Okay this game is Fischer versus Tal
in the Candidates tournament of 1959
Fischer wasn't quite ready for the likes of Tal at that time
and
it was an interesting game nevertheless and shows Tal's fine attacking
technique
Tal was playing Black
so Fischer played e4 against him and Tal played the Sicilian defence
Now Nf3 d6 d4 - all fairly standard
Now here Tal plays a6
which is a very popular move even today
just to stop this Bb5 check possibility
Fischer plays Bc4 here
so that is classically placing the bishop
Now Tal plays e6
so he has now a Scheveningen type pawn
structure
These pawns are quite flexible later on
White always has to watch out when black liberates these pawns with d5
or e5 later
Fischer plays Bb3
and now
Tal continues just natural development with Be7
Fischer now plays f4
and you'll see here that
black has a very natural development of pieces and can target later the
e4 square
Black first castles
and then Fischer plays Qf3. Qf3 is a little bit controversial because there is
going to be a bishop fianchettoed later on this diagonal
so this could get a tempo
but if the queen is being used as a pivot square later via f3 to get to g3 later then
it is more justified
Queen c7 - castles ... now b5
You see the bishop prepares naturally to go to b7
and also
The Bb7 works very well with this b5-b4 idea to dislodge the
knight to increase the pressure on the e4 square
so all these pieces will be working very well together - the bishop here - the knight here
but also it is instructive later
how Tal further exerts pressure on e4. He wasn't just content with this
pressure
as we're going to see
he plays bishop c6 which is a very nifty move
not also threatening to dislodge the knight but also he has made space on b7 for the queen
so this is a very elegant setup indeed where this queen and bishop can
intensify that pressure on e4 pawn
so Fischer hasn't really got an attack here. He hasn't got any pawns to sort of rip
through Black's king here
and he's a bit passive
Rook e1
and now d5 immediately .. so Tal doesn't bother moving any of these rooks
he goes on with this d5 liberation
and it
establishes a very aggressive knight which can come now to f4
and also ripped open this line more
to White's king
so not only positionally it was about the e4 pawn
it was about establishing a road to White's king which in the case of Tal
any roads can often be decisive!
Knight f4
c4 now
so this is a very interesting move
Emmm..
interesting because it's
a bit strange -
it is sort of making
space for the bishop to move back to c2 but
I wonder if there was something better here ?!
Lets have a quick look at this position
maybe c3 for example to try and rip open the c-file - to share the c-file at
least
but anyway.. so c4 now Tal plays g6
again this is a very very coherent strategy here about g2
You see this knight is also pointing at g2
and this g6 in a way aims to help this assault
on this diagonal as we are going to see now
after fxg Fischer doesn't automatically recapture with hxg
which could have been good as well because later he could play f5
he immediately plays f5
so he sacs a pawn. FIscher plays g7
Emmm
which seems aggressive but Tal just takes it because he knows now that he can also
use this road to White's king - the g file
so things are intensifying now
after the king moves here there is now Rg8
on the cards
so Fischer plays this Knight c5 which is tactically annoying but Tal just
takes it
and takes again
and plays Qc7 now to hold up on e5
there is no Knight-e6. This knight is doing
two jobs - it is attacking that and protecting this square
Fischer now plays Qe3
intensifying the pressure on e5 but just Re8 so black's position is quite
solid
rook e2 is now played offering an exchange sac. It shows how bad the White
position is. He is seeing that this onslaught is going to continue now
with Rg8
Tal now just takes that exchange so that he is the exchange up. He's material up now but
he has still got this potentially dangerous attack
and he wastes no time with it. He plays now Bxg2
so if the king takes then Qxc5 check even or
Fischer now plays Nxa6
then we see Queen a7 check
King takes g2
but Tal is relentless in the attack here. He doesn't bother even taking
this knight
he goes for Fischer's King
in fact my analytical assistant saids it is now mate in 6
so this was very precisely played by Tal
now mate in 5 ... K-h3
so Tal continues with Qg7 which is quite optimal
so there is a threat now of just Qh6 mating
Fischer continues Bd1
and now the fastest most efficient move is against chosen by Tal
so rook e6
with the idea of Rook h6
there's absolutely no defense here
so Fischer in this position resigned
so this game is a very very powerful demonstration of elegance in the
attack
just right from the opening black's pieces were coordinating very well
to pressurise the e4 pawn . if we look at this again
just briefly.. b5
works well with the fianchettoed bishop on b7
the bishop c6 here vacates this square (b7) .. The Queen can intensify the pressure
no hanging around for moving the rook. Just an immediate d5 break
to open up the diagonal even more
and what is even more instructive now ..
the Knight comes also to attack g2
but this g6 move
and Tal doesn't even mind the odd check because he knows he is going to have
another road to White's king on the g-line
so Fischer really was quite devastated in this game in a way
hmmm
Tal was at the peak of his powers at the time of this game in
1959
Bishop takes g2 is just
the fastest way to rip open the lines
and it's completely sound
and you see now the g-file being used for devastating attack and the h file
emmm
so it was a bit of a crush ...
Tal really did crush Fischer in this game
A very well played game!