The drawing room was dark. Only the faint hum of the torchlight again. The same old wooden board. But Alexei sat differently now—shoulders lower, eyes heavier.
He replayed the third game piece by piece.
"Why didn't it work?"I thought the sacrifice would open everything…""Did I imagine the idea?"
The shadows deepened.
A cold breeze swept across the floor like a whisper.
Then, a familiar presence.
The Shadow Man.
Emerging from the flickering light, silent at first. Watching.
"So," he finally said, voice smooth as smoke."You lost."
Alexei didn't look up.
"I thought you'd taught me how to win."
There was silence. And then a quiet chuckle from the darkness.
"No, Alexei. I'm teaching you how to play."
He stepped forward, pointing at the position Alexei had just reconstructed.
"Tell me… what did you see here, when you played this move?"
Alexei answered, "A kingside attack. I thought he'd panic. I gave up a bishop."
"Ah." The Shadow Man's fingers hovered over the board."And what did he do?"
"He didn't panic."
"Exactly," the shadow whispered."Sacrifices are not spells. They are tests. You threw the match—but he didn't light."
Alexei looked up at him.
"So… I was wrong?"
"No." He knelt beside the boy. "You were brave. You dared. And that matters more."
"But I still lost."
"And so did I," came another voice.From the shadows, Tal stepped forward—not as a ghost, but as a memory, glowing gold like candlelight and fire.
"Do you think they called me the Magician because I always won?"
Alexei shook his head slowly.
"They called me that," Tal smiled, "because I lost gloriously—and then returned to the board. With sharper eyes."
"So… what now?" Alexei whispered.
Tal leaned in.
"We learn!"
And as the night faded, Alexei fell asleep beside the board, a note tucked into his hand, written in smoky script:
"Real magicians don't fear the fall. They just learn how to fly next time."
In Alexei's dream, the flashback of Tal's life plays of this same scenario, handling the loss!!!
Dream of Alexei:
Wood creaks. The ticking of a grand clock echoes like a heartbeat. Alexei stands barefoot in the center of the room.
Before him: a long table.
Two players face each other. One of them is unmistakable—Mikhail Tal, young, eyes glittering with madness and genius. The other is faceless, shrouded in smoke.
Alexei is not seen. He's just… there. An observer caught in the folds of time.
The chessboard is already mid-battle. Tal leans forward, elbows on the table, fingers steepled. His opponent plays cautiously—a solid, logical move.
Tal tilts his head, smiles.
"Ah," he whispers, "too safe."
Without hesitation, he slides his queen into enemy territory.A sacrifice.
Alexei's heart skips. "No... That's a blunder," he thinks.
The faceless opponent stares. Silence stretches.
Then the reply—Tal's queen is taken.
Alexei gasps.
But Tal... just leans back, almost amused. He closes his eyes like a pianist listening to the next note before it's played.
And then—he unleashes the storm.
A rook lifts. A knight dances. The bishop slashes across diagonals like lightning.
Piece after piece falls, not Tal's—but his opponent's.The faceless man's shoulders slump. The smoke thickens. The board clears.
Checkmate.
Tal stands, his chair scraping softly against the wooden floor. He walks toward the edge of the table—and looks directly at Alexei.
"Did you see the sacrifice, young one?" he asks, voice calm like distant thunder."Sometimes... you must burn your queen to light the path."
The dream blurs. Smoke wraps around Alexei like fog. The board vanishes. Only Tal's voice remains:
"You will know when the moment comes. Trust the fire in your blood."
Alexei wakes, breathless, heart pounding, the final position burned into his mind.
The message clear.
He didn't just witness a game.He'd been given a lesson by the Magician himself.
(The game mentioned above was the 1959 Candidates Tournament game against Vasily Smyslov, where Tal sacrificed his queen in dazzling style.)
Notations:
1. e4 g6
2. d4 Bg7
3. Nc3 d6
4. Be3 Nf6
5. Qd2 c6
6. f3 b5
7. Nge2 Nbd7
8. Bh6 Bxh6
9. Qxh6 Bb7
10. a3 e5
11. O-O-O Qe7
12. Kb1 a6
13. Nc1 O-O-O
14. Nb3 exd4
15. Rxd4 c5
16. Rd1 Nb6
17. g3 Kb8
18. Na5 Ba8
19. Bh3!? d5?!
20. Qf4+ Ka7
21. Rhe1 d4
22. Nd5! Nfxd5
23. exd5 Qd6
24. Rxd4! cxd4
25. Re7+! Kb6
26. Qxd4+ Kxa5
27. b4+ Ka4
28. Qc3 Qxd5
29. Ra7! Qd1+
30. Kb2 Qd4
31. Rxa6# 1-0