They called it a fluke at first.
Analysts dismissed the game against Lev Orlin as "reckless brilliance." Commentators labeled it "charmingly unsound." But as the months passed and tournaments stacked up, Alexei didn't stop winning.
And the line returned.
Each time, in a new form — disguised, twisted, reinvented — yet always carved from the same cursed foundation. Sacrifices that made no sense to the engines, yet proved unstoppable on the board. He held it back in most games, saving it like a match in a dark cave — something to ignite when all else failed.
It became known, quietly, as "Alexei's Gambit."
Whispers followed him into every hall:
"Is this the game he'll use it?"
"Didn't someone say it was unsound?"
"I heard it came from a lost Tal manuscript..."
By age 13, Alexei had won the European Youth Championship. By 14, he defeated three Grandmasters in a single Swiss event — two of them crushed with variations no one could understand even after replaying them five times.
At 15, in a historic match held under golden chandeliers in Riga — Tal's hometown — Alexei sat across from a World Top-10 player and unleashed the full power of the forbidden line… again.
And this time, the world noticed.
Chess channels exploded.
"Stockfish gives the sacrifice a -2.4. But he wins anyway."
"This isn't chess… this is mythology."
"It's as if he's channeling Tal himself."
The final move — a knight sacrifice followed by a quiet rook shift that no one saw coming — left the crowd breathless.
That night, Alexei earned the final GM norm.
And the photo on every front page wasn't of him holding the trophy…
…it was a silhouette behind him, reflected faintly in the polished table surface — a tall, blurred figure in black.
Just as he'd seen him… in dreams.
Dream Interlude (after the GM Title..)
That night, Alexei couldn't sleep.
He sat alone in his hotel room, the medal around his neck, the applause still echoing in his mind.
"You did it, Tal…" he whispered.
But from the mirror came a different voice.
"No. You did."
The shadow stepped out, eyes glowing faintly, voice calm and cool like a winter wind.
"I only lit the path. You followed it through fire."
Alexei turned, heart thudding.
"Why me?"
The shadow smiled.
"Because you weren't afraid to lose yourself in the game."
Then silence. The shadow faded.
Only the board remained — pieces set up in the starting position, waiting.
Waiting for the next battle.
(To Be Continued...)