Mikhail Tal Giocatore: Mikhail Tal Tal's Immortal game, Tal vs Larsen, 1965 [Event "Tal-Larsen Candidates Semifinal Match"] [Site "Bled YUG"] [Date "1965.08.08"] [Round "10"] [White "Mikhail Tal"] [Black "Bent Larsen"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 O-O 9.O-O-O Qc7 10.Ndb5 Qb8 11.g4 a6 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 b5 14.g5 Nd7 15.Bd3 b4 16.Nd5 exd5 17.exd5 {The piece sacrifice is a positional one, since it has been used to erect an invisible barrier on the e-file. A number of squares on it (e5 and e6) are controlled by white pawns, and a white rook will soon be moved to e1. -- Iakov Damsky} f5 18.Rde1 Rf7 19.h4 Bb7 20.Bxf5 Rxf5 21.Rxe7 Ne5 22.Qe4 Qf8 23.fxe5 Rf4 24.Qe3 Rf3 25.Qe2 Qxe7 26.Qxf3 dxe5 27.Re1 Rd8 28.Rxe5 Qd6 29.Qf4 {! With this simple tactic 29 ...Bxd5 30. Re8+ White keeps his two extra pawns. The finish is straightforward. -- Damsky} Rf8 30.Qe4 b3 31.axb3 Rf1+ 32.Kd2 Qb4+ 33.c3 Qd6 34.Bc5 Qxc5 35.Re8+ Rf8 36.Qe6+ Kh8 37.Qf7 1-0 your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard