The people behind the game
Mikhail Tal
Known as the Magician from Riga, Tal won the title from Botvinnik in 1960. His imaginative combinations and willingness to sacrifice made him an icon of attacking chess.
- Born
- 1936
- Died
- 1992
- Country connections
- Soviet Union
At the board
The games. The ideas.
Explore classic encounters and championship battles. Play every move, or jump straight to the moments that tell the story.
1960 · World championship · Game 6
Tal’s knight sacrifice
Game 6 of the 1960 championship is one of Tal’s signature attacking games. The sacrifice leads to complications, not a simple forced mate.
Read the position
Every move sets the scene.
Use the controls to explore the full game, or select an annotated moment below. Each explanation describes the position immediately after its highlighted move.
Complete move list 47 moves
The archives agree through 46...Kd4. This replay follows the Lichess championship score, which also includes 47.Rd7+; PGN Mentor ends after Black’s 46th move. Compare the source ↗
The journey
A remarkable path.
Tal won the 1959 Candidates Tournament before defeating Botvinnik for the world championship in 1960. Botvinnik won their rematch the following year. Tal remained a formidable tournament player and won the 1988 World Blitz Championship at the age of 51. [1]
From the photographic archive Explore the championship record →The championship record
Time with the crown.
- 1960–1961Open world championship
Reigns are periods of title ownership, not a count of championship victories. Open-ended reigns reflect the record checked on 18 October 2026.
From the archive
A life in photographs.
_gegen_Fischer_(USA).jpg)
Sources & credits
Biographical details and title records checked . Country connections describe the player’s career and background, rather than a live federation listing.
Portrait: Harry Pot for Anefo ]] · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl. Displayed in monochrome and cropped.
![Harry Pot for Anefo ]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mikhail_Tal_1962.jpg){kind=link}