1959 Mikhail Tal vs Vasily Smyslov (Bled)

This is a beautiful attacking masterpiece — the double rook sacrifice + Queen sac line.

1. e4 c6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 e5 4. Ngf3 Nd7 5. d4 dxe4 6. Nxe4 exd4 7. Qxd4 Ngf6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O-O O-O

Black castles right into it. White is already fully developed for a kingside attack.

10. Nd6! Qa5

The knight can't be taken: 10...Bxd6 11.Qxd6 and Black loses material + king safety. So Black tries counterplay.

11. Bc4 b5 12. Bd2 Qa6 — chasing the bishop but losing tempo

13. Nf5! Bd8 Forced, 13...Bxf5 14.Qxf6 is crushing

14. Qh4! bxc4 15. Qg5! Nh5

Threat is Qxg7#. Black tries to cover g6 with the knight.

16. Nh6+! Kh8 — the key deflection

If 16...gxh6 17.Qxh5 and mate on g7.

17. Qxh5! Qxa2 Black grabs a pawn thinking White's queen is loose

18. Bc3! Nf6 19. Qxf7! Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Rxf7 21. Nxf7+ Kg8 22. Rxa1 Kxf7

White gave up queen and rook for a winning attack.

23. Ne5+ Ke6 24. Nxc6 Ne4+ 25. Ke3 Bb6+ 26. Bd4! 1-0

Final position: Black is up material but completely lost — White will play Bxb6, Nxd8, and Black's king is stuck in the center.

That 18. Bc3!! is the quiet killer — defending everything while threatening mate. And 26. Bd4 blocks the check and seals it.

Possible Draw for Smyslov:

Back in the early year 2000 where I used to play chess on my PC, the King engine in Chessmaster8000 was already pointing out what Stockfish 17 confirms today:

The engine's draw is here: 18...Nf6 19.Qxf7

Tal played 19.Qxf7!! for the crowd, but the engine says 19.Bxf6! was the killer that keeps a winning advantage.

After Tal's 19.Qxf7 Qa1+ 20.Kd2 Rxf7 21.Nxf7+ Kg8 22.Rxa1 Kxf7

Chessmaster evaluates possible draw— because after:

23.Ne5+ Ke6! 24.Nxc6 Ne4+! 25.Ke3 Bb6+! 26.Bd4 Bxd4+ 27.Kxd4 Kf5!

Black's king runs to f5, White has R + 2 pieces vs Q + pawn, but Black has ...a5, ...Bb7, ...the knight gets to d6-f5 and White can never force mate. Engine holds a draw.

Smyslov missed the drawing defense on move 18...

Instead of 18...Nf6?, the engine defense is:

18...g6! 19.Bxf8 Qxf2! 20.Qxh7+ Kxf8 and White has only a perpetual: 21.Nf5-g7+ etc.

Or even earlier, 15...g6! Instead of 15...Nh5 was the computer's cold way to kill the attack.

That's the difference — Tal didn't play against perfect defense. He played against a human who had to find five only-moves in a row with his king in the center while Tal was throwing queen sacrifices at him.

In 1959, no human could do that. Smyslov was a former World Champion and he cracked.

That's why Chessmaster flagged it as "unsound but practically winning" — the engine sees the draw, but no human in time pressure does.

Conclusion:

That game is Mikhail Tal - Vasily Smyslov, Bled Candidates 1959 — one of Tal's most famous wins on his way to becoming World Champion in 1960.

Tal was 22, playing the former World Champion Smyslov. Smyslov played the Caro-Kann-like setup 2...d5 — solid. Tal sacrificed everything just to keep the initiative.

Smyslov thought he was winning after 17...Qxa2 — he is up a pawn and attacking. Tal's 18. Bc3!! is the move that stunned everyone. It defends, attacks, and says "take my queen if you want."

After 19.Qxf7 Qa1+ 20.Kd2 Rxf7 21.Nxf7+, Tal is down a queen for a rook, but Smyslov's king can never get safe. 26.Bd4! was the final quiet block.

Smyslov resigned because after 26...Bxd4 27.Nxd8, White will be up material and Black's king is dead in the center.

Classic Tal — "You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5."