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As long as my opponent has not yet castled, on each move I seek a pretext for an offensive. Even when I realize that the king is not in danger.

Mikhail Tal

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Mikhail Tal
Age: 55 †
Born: 1936
Born: November 9
Died: 1992
Died: June 28
Chess Composer
Chess Player
Journalist
Writer
Rīga
Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal
Move
Opponents
Realizing
Chess
Moving
Strategy
Even
King
Long
Kings
Seek
Pretext
Danger
Opponent
Realize
Offensive

More quotes by Mikhail Tal

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The cherished dream of every chessplayer is to play a match with the World Champion. But here is the paradox: the closer you come to the realization of this goal, the less you think about it.
Mikhail Tal
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Playing in your home city is very special. You feel the support and attention. When everything goes well, it's very great, but when it doesn't, you might as well turn off your phone: the advices seem endless.
Mikhail Tal
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If (Black) is going for victory, he is practically forced to allow his opponent to get some kind of well-known positional advantage.
Mikhail Tal
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I can take care of myself! But the external barriers, my opponents, do indeed concern me.
Mikhail Tal
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I'd like to always be romantic in chess. Sadly, this doesn't always work like that.
Mikhail Tal
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First, how to sac my queen, then rook, then bishop, then knight, then pawns.
Mikhail Tal
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It is difficult to play against Einstein's theory -on his first loss to Fischer
Mikhail Tal
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I will not hide the fact that I love to hear the spectators react after a sacrifice of a piece or pawn. I don't think that there is anything bad in such a feeling no artist or musician is indifferent to the reactions of the public.
Mikhail Tal
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I like to grasp the initiative and not give my opponent peace of mind.
Mikhail Tal
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Just as one's imagination is stirred by a girl's smile, so is one's imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess.
Mikhail Tal
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Naturally, the psychological susceptibility of a match participant is significantly higher than a participant in a tournament, since each game substantially changes the over-all position.
Mikhail Tal
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I think that the FIDE leaders have to reconsider the current drawing rules - their advantages aren't very clear, but their shortcomings are obvious. Artificial drawing of the lots is detrimental for everyone.
Mikhail Tal
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I have always thought it a matter of honour for every chess player to deserve the smile of fortune.
Mikhail Tal
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Fischer is the greatest genius to descend from the chess heavens.
Mikhail Tal
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I believe most definitely that one must not only grapple with the problems on the board, one must also make every effort to combat the thoughts and will of the opponent.
Mikhail Tal
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When I asked Fischer why he had not played a certain move in our game, he replied: 'Well, you laughed when I wrote it down!'
Mikhail Tal
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You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one
Mikhail Tal
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Many Chess players were surprised when after the game, Fischer quietly explained: 'I had already analyzed this possibility' in a position which I thought was not possible to foresee from the opening
Mikhail Tal
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Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique.
Mikhail Tal
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In my games I have sometimes found a combination intuitively simply feeling that it must be there. Yet I was not able to translate my thought processes into normal human language.
Mikhail Tal