Although
he died in 1992 Tahl remains a favorite with players everywhere. Known as The Magician from Riga, Tahl
took the chess world by storm and in 1961 and at the age of twenty-three won
the world championship. Even though his sacrifices were not always perfect, they were spectacular and
the problems he set his opponents put them under tremendous pressure. Most of the time they would eventually crack.
In this book Muller and journalist Raymund Stolze
have selected one hundred exercises highlighting Tahl’s genius. Most of them have not been seen before.
The book can’t really
by classified as a book of problems. The Prologue was written by Tahl himself and
he discusses the differences between knowledge and what he called "poetry.”
That is followed by 21 pages written by Botvinnik titled, "Reflections on
Mikhail T.”
Chapter 1 has a list
of the "golden rules of attack” followed by 40 exercises and every diagram
is followed by a few paragraphs that discuss the circumstances in which the
game was played. It is very helpful that
the solutions are both in analysis form and prose! Another great feature is that Mueller begins each section
with 2 or 3 annotated games that illustrate the theme. All together there are 18 annotated games and
about a dozen other game fragments.
Chapters are titled Correct
Sacrifices, Speculative Sacrifices, Correct Way to Defend Against the Magician and
there is an epilogue by Tahl. I’ve had a couple of
books on Tahl and this one is my new favorite.
Delightful review.
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