Tal from when Tal was thirteen until he won the world
championship in 1960. The book, originally published in the 1980s and now
updated to modern notation, is based on Koblencs's diaries from their training
sessions, and provides for a nice "insider" view of Tal's thinking process. In
fact, Koblencs states that the majority of the analysis was taken from sessions
conducted shortly after the games were played.
The book consists of forty of Tal's games, along with three games in which
Tal did not take part, with analysis by Tal and Koblencs. Each game is given
its own chapter and the reader is encouraged to play slowly through the
moves and analysis. Occasionally certain positions are marked with a series of
asterisks, at which point the reader is asked to analyze the position to come up
with the solution. In some instances the editor, whether the original editor or
the editor for this edition is unclear, has replaced many of the asterisks with
actual questions, where again the reader is encouraged to search out the
answer on their own.
The content of this book is worth its weight in Elo points. The independent
questions and designated positions provide more than two hundred training
examples for the reader to solve. This book is not your typical primer on
strategy and tactics. Instead, it is a mind-bending calculation exercise manual.
Take, for example, the second game in the book between Tal and Konstantin
Klaman from the 1957 Soviet Championship. After the first twenty moves the
following position is reached:
[FEN "2r1kr2/pq1bbp1Q/3ppp2/8/1p1N1P2/
6PB/PPP4P/1K1RR3 w - - 0 21"]
This is one of the positions that is preceded by asterisks, meaning that the
reader should now take the time to calculate the next move. I spent about
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fifteen minutes trying to calculate a win with 21.Nxe6. It just seemed like
such a natural move; however, it turns out a sacrifice on e6 is prefaced by a
quiet move:
21.Bg4
Writes Koblencs, "In this type of position one must try to prevent the enemy
king's escape from the danger zone. After the text move White can answer
21...Kd8 with 22.Bh5 and, if 22...Be8, Tal had prepared a beautiful mating
combination."
This sentence is then followed with one of the editors text box questions:
Question 2 Can you find it?
Wait, really? I just wracked my brain looking for what turned out to be a
relatively quiet move and now you want me to find a mating combination
starting from this position:
[FEN "2rkbr2/pq2bp1Q/3ppp2/7B/1p1N1P2/
6P1/PPP4P/1K1RR3 w - - 0 23"]
This is not your typical fluffy chess book. This is hard work! The answer is
"23.Rxe6 fxe6 (if Black declines the sacrifice the rook retreats and Black's
wrecked pawn position spells defeat) 24.Nxe6+Kd7 25.Nxf8+Kd8 26.Rxd6+
Bxd6 27.Ne6 mate."
Nevertheless, I found this question and answer a bit disingenuous since the
line is not forced. There are plenty of ways in which Black can escape the
mating net, albeit with catastrophic material loss, so perhaps the question is
better phrased as "find the devastating attack," rather than "find the mate."
That aside, the amount of time put into analyzing such a position will pay
huge dividends. These are precisely the types of positions that improving
players should examine in great detail. Before moving on to the game
continuation, the author also takes the "opportunity to outline the theoretically
essential components of a combination." So there is plenty of practical advice
and instruction thrown into the mix of analysis and calculation.
Another interesting game is Tal Smyslov, Bled, 1959:
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Nd7 5.d4 dxe4 6.Nxe4 exd4 7.Qxd4 Ngf6
8.Bg5 Be7 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.Nd6 Qa5 11.Bc4 b5
[FEN "r1b2rk1/p2nbppp/2pN1n2/qp4B1/
2BQ4/5N2/PPP2PPP/2KR3R w - b6 0 12"]
Here the reader is asked, "What would you play now?"
12.Bd2
Writes Koblencs, "An excellent preparatory move. The square g5 is vacated
for attacking purposes and a perfect attacking position is created for the
knight on f3."
12...Qa6
"Black obstinately carries through his attacking plan, as he does not want to
leave himself a somewhat worse endgame after 12...Qa4 13.Nxc8 Rxc8
14.Bb3 Qxd4 15.Nxd4."
Naturally, having just spent time trying to calculate after move eleven, the
reader is then asked
Question 52 What would White play after 12...Qc7?
The response is "White can answer 12...Qc7 with 13.Bxf7+Rxf7 14.Nxf7
Kxf7 15.Ng5+Kg8 16.Rhe1 Nf8 17.Bf4 Qb7 18.Bd6! with strong central
pressure."
13.Nf5 Bd8
"The square f6 must be defended. A lovely variation would follow after
13...Bc5 14.Qh4 bxc4."
Question 53 Try to find it.
The answer: "After 13...Bc5 14.Qh4 bxc4 White has 15.Bc3! Qxa2 16.Rxd7
Bxd7 17.Nh6+Kh8 18.Qxf6 gxf6 19.Bxf6 mate, a recurring theme in this
game."
14.Qh4
[FEN "r1bb1rk1/p2n1ppp/q1p2n2/1p3N2/
2B4Q/5N2/PPPB1PPP/2KR3R b - - 0 14"]
14...bxc4
"After 14...Ne5 a devastating sacrifice would finish the game: 15.Nh6+gxh6
16.Bxh6 Ng6 17.Rxd8. Also after 14...Nd5 the Black king's position would be
exposed by typical destructive sacrifices."
When all of a sudden: BAM!
Question 54 But undoubtedly you will want to find out for yourself.
Please do!
The answer: "After 14...Nd5 White has 15.Ng5! h6 16.Nxh6+gxh6 17.Qxh6
Bxg5 18.Qxg5+Kh8 19.Bc3+Nxc3 20.Rd4! mating (analysis by Panov)."
This game then goes on to pose three more questions along with another set of
asterisks. For anyone interested, the game finished as follows: 15.Qg5 Nh5
16.Nh6+ Kh8 17.Qxh5 Qxa2 18.Bc3 Nf6 19.Qxf7 Qa1+ 20.Kd2 Rxf7
21.Nxf7+ Kg8 22.Rxa1 Kxf7 23.Ne5+ Ke6 24.Nxc6 Ne4+ 25.Ke3 Bb6+
26.Bd4 1-0
As you can see this is a book that encourages the reader to work hard and
work frequently. In that regard I found this book to be very useful for
tournament training. Working through the exercises in the book will help you
improve. In my experience solving game-style questions under game-style
conditions is one of the most underrated aspects of chess improvement.
For this book I set my chess clock for ten minutes per question or set of
asterisks, calculated until the flag fell, and then looked to see if my answer
matched Tal's. However, asking the reader to emulate the thinking of one of
the most creative geniuses in the chess world is a tall order. As Genna
Sosonko wrote about Tal's playing style in The World Champions I Knew,
"How can you learn what nature hasn't given you?"
Lastly, let's look at an example that shows another side of Tal. Although
known for his wildly speculative sacrifices, not every sacrifice was
speculative in nature. Here he shows good technique and finishes with a
concrete sacrifice.
The game is Tal Unzicker from Stockholm 1960-61:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-
0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.c4 c6 12.c5 Qc7 13.cxd6 Bxd6
[FEN "r1b2rk1/2qn1ppp/p1pb1n2/1p2p3/
3PP3/1B3N1P/PP3PP1/RNBQR1K1 w - - 0 14"]
Naturally, here there be asterisks! The reader is told "Now it is your move!"
14.Bg5!
"White sets up a strategic threat: 15.dxe5 when Black has either to give up his
bishop pair after 15...Bxe5 16.Nxe5 or accept a weakening of his king's
position by 15..Nxe5 16.Bxf6 etc."
14...c5
"This indeed stabilizes the pawn position in the centre but weakens Black's
d5. White's strategy must now be geared to exploiting this as quickly as
possible. Two years later, in Los Angeles, Petrosian played the correct
defense against Gligoric. This is typical of modern chess in which general
positional considerations are subjected to concrete analysis of each position.
After 14...exd4 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nxd4 Nc5 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5 Rad8 19.Qh5
Be5 20.Nc3 Rd4 the active placing of Black's pieces fully compensates for the
pawn weaknesses."
15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.Nc3 Bb7
[FEN "r4rk1/1bqn1ppp/p4n2/1pb1p1B1/
4P3/1BN2N1P/PP3PP1/R2QR1K1 w - - 0 17"]
And yet another set of asterisks.
17.Rc1!
"This pins the bishop after the knight on c3 moves away and also prepares
active positions for the rooks. Would it not have been better to occupy d5
immediately by 17.Nd5? Answer: No! Tal was not happy that after 17...Nxd5
18.Bxd5 Nb6 19.Bxb7 Qxb7 20.Nxe5 b6 21.Nd3 Bxf2+22.Nxf2 fxg5 the
active positions of Black's pieces counterbalance the loss of the pawn."
It is not in the book, but let's give this analysis position a diagram:
[FEN "r4rk1/1q4pp/pn6/1p4p1/4P3/7P/
PP3NP1/R2QR1K1 w - - 0 23"]
17...Qb6 18.Re2!
"This not only defends White's Achilles' heel on f2, but also threatens to
increase pressure on the open c-file."
18...Rfe8
"Carefully protecting the king pawn, because 19.Bxf6 was threatened. Until
now White has followed the usual strategic plan of placing his pieces in the
most favorable way possible. Yet after Black's rook move he concentrates on
specific tactical ideas to exploit the weakness on Black's f7."
19.Nd5! Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Rad8
"What would you play now?"
[FEN "3rr1k1/3n1ppp/pq3n2/1pbBp1B1/
4P3/5N1P/PP2RPP1/2RQ2K1 w - - 0 21"]
21.Rec2! Be7 22.Rc6
"Quite suddenly the position has completely changed. White has really
succeeded in increasing the pressure."
22...Qa5
"If 22...Qb8 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 White could simply play 24.Rxa6.
Question 58 And what if 23...Nxf6 here?
The answer: "White has the thematic 24.Bxf7+Kxf7 25.Qb3+Kg6 (the king
must take a stroll since 25...Kf8 fails to 26. Ng5) 26.Nh4+Kh5 27.Qf3+!
Kxh4 28.Qf5! (a quiet move which is peculiar in that it breaks a forced
sequence, but such moves are an essential part of attacking play) 28...g5
29.Qxh7+Nxh7 30.Rh6 mate. (see the final position of the game!)"
23.Bd2!
"This vacates the square g5 for the knight with the gain of tempo we saw
this same idea in the game against Smyslov."
23...b4
Asterisks!!
24.Bxf7+ Kxf7 25.Qb3+ 1-0
[FEN " 3rr3/3nbkpp/p1R2n2/q3p3/1p2P3/
1Q3N1P/PP1B1PP1/2R3K1 b - - 0 25"]
As you can see, rather than a wild Tal sacrificial attack this was a sacrifice
based on a solid follow up.
Small criticisms I have with this book is its binding and that the layout looks
very dated. Batsford books tend to have a thick, unyielding spine and coarse
paper. They are not made for sitting at a chessboard with the book open in
order to properly play through the moves and annotations. I would willingly
pay more for something that lent itself to proper usage.
As for the content, Koblencs has certainly achieved his goal of making the
reader feel like they are studying with Tal. If you are looking for a book that
is designed to help you replicate Tal's thinking process during a game, then
this book will work wonders.
My assessment of this product:
Study Chess With Tal
by Mikhail Tal & Alexander Koblencs
A PDF file of this week's review, along with all previous product reviews, is
available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.
Comment on this week's review via our official Chess Blog!
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