Editing Mikhail Tal

{{short description|Soviet and Latvian chess grandmaster (1936–1992)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox chess player
| name          = Mikhail Tal
| image         = Mikhail Tal 1962.jpg
| caption       = Tal in 1962
| full_name     = Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal
| country       = {{ubl|[[Soviet Union]] (until 1991)|[[Latvia]] (1992)}}
| birth_date    = {{birth-date|9 November 1936}}
| birth_place   = [[Riga]], Latvia
| death_date    = {{death-date and age|27 June 1992|9 November 1936}}<ref name="died">Tal's gravestone has 27 June as the date of his death. All other sources consulted give 28 June, including Kasparov, Garry, ''My Great Predecessors, part II'', p. 382, and ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'', p. 6.</ref>
| death_place   = [[Moscow]], Russia
| title         = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1957)
| worldchampion = 1960–1961
| peakrating    = 2705 (January 1980)
| peakranking   = No. 2 (January 1980) <!-- https://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/player/Tal,%20Mikhail%20N..html (he was tied for No. 2 in July 1973 but untied No. 2 in January 1980) -->
}}

'''Mikhail Tal'''{{efn|{{langx|lv|'''Mihails Tāls'''}}; {{lang-rus|Михаил Нехемьевич Таль|Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal|mʲɪxɐˈil nʲɪˈxʲemʲɪvʲɪtɕ ˈtalʲ|links=yes}}}} (9 November 1936&nbsp;– 28 June 1992)<ref name="died" /> was a Soviet and Latvian [[chess]] player and the eighth [[World Chess Champion]]. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as [[Comparison of top chess players throughout history|one of the most influential players in chess history]]. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style.<ref>Zubok, V. M. (2011) ''Zhivago's children: the last Russian intelligentsia'', Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|0674062329}}</ref><ref>Clarke, P. H. (1969) ''Tal's Best Games of Chess'', Bell, {{ISBN|0713502045}}</ref> His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. [[Vladislav Zubok]] said of him, "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem".<ref>Zubok, Vladislav. ''Zhivago's Children''. Harvard University Press, 2009. p. 179 {{ISBN|9780674033443}}</ref>

His nickname was "[[Misha (name)|Misha]]", a [[diminutive]] for [[Michael (given name)|Mikhail]], and he earned the nickname "The Magician from [[Riga]]". Both ''The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games''<ref name=Burgess/> and ''Modern Chess Brilliancies''<ref name=Evans/> include more games by Tal than any other player. He also held the record for the longest unbeaten streak in competitive chess history with 95 games (46 wins, 49 draws) between 23 October 1973 and 16 October 1974, until [[Ding Liren]]'s streak of 100 games (29 wins, 71 draws) between 9 August 2017 and 11 November 2018.<ref name="Chess Lists Second Edition 2002, pp. 43–44">Soltis, Andrew (2002) ''Chess Lists Second Edition'', 2nd ed., McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina and London, pp. 43–44, {{ISBN|0786412968}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ratings.fide.com/hist.phtml?event=8603677 |title=Official FIDE Ding, Liren (CHN) Individual Calculations full report}}</ref> In addition, Tal was a highly regarded chess writer.

Tal died on 28 June 1992 in [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]. The [[Mikhail Tal Memorial]] chess tournament has been held in Moscow annually since 2006.

==Early years==
{{AN chess|pos=secright}}
Tal was born in Riga, Latvia, into a [[Jewish]] family.{{sfn|Sosonko|p=21}} According to his friend [[Gennadi Sosonko]], his true father was a family friend identified only as "Uncle Robert";{{sfn|Sosonko|p=22}} however, this was vehemently denied by Tal's third wife Angelina.<ref>{{cite web |title=ВДОВА ВОСЬМОГО ЧЕМПИОНА ėМИХАИЛА ТАЛЯ АНГЕЛИНА: "ДО МЕНЯ СО ВСЕМИ СВОИМИ ЖЕНЩИНАМИ МИША ЖИЛ НЕ БОЛЬШЕ ДВУХ ЛЕТ, А СО МНОЙ – 22 ГОДА. НАВЕРНОЕ, ПОТОМУ, ЧТО Я НЕ СТЕРВА" |trans-title=Angelina, widow of eighth world champion Tal: "Before me, Tal didn't live with any woman for more than two years, but with me, 22 years. Probably because I'm not a bitch." |url=http://www.facts.kiev.ua/archive/2009-11-20/101796/index.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123072603/http://www.facts.kiev.ua/archive/2009-11-20/101796/index.html |archive-date=23 November 2009}}</ref> Uncle Robert had been a taxi driver in [[Paris]] in the 1920s and had lost all his family in [[World War II]]. His mother, Ida Grigoryevna, was the eldest of four sisters; Tal frequently visited the [[Netherlands]] to see his aunt, Riva, and another of his aunts settled in the [[United States]] but visited Riga.{{sfn|Sosonko|p=22}}

{{Chess diagram small
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|Kholmov vs. Tal, 1949
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|Play continued 18.axb5 Rxf3 19.Rxa7 Qxb5 20.gxf3 Qg5+ 21.Kh1 Rg8 {{chessAN|0–1}}{{sfn|Tal|p=18}}
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As a child, Tal joined the [[Latvian Academy of Sciences#Building|Riga Palace]] of [[Pioneer movement|Young Pioneers]] chess club. In 1949, he played [[Ratmir Kholmov]], a young master who had recently competed in the prestigious [[Chigorin Memorial]] in 1947, in a [[simultaneous exhibition]]. Tal used an imaginative combination to win his game at the age of 13.{{sfn|Tal|p=18}}<ref name="YoutubeChessSchoolTal1949">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82plo8S6Rdo|title=How good was Tal when he was 12? Kholmov vs Tal|author=Chess School (youtube)|date=19 April 2012 |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

[[File:TalRiga.JPG|thumb|right|Tal lived in this apartment building in Riga.]]

[[Alexander Koblencs|Alexander Koblents]] began tutoring him in 1949, after which Tal's game rapidly improved, and by 1951 he had qualified for the [[Latvian Chess Championship|Latvian Championship]]. In the 1952 Latvian Championship, Tal finished ahead of his trainer. Tal won his first Latvian title in 1953, and was awarded the title of Candidate Master. He became a Soviet [[Chess master|Master]] in 1954 by defeating Vladimir Saigin in a qualifying match. That same year he also scored his first win over a grandmaster when [[Yuri Averbakh]] lost on time in a [[Draw (chess)|drawn]] position. Tal graduated in [[Literature]] from the [[University of Latvia]], writing a thesis on the satirical works of [[Ilf and Petrov]], and taught school in Riga for a time in his early twenties. He was a member of the Daugava Sports Society, and represented Latvia in internal Soviet team competitions.

In 1959, he married 19-year-old Salli Landau, an actress with the Riga [[Young Spectator's Theatre|Youth Theatre]]; they divorced in 1970. In 2003, Landau published a biography in [[Russian language|Russian]] of her late ex-husband.

==Soviet champion==
Tal made his first significant appearance at the [[1956 USSR Chess Championship]], sharing 5th–7th place with [[Lev Polugaevsky]] and Ratmir Kholmov.{{sfn|Kasparov|p=383}} [[Grigory Levenfish]] called him "the most colourful figure of the championship" and a "great talent" who strove for "sharp and complicated play".{{sfn|Kasparov|p=383}} However, he was criticised by the media for taking unnecessary risks and having restricted creative views.{{sfn|Kasparov|p=383}} Tal then went to play on board three at the students' championship in [[Sweden]], scoring 6 out of 7.{{sfn|Kasparov|p=388}}

He became the youngest player to win the [[1957 USSR Chess Championship]], at the age of 20. He had not played in enough international tournaments to qualify for the title of [[International Grandmaster|Grandmaster]], but [[FIDE]] decided at its 1957 Congress to waive the normal restrictions and award him the title because of his achievement in winning the Soviet Championship. At that time the [[Soviet Union]] was dominant in world chess, and Tal had beaten several of the world's top players to win the tournament.<ref>{{cite book |author=Clarke, Peter H. |title=Mikhail Tal – Master of Sacrifice |publisher=B.T.Batsford Ltd |year=1991 |isbn=0-7134-6899-8 |page=4}}</ref>

Tal made three appearances for the USSR at Student Olympiads in 1956–1958, winning three team gold medals and three board gold medals. He won nineteen games, drew eight, and lost none, for 85.2 percent.<ref name="olimpbase">{{cite web |url=http://www.olimpbase.org/playersy/o8maieuc.html |title=World Student Team Chess Championship :: Mikhail Tal |website=OlimpBase.org |access-date=24 October 2013}}</ref>

He retained the title of champion at the [[1958 USSR Chess Championship]], and competed in the [[World Chess Championship 1960]] for the first time. He won the 1958 [[Interzonal]] tournament at [[Portorož]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], then helped the Soviet Union to win the [[13th Chess Olympiad|13th]] [[Chess Olympiad]], being its fourth consecutive victory in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]].

==World Champion==
[[File:Wereldkandidaten schaaktoernooi in Zuid Slavia Tal (Rusland), Petrosjan (Rusland, Bestanddeelnr 910-7198.jpg|alt=|thumb|Tal in 1959]]
In 1959, Tal won a very strong tournament in [[Zurich]], [[Switzerland]]. Following the Interzonal, the top players carried on to the [[Candidates' Tournament]], Yugoslavia, 1959. Tal won with 20/28 points, ahead of [[Paul Keres]] with 18½, followed by [[Tigran Petrosian]], [[Vasily Smyslov]], [[Bobby Fischer]], [[Svetozar Gligorić]], [[Friðrik Ólafsson]], and [[Pal Benko]]. Tal's victory was attributed to his dominance over the lower half of the field;<ref>{{cite book |last=Horowitz |first=Al |author-link=Israel Albert Horowitz |year=1973 |title=The World Chess Championship, A History |publisher=Macmillan |page=188 |lccn=72080175}}</ref> whilst scoring only one win and three losses versus Keres, he won all four individual games against Fischer, and took 3½ points out of 4 from each of Gligorić, Olafsson, and Benko.<ref name="MarkWeeks1959Candidates">{{cite web |url=http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/5860$cix.htm |title=1959 Yugoslavia Candidates Tournament |work=mark-weeks.com}}</ref> When Benko arrived for his match with Tal, he wore dark glasses in order to avert the gaze of Tal, which could be intimidating. In response and as a joke, Tal wore large sunglasses which he borrowed from a member of the crowd.<ref name="Independent Obituary" />

In 1960, at the age of 23, Tal defeated the strategically-minded [[Mikhail Botvinnik]] in a World Championship match, held in Moscow, by 12½–8½ (six wins, two losses, and thirteen draws),<ref name="Independent Obituary" /> making him the youngest-ever World Champion (a record later broken by [[Garry Kasparov]], who earned the title at 22, and broken again by [[Gukesh Dommaraju]] who earned the title at age 18). Botvinnik, who had never faced Tal before the title match began, won the return match against Tal in 1961, also held in Moscow, by 13–8 (ten wins to five, with six draws).<ref name="Independent Obituary" /> In the period between the matches Botvinnik had thoroughly analysed Tal's style, and turned most of the return match's games into slow wars of maneuver or [[Chess endgame|endgames]], rather than the complicated tactical melees which were Tal's happy hunting ground.<ref name="NYTimes1992TalObit">{{cite news |title=Mikhail Tal, a Chess Grandmaster Known for His Daring, Dies at 55 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0D91739F93AA15755C0A964958260 |author=McFadden, R.D. |date=29 June 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Tal's chronic [[kidney]] problems contributed to his defeat, and his doctors in Riga advised that he should postpone the match for health reasons. Yuri Averbakh claimed that Botvinnik would agree to a postponement only if Tal was certified unfit by Moscow doctors, and that Tal then decided to play.<ref name="Kingston2002AvebakhInterviewPart2">{{cite web |url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles183.pdf |title=Yuri Averbakh: An Interview with History – Part 2 |author=Kingston, T. |publisher=The Chess Cafe |year=2002}}</ref> His short reign atop the chess world made him one of the two so-called "winter kings" who interrupted Botvinnik's long reign from 1948 to 1963 (the other was Smyslov, world champion 1957–58).

His highest [[Elo rating system|Elo rating]] was 2705, achieved in 1980. His highest Historical Chessmetrics Rating was 2799, in September 1960.

==Later achievements==
[[File:Hoogovenschaaktoernooi, de Rus M. Tal, Bestanddeelnr 920-9788.jpg|alt=|thumb|Tal in 1968]]
Soon after losing the rematch with Botvinnik, Tal won the 1961 [[Bled]] supertournament in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|SFR Yugoslavia]], by one point over Fischer, despite losing their individual game, scoring 14½ from nineteen games (+11−1=7) with the world-class players Petrosian, Keres, Gligorić, [[Efim Geller]], and [[Miguel Najdorf]] among the other participants.

Tal played in a total of six Candidates' Tournaments and match cycles, though he never again earned the right to play for the world title. In 1962 at [[Curaçao]], [[Netherlands Antilles]], he had serious health problems, having undergone a major operation shortly before the tournament, and had to withdraw three-quarters of the way through, scoring just seven points (+3−10=8) from 21 games. He tied for first place at the 1964 [[Amsterdam]] Interzonal to advance to matches. Then in 1965, he lost the final match against [[Boris Spassky]], after defeating [[Lajos Portisch]] and [[Bent Larsen]] in matches. Exempt from the 1967 Interzonal in [[Sousse]], Tunisia, he defeated Gligorić 5½-3½ in Belgrade in 1968, but then lost the semi-final match against [[Viktor Korchnoi]] in Moscow.

Poor health caused a slump in his play from late 1968 to late 1969, but he recovered his form after having a [[nephrectomy|kidney removed]]. He won the 1979 Riga Interzonal with an undefeated score of 14/17, but the next year lost a quarter-final match to Lev Polugaevsky, one of the players to hold a positive score against him. He also played in the 1985 [[Montpellier]] ([[France]]) Candidates' Tournament, a [[Round-robin tournament|round-robin]] of 16 qualifiers, finishing in a tie for fourth and fifth places, and narrowly missing further advancement after drawing a playoff match with [[Jan Timman]], who held the tiebreak advantage from the tournament proper.

From July 1972 to April 1973, Tal played a record 86 consecutive games without a loss (47 wins and 39 draws). Between 23 October 1973 and 16 October 1974, he played 95 consecutive games without a loss (46 wins and 49 draws), shattering his previous record. These were the two longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess for more than four decades,<ref name="Chess Lists Second Edition 2002, pp. 43–44"/> until [[Ding Liren]] broke the record in 2018 with 100 games, although with far fewer wins than either of Tal's streaks (29 wins, 71 draws).

Tal remained a formidable opponent as he got older. He played [[Anatoly Karpov]] 22 times, 12 of them during the latter's reign as World Champion, with a record of +0−1=19 in classical games and +1−2=19 overall.

One of Tal's greatest achievements during his later career was an equal first place with Karpov (whom he seconded in a number of tournaments and world championships) in the 1979 [[Montreal]] ([[Canada]]) "Tournament of Stars", with an unbeaten score of (+6−0=12), the only undefeated player in the field, which also included Spassky, Portisch, [[Vlastimil Hort]], [[Robert Hübner]], [[Ljubomir Ljubojević]], [[Lubomir Kavalek]], Jan Timman and Larsen.

Tal played in 21 [[USSR Chess Championship|Soviet Championships]],{{efn|Including the 1983 final when Tal had to withdraw after five games}} winning it six times (1957, 1958, [[1967 USSR Chess Championship|1967]], [[1972 USSR Chess Championship|1972]], [[1974 USSR Chess Championship|1974]], [[1978 USSR Chess Championship|1978]]). He was also a five-time winner of the International Chess Tournament in [[Tallinn]], [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonian SSR]], with victories in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1981, and 1983.

Tal also had successes in [[blitz chess]]; in 1970, he took second place to Fischer, who scored 19/22, in a blitz tournament at [[Herceg Novi]], SFR Yugoslavia, ahead of Korchnoi, Petrosian and Smyslov. In 1988, at the age of 51, he won the second official [[World Blitz Chess Championship|World Blitz Championship]] (the first was won by Kasparov the previous year in [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]]) at [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], Canada, ahead of such players as Kasparov, the reigning world champion, and ex-champion Anatoly Karpov. In the final, he defeated [[Rafael Vaganian]] by 3½–½.

On 28 May 1992, at the Moscow blitz tournament (which he left the hospital to play), he defeated Kasparov. He died one month later.

==Team competitions==
In Chess Olympiad play, Mikhail Tal was a member of eight Soviet teams, each of which won team gold medals (1958, [[14th Chess Olympiad|1960]], [[15th Chess Olympiad|1962]], [[17th Chess Olympiad|1966]], [[20th Chess Olympiad|1972]], [[21st Chess Olympiad|1974]], [[24th Chess Olympiad|1980]], and [[25th Chess Olympiad|1982]]), won 65 games, drew 34, and lost only two games (81.2%). This percentage makes him the player with the best score among those participating in at least four Olympiads. Individually, Tal won seven Olympiad board medals, including five gold (1958, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1974), and two silver (1960, 1982).<ref name="olimpbase"/>

Tal also represented the Soviet Union at six [[European Team Chess Championship|European Team Chess Championships]] (1957, 1961, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1980), winning team gold medals each time, and three board gold medals (1957, 1970, and 1977). He scored 14 wins, 20 draws, and three losses, for 64.9%.<ref name="olimpbase"/>
Tal played board nine for the USSR in the first match against the Rest of the World team at [[Belgrade]], SFR Yugoslavia in 1970, scoring 2 out of 4. He was on board seven for the USSR in the second match against the Rest of the World team at [[London]], [[United Kingdom]] in 1984, scoring 2 out of 3. The USSR won both team matches. He was an Honoured Master of Sport.<ref>''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'', revised and updated edition, by Mikhail Tal, 1997, London, Everyman Chess.</ref>

From 1950 (when he won the Latvian junior championship) to 1991, Tal won or tied for first in 68 tournaments (see table below). During his 41-year career he played about 2,700 tournament or match games, winning over 65% of them.

==Health problems and death==
[[File:Mikhail Tal 1982.jpg|thumb|Tal in 1982]]
[[File:Mikhail Tal 1961 Oberhausen.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tal in 1961]]
Tal was a [[Alcoholism|heavy drinker]] and [[Chain smoking|chain smoked]]. His already fragile health suffered as a result, and he spent a great deal of time in the hospital, including an operation to remove a kidney in 1969.<ref>Sosonko, p. 23</ref> He was also briefly addicted to [[morphine]], prescribed due to intense pain.<ref>Sosonko, p. 25</ref>

On 28 June 1992,<ref name="died" /> Tal died in a Moscow hospital, officially of a [[Bleeding|hemorrhage]] in the [[esophagus]]. His friend and fellow Soviet grandmaster [[Gennadi Sosonko]] reported that "effectively his entire organism had ceased to function."<ref>Sosonko, p. 30</ref>

Tal had the congenital deformity of [[ectrodactyly]] in his right hand (visible in some photographs). Despite this, he was a skilled [[piano]] player.<ref name="Sosonko, p. 24">Sosonko, p. 24</ref>

==Playing style==
Tal was known as "The Magician from Riga", and his style of play was very aggressive and involved heavy calculation. His approach over the board was very pragmatic—in that respect, he is one of the heirs of ex-world champion [[Alexander Alekhine]]. He often [[sacrifice (chess)|sacrificed]] {{chessgloss|material}} in search of activity and initiative<ref name="Independent Obituary">{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-mikhail-tal-1530878.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-mikhail-tal-1530878.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Obituary: Mikhail Tal |last=Hartston |first=William |date=2 July 1992 |website=independent.co.uk |access-date=16 December 2020}}</ref> which is defined as the ability to make threats to which the opponent must respond. Many masters found it difficult to refute Tal's ideas, looking at how many problems he created, though deeper post-game analysis found flaws in some of his calculations. The famous sixth game of his first world championship match with Botvinnik is typical in that regard: Tal sacrificed a knight with little compensation but prevailed when the unsettled Botvinnik failed to find the correct response. Tal's style of play was so intimidating that [[James Eade]] listed Tal as one of the three players whom contemporaries were most afraid of playing against (the others being Capablanca and Fischer). However, while Capablanca and Fischer were feared because of their extreme technical skill, Tal was feared because of the possibility of being on the wrong side of a soon-to-be-famous brilliancy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chess for Dummies |publisher=For Dummies |author=James Eade}}</ref> Although Tal's sacrifices were formidable, his style of play was very risky, contributing to his negative record against world-class defensive players. These included Spassky, Petrosian, Polugaevsky, Korchnoi, Keres, Smyslov, and Stein. (Tal has a positive record against Fischer with his four wins from the 1959 candidates tournament, when Fischer was only 16 years old, but never beat Fischer again.)

Although his playing style at first was scorned by ex-world champion Vasily Smyslov as nothing more than "tricks", Tal convincingly beat many notable grandmasters with his trademark aggression. Prevailing against Tal's aggression required extraordinary ability. It is also notable that he adopted a more sedate and positional style in his later years; for many chess lovers, the apex of Tal's style corresponds with the period (approximately from 1971 to 1979) when he was able to integrate the solidity of classical chess with the imagination of his youth.<ref name="KramnikSteinitzToKasparov">{{cite web |url=http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?id=61 |title=Kramnik Interview: From Steinitz to Kasparov |publisher=[[Vladimir Kramnik]] |author=Kramnik, V. |year=2005 |access-date=1 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512052013/http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?id=61 |archive-date=12 May 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Of the current top-level players, the Latvian [[Alexei Shirov]] has been most often compared to Tal. In fact, he studied with Tal as a youth. Many other Latvian grandmasters and masters, for instance [[Alexander Shabalov]] and [[Alvis Vītoliņš]], have played in a similar vein, causing some to speak of a "Latvian School of Chess".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://main.uschess.org/content/view/313/164 |title=Shabalov Enters Elite Company With Fourth U.S. Championship Title |author=Watson, J. |date=1 August 2007 |publisher=US Chess Federation}} Section "The Champion Speaks" – interview with [[Alexander Shabalov]]</ref>

Tal contributed little to opening theory, despite having a deep knowledge of most systems, the [[Sicilian Defence|Sicilian]] and the [[Ruy Lopez]] in particular. There are a few openings named after him, however, such as the Tal Variation in the [[Caro–Kann Defence|Caro-Kann]] and in the [[Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation|Sicilian Scheveningen]]. But his aggressive use of the [[Modern Benoni]], particularly in his early years, led to a complete re-evaluation of this variation. A [[Nimzo-Indian Defence#4...b6|variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence]] also bears his name.

==Notable games==
*Tal vs. [[Alexander Tolush]], USSR Championship, Moscow 1957, [[King's Indian Defence]], [[King's Indian Defence, Sämisch Variation|Sämisch Variation]] (E81), {{chessAN|1–0}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139349 |title=Mikhail Tal vs. Alexander Tolush, USSR Championship, Moscow 1957 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> In a critical last-round game, Tal spares no fireworks as he scores the win that clinches his first Soviet title.
*Boris Spassky vs. Tal, USSR Championship, Riga 1958, [[Nimzo-Indian Defence]], Sämisch Variation (E26), {{chessAN|0–1}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128406 |title=Boris Spassky vs. Mikhail Tal, USSR Championship, Riga 1958 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> Spassky plays for a win to avoid a playoff for an Interzonal berth, but Tal hangs on by his fingernails before turning the tables in a complex {{chessgloss|endgame}}; with the win, he captures his second straight Soviet title.
*Tal vs. Vasily Smyslov, Yugoslavia Candidates' Tournament 1959, Caro–Kann Defence (B10), 1–0.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139475 |title=Mikhail Tal vs. Vasily Smyslov, Yugoslavia Candidates' Tournament 1959 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> A daring piece sacrifice to win a {{chessgloss|brilliancy prize}}.
*Robert James Fischer vs. Tal, Belgrade, Candidates' Tournament 1959, Sicilian Defence, [[Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation#Fischer–Sozin Attack|Fischer–Sozin Attack]] (B87), 0–1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044107 |title=Robert James Fischer vs. Mikhail Tal, Belgrade, Candidates' Tournament 1959 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> Their games from this period are full of interesting tactics.
*Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Tal, World Championship Match, Moscow 1960, 6th game, [[King's Indian Defence]], [[King's Indian Defence#Fianchetto Variation|Fianchetto Variation]], Classical Main line (E69), 0–1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032537 |title=Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Mikhail Tal, World Championship Match, Moscow 1960 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> An excellent sample of Tal's style from the first Botvinnik–Tal match. Tal sacrifices a knight for the attack and Botvinnik is unable to find a good defence in the given time; his 25th move is a mistake that spoils his game.
*[[István Bilek]] vs. Tal, Moscow 1967, [[King's Indian Attack]], Spassky Variation (A05), 0–1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1027628 |title=István Bilek vs. Mikhail Tal, Moscow 1967 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> A risky {{chessgloss|counterattack}} is crowned with success, winning a brilliancy prize.
*Boris Spassky vs. Tal, Tallinn tt 1973, Nimzo-Indian Defence, [[Nimzo-Indian Defence#Other variations|Leningrad Variation]] (E30), 0–1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128896 |title=Boris Spassky vs. Mikhail Tal, Tallinn 1973 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> A game fuelled with tactics from its first moves. Black attacks in the {{chessgloss|centre}} and then starts a {{chessgloss|king hunt|king chase}}.
*Tal vs. Tigran Petrosian, 8th Soviet Team Cup, Moscow 1974, rd 5, [[Pirc Defence]], [[Pirc Defense#Classical System|Classical System]], (B08), 1–0.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1107032 |title=Mikhail Tal vs. Tigran Petrosian, 8th Soviet Team Cup, Moscow 1974 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> Tal destroys perhaps the greatest defensive player of all time in a {{chessgloss|miniature}}.
*Tal vs. [[Joel Lautier]], Barcelona 1992. In his final tournament before his death at age 55, the Magician from Riga produces one last masterpiece against a Grandmaster from the next generation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1089819 |title=Mikhail Tal vs. Joel Lautier (1992) |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref>

==Writings==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
Tal was a prolific and highly respected chess writer, penning a number of books and serving as editor of the Latvian chess magazine ''Šahs'' ("Chess") from 1960 to 1970. His books are renowned for the detailed narrative of his thinking during the games. American Grandmaster [[Andrew Soltis]] reviewed his book on the world championship match as "simply the best book written about a world championship match by a contestant. That shouldn't be a surprise because Tal was the finest writer to become world champion." [[New Zealand]] Grandmaster [[Murray Chandler]] wrote in the introduction to the 1997 reissued algebraic edition of ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'' that the book was possibly the best chess book ever written.

==Score with some major grandmasters==
Only official tournament or match games have been taken into account. '+' corresponds to Tal's wins, '−' to his losses and '=' to draws. Winning records in bold.
{{div col|colwidth=27em}}
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} '''[[Mikhail Botvinnik]]: +12−12=20'''
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} '''[[David Bronstein]]: +12−8=19'''
*{{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Bobby Fischer]]: +4−2=5'''
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} '''[[Efim Geller]]: +6−6=23'''
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Anatoly Karpov]]: +0−1=19
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Garry Kasparov]]: +1−2=9
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Paul Keres]]: +4−8=20
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Viktor Korchnoi]]: +4−13=27
*{{flagicon|DEN}} '''[[Bent Larsen]]: +12−7=18'''
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Tigran Petrosian]]: +4−5=35
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Lev Polugaevsky]]: +2−8=22
*{{flagicon|HUN}} '''[[Lajos Portisch]]: +9−5=18'''
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Vasily Smyslov]]: +3−4=21
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Boris Spassky]]: +6−9=27
*{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Leonid Stein]]: +0−3=15
*{{flagicon|Argentina}} '''[[Miguel Najdorf]]: +3−1=5'''
*{{flagicon|USA}} '''[[Pal Benko]]: +8−1=3'''
*{{flagicon|East Germany}} '''[[Wolfgang Uhlmann]]: +4−0=3'''
*{{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} '''[[Borislav Ivkov]]: +3−1=11'''
*{{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} '''[[Svetozar Gligoric]]: +10−2=22'''
{{div col end}}

==Tournament and match wins (or equal first)==

===1950–1965===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!|Year
!|Tournament / Championship
!|Match / Team competition
|-
||1950
|[[Riga]] – Latvia Junior championship,<ref>Alexander Khalifman et al, "Mikhail Tal – 8th World Champion" (PC-CD); "Complete Games of Mikhail Tal 1936–1959", p. 5</ref> 1st
|-
||1953
|Riga – 10th Latvian championship, 1st (14½/19)
|Leningrad, Soviet Team Championship final, board 2, 1st–2nd (4½/7)
|-
|1954
|
|Match with Vladimir Saigin for the title of Soviet Master (+4−2=8)
|-
||1955
|Riga – 23rd Soviet Championship Semifinal, 1st (12½/18)
|-
||1956
|
|[[Uppsala]] – World students team championship, board 3 (6/7)
|-
||1957
| [[1957 USSR Chess Championship|Moscow – 24th URS-ch]], 1st (14/21)
|[[Reykjavík]] – Wch-team students, board 1 (8½/10)<br />[[Baden bei Wien|Baden, Austria]] – European Team Championship, board 4, 1st–2nd (3/5)
|-
||1958
|[[1958 USSR Chess Championship|Riga – 25th URS-ch]], 1st (12/19) <br />[[Portorož Interzonal 1958|Portorož Interzonal]], 1st (13½/20)
|[[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] – Wch-team students, board 1 (8½/10)<br />[[13th Chess Olympiad|Munich 1958]] Olympiad, board 5 (13½/15)
|-
||1959
|Riga – Latvian Olympiad, 1st (7/7)<br /> [[Zürich]] tournament, 1st (11½/15)<br />[[Bled]]–[[Zagreb]]–[[Belgrade]] – Candidates tournament, 1st (20/28)
|-
||1960
|
|Moscow – Match for the World title with [[Mikhail Botvinnik]] (+6−2=13)<br />[[Hamburg]] – Match West Germany vs. USSR, 1st (7½/8)<br />[[14th Chess Olympiad|Leipzig 1960]] Olympiad, board 1, silver medal (11/15)
|-
||1960/61
|[[Stockholm]] tournament, 1st (9½/11)
|-

||1961
|[[Bled]] tournament, 1st (14½/19)
|-
||1962
|
|[[15th Chess Olympiad|Varna 1962]] Olympiad, board 6 (10/13)
|-
||1963
|[[Miskolc]] tournament, 1st (12½/15)
|Moscow, USSR Spartakiad, board 1, 1st (6/9)
|-
||1963/64
|[[Hastings International Chess Congress|Hastings]] Premier tournament, 1st (7/9)
|-
||1964
|[[Reykjavík]] tournament, 1st (12½/13)<br /> [[Amsterdam]] Interzonal, 1st–4th (17/23) <br />[[Kislovodsk]] tournament, 1st (7½/10)
|Moscow, USSR Club Team Championship, board 1, 1st (4½/6) 
|-
||1965
|Riga, Latvian championship, 1st (10/13)
|Bled –  Quarter-final Candidates Match with [[Lajos Portisch]]: (+4−1=3) <br />Bled – Semi-final Candidates Match with [[Bent Larsen]] (+3−2=5)
|}

===1966–1977===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!|Year
!|Tournament / Championship
!|Match / Team competition
|-
||1966
|[[Sarajevo]] tournament, 1st–2nd (11/15)<br />[[Palma de Mallorca]] tournament, 1st (12/15)
|[[17th Chess Olympiad|Havana 1966]] Olympiad, board 3 (12/13)
|-
||1967
|[[Kharkiv]] – 35th URS-ch, =1st (12/15)
|Moscow, USSR Spartakiad, final B, 1st (6/9)
|-
||1968
|[[Gori, Georgia|Gori]] tournament, 1st (7½/10)
|Belgrade – Quarter-final Candidates Match with [[Svetozar Gligorić]] (+3−1=5)
|-
||1969/70
|[[Tbilisi]] – Goglidze memorial tournament, 1st–2nd (10½/15)
|-
||1970
|[[Poti]] – Georgian Open championship, 1st (11/14) <br />[[Sochi]] – Grandmasters vs. Young Masters, 1st (10½/14)
|Belgrade – World vs. USSR, board 9 Match with [[Miguel Najdorf]] (+1−1=2)<br /> [[Kapfenberg]], European Team Championship, board 6 (5/6)
|-
||1971
|[[Tallinn]] tournament, 1st–2nd (11½/15)
|Rostov-on-Don, USSR Club Team Championship, board 1, 1st (4½/6)
|-
||1972
|[[Sukhumi]] tournament, 1st (11/15)<br /> [[Baku]] – 40th URS-ch, 1st (15/21)
| [[20th Chess Olympiad|Skopje 1972]] Olympiad, board 4 (14/16)
|-
||1973
|[[Wijk aan Zee]] tournament, 1st (10½/15) <br /> Tallinn tournament, 1st (12/15) <br /> [[Sochi]] – [[Mikhail Chigorin]] memorial, 1st (11/15) <br /> [[Dubna]] tournament, 1st–2nd (10/15)
|[[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], European Team Championship, board 6, silver medal (4/6)
|-
||1973/74
|Hastings tournament, 1st–4th (10/15)
|-
||1974
|[[Lublin]] tournament, 1st (12½/15) <br /> [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] tournament, 1st (11½/15)<br />[[Novi Sad]] tournament, 1st (11½/15) <br /> Leningrad – 42nd URS-ch, =1st (9½/15)
|[[21st Chess Olympiad|Nice 1974]] Olympiad, board 5 (11½/15)<br />Moscow, USSR Club Team Championship, board 1, 1st (6½/9)
|-
|1976
|
|Stockholm, Match with [[Ulf Andersson]] (+1=7)
|-
||1977
|Tallinn – [[Paul Keres|Keres]] memorial, 1st (11½/17) <br /> [[Leningrad]] 60th October Rev., 1st–2nd (11½/17) <br /> Sochi – Chigorin memorial, 1st (11/15)
|Moscow, European Team Championship, board 4 (4½/6)
|}

===1978–1991===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Tournament / Championship
|-
||1978
| [[Tbilisi]] – 46th URS-ch, 1st (11/17)
|-
||1979
|[[Montreal]] tournament, 1st–2nd (12/18)<br />Riga Interzonal, 1st (14/17)
|-
||1981
|Tallinn – Keres memorial, 1st (12½/15) <br /> [[Málaga]] tournament, 1st (7/11)<br />Moscow, Soviet Team Championship, board 1, 1st (7/9)  <br /> Riga tournament, 1st (11/15) <br /> [[Lviv]] tournament, 1st–2nd (9/13)
|-
|1981/82
| [[Porz]] tournament, 1st (9/11)
|-
||1982
|Moscow tournament, 1st (9/13) <br />[[Erevan]] tournament, 1st (10/15) <br /> Sochi – Chigorin memorial, 1st (10/15) <br /> [[Pforzheim]] tournament, 1st (9/11)
|-
||1983
|Tallinn – Keres memorial, 1st (10/15)
|-
||1984
|[[Albena]] tournament, 1st–2nd (7/11)
|-
||1985
|[[Jūrmala]] tournament, 1st (9/13)
|-
||1986
|[[West Berlin]] open, 1st–2nd (7½/9)<br /> Tbilisi – Goglidze memorial, 1st–2nd (9/13)
|-
||1987
|[[Termas de Río Hondo]] (Argentina), 1st (8/11) <br /> Jūrmala tournament, 1st–4th (7½/13)
|-
||1988
|[[Chicago]] – National Open, 1st–6th (5½/6) <br /> [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]] – [[World Blitz Chess Championship|World blitz Championship]]: 1st
|-
||1991
|[[Buenos Aires]] – [[Miguel Najdorf|Najdorf]] memorial, 1st–3rd (8½/13)
|}

==Book titles==
*{{cite book |author=Tal, Mikhail |year=2001 |orig-year=1970 |title=Tal–Botvinnik, 1960 |publisher=Russell Enterprises |isbn=1-888690-08-9}}
*{{cite book |author=Tal, Mikhail |title=World Championship: Petrosian vs. Spassky 1966 |publisher=Chess Digest |year=1973}}
*{{cite book |author=Tal, Mikhail |year=2003 |orig-year=1975 |chapter=Mikhail Tal, The Score Isn't Everything, Victory in the Ending |editor-last=Keene |editor-first=Raymond |title=Learn from the Grandmasters |publisher=Batsford |pages=5–16 |isbn=0713481382}}
*{{cite book |author=Tal, Mikhail |year=1997 |orig-year=1978 |title=The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal |publisher=[[Everyman Chess]] |isbn=1-85744-202-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifegamesofmikha00tals}}
*{{cite book |author1=Tal, Mikhail |author2=Alexander Koblencs |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |orig-year=1978 |title=Study Chess with Tal |publisher=Batsford |isbn=978-1849941099}}
*{{cite book |author1=Tal, Mikhail |author2=Viktor Khenkin |name-list-style=amp |title=Tal's Winning Chess Combinations: The Secrets of Winning Chess Combinations Described and Explained by the Russian Grandmaster Mikhail Tal |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1979 |isbn=0671242628}}
*{{cite book |last1=Tal |first1=Mikhail |last2=Roshal |first2=Aleksandr |last3=Chepizhny |first3=V. |title=Montreal 1979: Tournament of Stars |publisher=Pergamon Press |year=1980 |isbn=0080241328}}
*{{cite book |author1=Tal, Mikhail |author2=E.B. Edmondson |name-list-style=amp |title=Chess Scandals: The 1978 World Chess Championship |publisher=Pergamon Press |year=1981 |isbn=008024145X}}
*{{cite book |author=Tal, Mikhail |chapter=The chess calculator's confession |editor-last1=Estrin |editor-first1=Yakov |editor-last2=Romanov |editor-first2=Isaac |title=The World Champions Teach Chess |publisher=A & C Black |year=1988 |pages=102–112 |isbn=0713655968}}
*{{cite book |last1=Tal |first1=Mikhail |last2=Damsky |first2=Iakov |last3=Neat |first3=Ken (tr.) |title=Attack with Mikhail Tal |publisher=Everyman Chess |year=1994 |isbn=1-85744-043-9}}

==See also==
* [[List of Jewish chess players]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Burgess>{{Cite book |last1=Burgess |first1=Graham |author-link=Graham Burgess |last2=Nunn |first2=John |author-link2=John Nunn |last3=Emms |first3=John |author-link3=John Emms (chess player) |title=The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games |year=2004 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Carroll & Graf]] |isbn=0-7867-1411-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/mammothbookofwor0000burg}}</ref>
<ref name=Evans>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Larry |author-link=Larry Evans (chess grandmaster) |title=Modern Chess Brilliancies |year=1970 |publisher=Fireside |isbn=0-671-22420-4}}</ref>
}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite book |last=Sosonko |first=Genna |year=2001 |title=Russian Silhouettes |publisher=New In Chess |isbn=9056912933}}
* {{cite book |last=Tal |first=Mikhail |title=The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal |year=1997 |publisher=Gloucester Publishers |isbn=978-1-85744-202-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kasparov |first=Garry |author-link=Garry Kasparov |year=2003 |title=[[My Great Predecessors]], part II |publisher=Everyman Chess |isbn=1-85744-342-X}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |author-link=Irving Chernev |first=Irving |last=Chernev |year=1995 |title=Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games |location=New York |publisher=Dover |isbn=0-486-28674-6 |pages=76–91}}
* {{cite book |author=Gallagher, Joe |title=The Magic of Mikhail Tal |publisher=[[Everyman Chess]] |year=2001 |isbn=1-85744-266-0 |author-link=Joseph Gallagher}} This covers Tal's career post 1975, and can therefore be seen as a sort of sequel to Tal's own autobiography and games collection, which covers his career up to that point.
* {{Cite book |author=Kirillov, Valentin |year=2017 |title=Team Tal: An Inside Story |location=Moscow |publisher=Elk and Ruby Publishing House |isbn=978-5-950-04330-7}}
* {{Cite book |author=Landau, Sally |year=2019 |title=Checkmate! The Love Story of Mikhail Tal and Sally Landau |location=Moscow |publisher=Elk and Ruby Publishing House |isbn=978-5-604-17696-2}}
* {{cite book |editor=Winter, Edward G. |title=World chess champions |publisher=Pergamon |year=1981 |isbn=0-08-024094-1}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category-inline|Mikhail Tal}}
* {{Chessgames player|14380|Mikhail Tal}}
* {{OlimpBase FIDE ratings|Tal,%20Mikhail%20N.|Mikhail N. Tal}}
* [http://www.chess.com/news/garry-kasparov-talks-about-mikhail-tal-and-soviet-chess-history-1340 Kasparov interview about Tal]

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title= [[World chess champion|World Chess Champion]]|years= 1960–61}} 
{{s-aft|after= [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]}}
{{s-bef|before= —}} 
{{s-ttl|title= [[Blitz chess|World Blitz Chess Champion]]|years= 1988}} 
{{s-aft|after= [[Viswanathan Anand]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{World Chess Championships}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tal, Mikhail}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess players from Riga]]
[[Category:World chess champions]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:Latvian chess players]]
[[Category:Soviet chess players]]
[[Category:Jewish chess players]]
[[Category:Soviet Jews]]
[[Category:Latvian Jews]]
[[Category:Latvian people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Russian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:People of Latvian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Latvian chess writers]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure]]
[[Category:University of Latvia alumni]]