Chess System Tal

This thing is called Chess System Tal and you might know it as one of those DOS chess engines that used to get passed around in plastic cases in software libraries. The nineties, naturally — the era when almost every chess player had at least one such program at home so they could tear their hair out by move three.

It's a chess engine named after Mikhail Tal, the Soviet grandmaster everybody knew for his aggressive, sometimes reckless style. The program is supposed to teach you how to play, or at least understand his approach — whether you're a complete beginner or already know that the horse-shaped piece is called a knight. You control the pieces with your mouse or keyboard, enter moves the classic way, the machine waits for your turn and then ponders. There's no fancy stuff here, the graphics look like a schematic drawing, but this was the reality of playing chess on a computer back then.

What makes Tal interesting is its game philosophy baked into the engine's behavior. The computer doesn't calculate position by formula like modern Stockfish does; it plays more wild, hunting for tactical opportunities, going all-in on its chances. On weaker levels it's beatable, at higher difficulties it'll knock you down like a trained boxer. It's not boring, but it's not pure science either — it's chess with blood on the knuckles, not just numbers on the screen.

Time has taken its toll — graphically it won't impress anyone and the user interface looks like something a coal miner could have designed with a pencil. But that doesn't matter. If you're curious about how chess was played on computers in the nineties and what you could learn from it, this is authentic — no facelift, no flourishes, just playing.

Today you can play it through a DOS emulator, purely for enthusiasts or when you don't have enough opponents at your chess club. It's not a game, it's training. If you want to feel what playing chess was like in an era when the computer wasn't just a bishop but a teacher with ice-cold eyes, here it is. Otherwise, fire up something more modern.