ACourier-Post, Camden, New Jersey, Thursday, November 20, 1958
Possibly the strongest player in the world today is Mikhail Tal, the 21-year-old Soviet champion. His play in the recent interzonal and world team championships is not conclusive, but plausible evidence of his claim to that honor. He certainly is more aggressive than Botvinnik or Smyslov and his games are more pleasing to follow. Perhaps in the next year or two Tal and Bobby Fischer will be fighting it out for the title now held by Botvinnik.
Below is one of Tal's games from the team championship. Of course, the questioned move (16) by his Bulgarian opponent was a blunder and made Tal's victory in this game easy. Black evidently let his desire to castle get the better of him in a game that was not too one-sided up to then and that got away from beaten paths.
Mikhail Tal vs Georgi Tringov
Munich Olympiad Final-A (1958), Munich FRG, rd 3, Oct-13
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B96) 1-0
