Tal’s knight sacrifice

Mikhail Botvinnik vs Mikhail Tal

World championship · 1960 · 0-1

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A masterpiece, move by move

Game 6 of the 1960 championship is one of Tal’s signature attacking games. The sacrifice leads to complications, not a simple forced mate.

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21... Nf4

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Offer the knight. Tal puts his knight on f4 where the g-pawn can capture it. After gxf4, ...exf4 creates an advanced pawn and opens lines toward White’s king.

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24... f3

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A pawn attacks the queen. The pawn advances to f3 and attacks the queen on e2. White takes Black’s queen on b2; Black then captures White’s queen with the pawn.

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45... c3

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The endgame threat. After the tactical exchanges, Black’s passed c-pawn reaches c3. Tal’s king approaches to support its advance, while White’s rook has to keep watching the pawn.