MARK RUBERY CHESS
The Dutch grandmaster, Jan Timman, has written a book about the world champions he has encountered (apart from Alekhine who died five years before he was born) appropriately titled ‘Timman’s Titans’. The strength of this publication to me is the rare insight we get from the numerous personal anecdotes that the author relates-sometimes shocking but always fascinating.
Here follows an extract from the chapter devoted to Mikhail Tal
‘Working for Karpov took its toll at a certain point. In 1980, Karpov had started the top tournament in the Bosnian town of Bugojno quite waveringly. He had made a couple of draws, and only managed to win one game. Then he was White against Tal. Karpov won convincingly, and immediately the rumour machine started: people supposed the game had been fixed. Everybody was talking about it. Tal had been forced to lose the game in order to help Karpov, as Balashov and Smyslov had done at the Interpolis tournaments in Tilburg, and as Georgadze and Polugaevsky would do later on. In such cases, it was assumed that a big shot from the Sports Committee had ordered the player in question to lose the game. For me this rumour was unacceptable. I refused to believe that Tal would do something like that, and I decided to ask him directly, right after I had rather clumsily lost to Karpov myself. Tal replied with a counter-question: ‘Well, what about your own game with Karpov?’ I didn’t have anything to say against this. Later, Lubosh Kavalek told me that Tal, after consuming vast amounts of alcohol, had admitted that he had been forced to lose. I had no reason to doubt Kavalek’s words, but I was glad I had asked the question to Tal first, so he had the opportunity to deny the shameful truth.
Karpov,Anatoly (2725) - Tal,Mihail (2705) [D48]
Bugojno (8), 1980
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.d5 c4 11.dxe6 cxd3 12.exd7+ Qxd7 13.0–0 Bb7 14.Re1 Bb4 15.Ne5 Qe6 16.Nxd3 Bxc3 17.Nf4 Qd7 18.bxc3 Nxe4 19.Qxd7+ Kxd7 20.Ba3 Rhe8 21.Red1+ Kc7 22.f3 Nf6 23.Bd6+ Kb6 24.c4 Rac8 25.cxb5 axb5 26.a4 Rcd8 27.axb5 Rd7 28.Rd4 Red8 29.Rad1 Rc8 30.Be5 Re7 31.Rd6+ Kxb5 32.Rb1+ Kc4 33.Rd4+ Kc5 34.Nd3+ 1–0