Create Problems
Tal games teach practical attacking pressure. Ask which move gives the defender the hardest concrete task, not only which line looks beautiful.
Mikhail Tal Games: Study Tal Games Move by Move
Study Tal games through interactive Guess the Move training. Play through Mikhail Tal's games, test your attacking imagination, compare your sacrifices and quiet build-up moves with the game continuation, and track your score and accuracy.
Tal Games to Study
Choose a Tal game, play through the winning side's moves, and return here to review your score and accuracy. This table is built for players who want to study Tal games actively instead of replaying them passively.
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| Game | Event | Year | Moves | Played | Current move | Score | Correct | Accuracy | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isaak Birbrager - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Team Championship of USSR, juniors, Kharkov | 1953 | 38 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Bukhuti Gurgenidze - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | USSR Championship, Moscow URS | 1957 | 27 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Karlis Klasup - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Latvian Olympiad, Riga URS | 1959 | 40 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Mikhail Tal - Vasily Smyslov 1-0 | Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates, Bled, Zagreb & Belgrade YUG | 1959 | 26 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Robert James Fischer - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates, Bled, Zagreb & Belgrade YUG | 1959 | 52 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Mikhail Botvinnik - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Botvinnik - Tal World Championship Match, Moscow URS | 1960 | 46 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Mario Bertok - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Bled, Bled YUG | 1961 | 20 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Mikhail Tal - Bent Larsen 1-0 | Tal - Larsen Candidates Semifinal, Bled YUG | 1965 | 37 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Boris Spassky - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Tallinn, Tallinn URS | 1973 | 38 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Boris Rytov - Mikhail Tal 0-1 | Keres Memorial, Tallinn URS | 1979 | 34 | No | - | - | - | - | Start |
Calculate Sacrifices
Before sacrificing, check forcing replies and the final position. Tal's attacks worked because threats kept arriving after the first blow.
Value Imagination
Guess the Move is a natural format for Tal because it makes you consider candidate moves you might reject too quickly in your own games.
Mikhail Tal: Imagination Backed by Calculation
Mikhail Tal was born in Riga in 1936 and became world champion in 1960 after defeating Mikhail Botvinnik. Known as the Magician from Riga, he combined major tournament victories and Soviet Championship successes with a creative attacking style that made him one of chess's most admired players.
Tal's sacrifices were often designed to create a stream of difficult decisions rather than force one immediately visible line. In his games, compare forcing moves with quiet attacking improvements and ask whether activity, king safety, and initiative provide enough compensation for material.
How to Use This Page
For improvement
Study Tal games slowly. Write down your candidate moves, choose one move, and only then compare your decision with the game. The value comes from noticing why a great player preferred one plan over another.
Tal Guess the Move FAQ
What are Tal Games on IgniteChess?
Tal Games are interactive Guess the Move lessons built from Mikhail Tal's games. Instead of replaying the moves passively, you study Tal games by choosing the move you think the player played.
How do I study Tal games with Guess the Move?
Choose a game from the table, calculate candidate moves before each turn, play your move on the board, and then compare it with the historical game move, engine feedback, score, and accuracy.
Can I track progress while I study Tal games?
Yes. The table shows completed games, resumable games, current move, score, correct moves, and accuracy when progress data is available.
Where can I start playing?
Start from the Tal games table above, or use the main Guess the Move trainer to choose a master game and begin move-by-move training.