Sacrificing Like TAL to Keep the Initiative

Samantha212  

| Nov 5, 2015 at 11:41 PM 

| Posted in: Samantha212's Blog 

| 2618 reads 

| 18 comments

Hello Chess Fans,

Mikhail Tal was a creative chess genius who's regarded as one of the best attacking players of all time, holding two competitive non-losing streaks at 95 and 86 games.Known for his daring, swashbuckling style that included improvisation, unpredictability and the magic of Houdini he was affectionately known as "The Magician from Riga" who always played for the Initiative and sacrificed pieces and pawns to maintain the attack.  Although there are countless

lessons we can learn from Tal's games, today we'll focus on his ability toGain The Initiative by Sacrificing Material.

In chess, Having the Initiative is defined as the ability to create threats that can not be ignored, forcing an opponent to react defensively rather than making their own attacking moves.  The player with the initiative seeks to maneuver their pieces into stronger positions as he launches attacks until there's a decisive lead to a win. 

However, having the initiative can be temporary, lost and transferred to an opponent who's trying to regain it by Counter Attacking, which

responds to an attack with an even stronger attack of his own, sometimes by sacrificing a piece or a pawn.  This was Tal's specialty, to wrestle the initiative away from his opponent.  

 Let's watch fearless Tal grapple for the initiative when his opponent is actively attacking him:Roman Toran Albero vs. Mikhail TalEU-chT Oberhausen | English Opening - Reversed Sicilian | 1961 | ECO: A21 | 0-1

1. c4e52. Nc3d63. g3f54. d4e45. f3Nf66. Bg2ef37. Nf3g68. O-OBg79. e4fe410. Ng5O-O11. Nge4Ne412. Rf8Qf813. Ne4Nc614. Be3Bf515. Qd2Re816. Ng5Re3POW! The rook picks up the bishop for FREE....The Queen can't recapture because ...Bxd4 pins the queen to the king. White tries to go for the draw. 17. Bd5Albero maintains the initiative and keeps attacking (17. Qxe3If the queen captured 17... Bxd4)17... Kh818. Nf7Attacks again 18... Qf7Fiesty Tal doesn't agree to a draw. Instead, he

sacrifices his queen to regain the initiative. (18... Kg8Tal could have drawn the game like this 19. Ng5+Kh820. Nf7+Kg821. Nh6+Kh822. Nf7+Kg8)19. Bf7Rd3With no follow through to mate, Tal grabs the initiative from his opponent and begins his own set of attacks that wins the game beginning with an attack on the queen. 20. Qe2Retreats 20... Bd4Checks 21. Kg2Retreats 21... Ne5Attacks the bishop and mobilizes all his pieces toward the king 22. Rd1Albero counters with an attack on the rook 22... Re3Tal counters with an attack on the queen. 23. Qf1Retreats 23... Be4Check 24. Kh3Retreats 24... Rf3Attacks the queen again 25. Qe2Retreats 25... Bf5Check and Albero resigned. If the king retreats to g2 the rook attacks with a fork on the queen. If he retreats to h4 he falls victim to ...Rf2 and ...Nf3+ Let's watch: 26. Kh4(26. Kg2Rf2+)26... Rf227. Qe1Nf3#

– X

fJ # , . @ Let's Review what we learned from Tal:1. He quickly castled and expanded his pawns into the center.2. Although losing a queen can be a game changer for many players, Tal immediately took the initiative and activated all his pieces toward the king.3. Then he switched his attacks between his opponent's king and queen, improving his pieces placement and strengthing their ability to bring the final blow.

General Rules when Sacrificing to Take the Initiative:1. Taking the initiative often means you ignore your opponent's threat and counter with a stronger one (if possible).2. To weaken the defenses around your opponent's king you need open files and diagonals.  A sacrifice may achieve this.3. In many cases, the knight is an essential attacking piece to weave a mating net.

4. A king chase is often difficult to calculate accurately to the end, but it often works for the attacking side.5. Assessing the ratio of "Attackers vs Defenders" is a good way to judge whether the sacrifice will work.6. NEVER recapture a piece immediately without thinking it through, unless it's absolutely forced.  Alternatives may offer surprising tactics.7. Once you're on the attack, look for forcing moves that keep your opponent on the defense.

8. GM Ivan Sokolov advises, "Once you're swimming the stream of the sacrificing river - SWIM!  Don't look for a life boat.  The best attacking ideas take effort and courage!

Tal's Kung-Fu packs a lot of explosives in the next game:

Mikhail Tal vs. Bent LarsenSicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer. Classical Variation | Montreal | 1979 | ECO: B63 | 1-0

1. e4c52. Nf3Nc63. d4cd44. Nd4Nf65. Nc3d66. Bg5e67. Qd2Be78. O-O-Oa69. f4Qc710. Be2Nd411. Qd4b512. e5The pawn push is typical of Tal to expand his space and take the initiative. 12... de513. fe5Nd5Retreats 14. Be7Nc3Tal sacrifices his knight 15. Bf3Instead of recapturing he activates his bishop into the game, hanging his rook as well. 15... Nd1Another sacrificed piece 16. Bd6BAM! Maintaining his hand on the Initiative Throttle while also preventing Black's king from castling. 16... Qc4Retreats 17. Qb6Infiltrates to take advantage of the king stuck in the center. 17... Nf2Black counters by threatening to take his second rook. 18. Bc6POW! A decisive blow to the king. 18... Bd719. Bd7Kd720. Qb7Notice how Tal's advanced e5 pawn defends the bishop from capture. 20... Kd821. Qa8Tal is finally able to take back material with tempo. 

21... Qc822. Qa7There's nothing Larsen can do to stop Qe7# - He resigned. 

– X fJ # , . @ Let's Review what we learned from Tal:1. With Black uncastled, Tal took the initiative by pushing the e5 pawn to open the center and begin his attack.2. Then he ignored Larsen's attacks, sacrificing pieces, and remained forcussed on his own FORCING MOVES to further prevent Larsen from castling.3. He only took back material when it fit into his PLAN of attack.

4. With the king in the center, his two bishops and queen were enough material to win the game.

Tal offers his opponent a juicy rook to grab the initiative and the win.  Let's watch:Mikhail Tal vs. Alexander BeliavskySicilian Defense: Classical Variation | Aker Brygge | 1989 | ECO: B56 | 1-0

1. e4c52. Nf3d63. d4cd44. Nd4Nc65. Nc3Nf66. Be3e57. Nf3Be78. Bc4O-O9. O-OBe610. Bb3Na511. Qe2Qc812. Rfd1Nc413. Bc1h614. Nh4Qc515. Qf3Tal makes this bait of a move...keeping his rook and queen on the same diagonal. Usually a no no when your opponent can attack on the diagonal and skewer the rook. 15... Bg4Beliavsky takes the bait and attacks the queen. 16. Qg3Retreats 

16... Bd1He takes the poisoned rook and is deflected from his guard duty around the king. 17. Nf5POW! Tal takes the initiative and hops his knight into the previously defended outpost. 17... Bg4The bishop returns to attack but it's too late 18. Ne7Tal takes the bishop with tempo and check. 18... Kh7Retreats to defend the h7 pawn 19. Qh4The queen applies pressure on the h-file and x-rays the king 19... Nb6Beliavsky maneuvers his knight around to defend the attack. 20. Bh6WHAM! Tal sacrifices the bishop to rip away Black's kingside defenses. 20... gh621. Qf6With the g-pawn gone Tal picks up the knight as Black's kingside weakens. 21... Nd722. Qh4Retreats with an attack on the bishop 22... Be6Retreats with an attack on Tal's bishop. 23. Ncd5Tal interferes with Black's pieces communicating with one another as he adds another piece into the attack. A perfect example of not automatically trading bishops but instead finding a stronger tactical move. 23... Rae824. Rd1Tal completely ignores the attack on the knight and activates his rook 24... Qa5Beliavsky positions his queen to mate on the back rank if the rook should leave his post. 

25. Nf6Checks 25... Nf626. Qf6d5This was a questionable move by Black...confirming that when an opponent is under attack they can make less than optimum moves. Black was intending to block his bishop from being exchanged. 27. ed5Allowing Tal to capture with initiative and giving him a passed pawn. Beliavsky Resigned. 

– X fJ # , . @ Let's Review what we learned from Tal:1. In Tal fashion, he sacrificed his rook to deflect his only obstacle from maneuvering his knight onto a decisive square.  Brilliant!2. Tal doesn't side-track from his mission by picking up stray pieces or pawns but instead captures material with tempo and the initiative.3. In true sacrificing style, he used his bishop to rip away Black's defending pawns.4. Instead of trading bishops he inserted his knight into the belly of Black's pieces - interfering with their communication and adding another critical piece into the attack.  All the while, keeping up the

pressure until his opponent made a fateful mistake.

I hope this has shed some light on How to Gain the Initiative by Sacrificing Material like Mikhail Tal.  Look for the next in the series and feel free to send a friend request to be notified of future articles.  Until then....Cheers.