I think he's rightly rated very highly by most people. The Polugaevsky variation of the Sicilian is one of many openings that at the highest levels hasn't survived the computer age, but as long as there's amateur chess, there's no reason it shouldn't thrive. For inventing and vigorously defending that line for decades alone, Polugaevsky deserves his high reputation, aside from his enormous strength as a player. If he's underrated, it's because he's one of the many players dominated by Spassky and Fischer in the 1960s, and by Karpov in the 1970s. Karpov's demolition of him in 1974 shocked everyone at the time -- including Karpov, who didn't rate his chances in the candidate's tournament very highly. The only player who did was Korchnoi, who at the start of the 1974 tournament famously predicted a Korchnoi v Karpov final. All the Soviet players made predictions for the final two, which were then sealed in an envelope only to be revealed once the tournament reached the finals; had Korchnoi's prediction been public, I think people would have wondered if he was joking. To bring it back to the original topic, Karpov and Tal are two players whose improvement during their respective climbs to the world championship astonished everyone. Every round they seemed to reach a new level, and by the end their play was so strong that they were unrecognizable from who they were at the beginning. The tragedy of it was that both of them never reached their potential -- Tal because of his lifelong health problems, and Karpov because of the lack of real competition for the next ten years. He was like the Carlsen of his time: so far ahead of his contemporaries that it was hard for him to find the proper motivation. I can't forgive Fischer for his withdrawal from competition in 1975, first, because we'll never know how it would have turned out and never see the games that would have been played, and second, because Karpov was denied exposure to the only player capable of truly testing his weaknesses while he was still young. Karpov himself played that role for Kasparov ten years later. Compared to Kasparov after the 1984 match with Karpov, Kasparov before the match was unrefined and often put himself in structurally dubious positions, which he was punished for again and again until he was forced to up his game. Anyway, sorry for the essay. Sometimes I just go off on a subject.
@@jessejordache1869 a bit too long for a comment but you said everything correct. I merely meant he is a bit underrated in the social nowadays, seldom his best games are presented.
@@giovannicorno1247 I appreciate the read, and I agree with you. [edit] I'm looking at it in the dropdown for comments and ugh, that's almost unreadable.
Games like this make me doubt whether I've actually been playing chess all these years. I must have been playing some other game. Tal on home soil was something else.
Fun fact, In the USSR people always said this about Polugaevsky: When it comes to chess he has everything, he can do everything, but he lacks the character of a champion.
#suggestion Polugaevsky vs Tal 1969 : lot of people analyzed it including Kasparov, Polugaevsky himself, and Geller's comments make the game incredible: he had visited Polugaevsky the day before and on his chessboard was the position reached on move 25, meaning it was a Caruana level of preparation without computer, what a madlads.
#suggestion Vladimir Simagin vs Leonid Stein (USSR Championship 1961a Tournament) A Crazy Imaginative Game!!! Plz also say something about Wilhelm Steinitz saga.
7:24 why wouldn't Tal move QxF1 at this point? The King is forced to take, then Nd1 check, and you'll get his Queen for your Knight. You lose a Knight and a Queen for a Rook and a Queen. Surely a good trade, right?
After Nd1+, white queen can go to f4, blocking the check. Then (black) Rxf4, Nxf4. You just traded a queen and a rook from each side, and there's no more attack from black. Besides, in this position, with all the pressure black has, you don't wanna trade queens unless it ensures going into a winning endgame
@@Beery1962 Actually no, because the knight on d1 is lost, can't go anywhere, . White would end with almost a knight up (almost 'cause of 6 pawns for black vs 5 pawns for white)
#Suggestion Gellert Karacsonyi vs Pranav V. 0-1 Reykjavik Open 2023 round 3 An interesting queen endgame nd a smash at the end by Pranav! Your analysis is awaited!
At 9:40 why Lev didn't take the Knight with rook? Like Rxf2 Rxf2+ Qxf2 Rxf2+ Kxf2... Material would be like A Queen for Knight and Rook. Isn't it good??
U haven't checked the variation, after the move ..Qxc4 white plays Nxa7+ ..Nxa7, then Qxa7 ..Qxe4 threatening the Nf3, but here, white can play Qa8+ and i think black has to exchange queens or else it's continuous check. I guess black will play ..Kd7 then Qa4+ and now ..Qc6 by Tal. Qxc6 ..Kxc6 and now may be a favourable ending for Tal or sth. But U should have definitively show that one !
#suggestion Leonid Stein vs Mikhail Tal 1961 - Stein was one of Tal's undefeated opponents and was an attacking genius like Tal. This game is a wild, attacking, dynamic game with beautiful sacrifices.
Sometimes it's not just about understanding how the other player plays, chess goes beyond the board it's about their personalities how they feel next to each other and sometimes players have inexplicably bad scores against a particular player even if that player is lower rated. We are faced this ourselves even with online play.
I left a comment recommending a Tal Vs Polugaesky. I'm not sure if you uploaded because of it, but it makes me happy. Polugaesky beat Tal with Black pieces in Riga (Tal's home) This should be mentioned. I thought that Lev beat him 6 times, not 8. That may be wrong
Tal was my hero too. I started playing in the 60s and one of the things that I found impressive with Tal was how he reinvented himself in the 70s. He had a long unbeaten streak if I recall and won several strong tournaments. Characterised by quiet openings and the occasional positional win... but the tactics were never far away. Excellent video as always.
I’m Glad Tal prevailed he is one of my favorite players of all time this was an incredibly elaborate Checkmating idea going on by Tal Lev played as best as could but too much Tal 😂Thanks for the Game
Philippine women's chess #suggestion - WGM Janelle Frayna, the female Wesley So, upset Georgian GM (really GM not just WGM) Bela Khotenashvili at the 2022 world blitz. There's a 13-move UNDERPROMOTION puzzle here. [Variant "From Position"] [FEN "6k1/6b1/1p1P3p/6pP/3pPpP1/p2NqP2/6K1/5Q2"] 1. Qd1 a2 2. Qb3+ Kf8 3. d7 Qe2+ 4. Nf2 Ke7 5. Qd5 Kd8 6. Qe6 Bf6 7. Qe8+ Kc7 8. Qc8+ Kd6 9. e5+ Qxe5 10. d8=R+ Bxd8 11. Qxd8+ Kc6 12. Qa8+ Kb5 13. Qxa2 For some reason none of the Philippine channels except Kelvinllovejr even cover this game. LOL. But Janelle did cover the game where e drew against Nemo, so maybe Janelle will cover this game later on. P.S. Please help get Wesley So on Lex Fridman's podcast. See xcdhgq
