“I realized that you cannot tackle him if the pieces…

“I realized that you cannot tackle him if the pieces are mobile and active. I played closed positions in which Tal could gain no advantage. Tal had no positional understanding for closed games.” – Mikhail Botvinnik (on their ‘61 rematch)

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Other Mikhail Tal Quotes

“When Spassky offers you a piece, you may just as well resign, but when Tal offers you a piece, go on playing, he may sacrifice another, and then…who knows?” – Miguel Najdorf - View Quote Details on “When Spassky offers you a piece, you may just as…
“Tal doesn’t move the pieces by hand; he uses a magic wand.” – Viacheslav Ragozin - View Quote Details on “Tal doesn’t move the pieces by hand; he uses a…
Many sacrifices don’t require concrete calculation at all. It is sufficient to only glance at the arising position to convince us that the sacrifice is correct. - View Quote Details on Many sacrifices don’t require concrete calculation at all. It is…
“If Tal would learn to program himself properly, then it would become quite impossible to play against him.” – Mikhail Botvinnik - View Quote Details on “If Tal would learn to program himself properly, then it…
Just as one’s imagination is stirred by a girl’s smile, so is one’s imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess. - View Quote Details on Just as one’s imagination is stirred by a girl’s smile,…
“Believe me, playing in such a style, this guy has no chess future.” – Peter Romanovsky (on a young Tal) - View Quote Details on “Believe me, playing in such a style, this guy has…
The pieces must breathe deeply and with a full chest! - View Quote Details on The pieces must breathe deeply and with a full chest!
Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent. - View Quote Details on Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because…
It’s funny, but many people don’t understand why I draw so many games nowadays. They think my style must have changed but this is not the case at all. The answer to this drawing disease is that my favorite squares are e6, f7, g7 and h7 and everyone now knows this. They protect these squares not once but four times! - View Quote Details on It’s funny, but many people don’t understand why I draw…
“The guy ate and breathed the game. If he wasn’t playing in a tournament he was playing blitz or talking about the latest chess news; nobody adored chess as much as Tal did!” – Jeremy Silman - View Quote Details on “The guy ate and breathed the game. If he wasn’t…