“If playing chess were made illegal by law, I would become an outlaw”…such was Mikhail Tal’s passion for chess. Weaver of a fairytale on board, Tal’s moves were bedazzling, magnificent, and full of the most incredible complications and sacrifices. Referred to as a sorcerer, calculating Machine and the Magician of Riga, Mikhail Tal, the 8th World Chess Champion, kept up to his stature by machinating fantastic combinations in the most lucid positions, finding a sacrifice in situations where nobody could think of doing so. His unparallel imagination marveled the era and chess fanatics across the globe. A complex situation was part fun and rest challenge for this enigmatic genius. His attacks were ruthless which looked like sheer madness and evidence of his supreme intuition. “If Tal had really studied Chess in the late fifties and early sixties he would have been impossible to play against” Botvinnik along with many renowned chess players have acclaimed Tal’s ability to figure out complex variations.

Mikhail Tal was born as Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal in the year 1936 on 9th November in Riga, Latvia. His father, who was a doctor, introduced him to the exciting world of chess It was in his father’s waiting room that Tal witnessed a game of chess for the first time in his life. It was sometime thereafter that he joined ‘Riga Palace of Young Pioneers chess club’. Tal’s teenage was spent learning the proper moves of chess on which he started innovating later on. Alexander Koblents, the renowned chess player started tutoring Mikhail in the year 1949. It was in the year 1951 that Tal qualified for the Latvian Championship and it was in the year 1953 that he won his first Latvian title. By 1954 he became the ‘Soviet Master’ by beating Vladimir Saigin.

“Chess, first of all, is Art.”…true to his every word; Tal’s style was unique from others. His moves were like innovative brush strokes, a blend of intuitive sacrifices and merciless aggression. He created puzzles on board which many masters couldn’t solve.

Mikhail Tal was student of literature at the University of Riga. He graduated writing a thesis on the work of Petrov and Ilf. He also worked a teacher for sometime at school in Riga. He was a member of some renowned organization namely Daugava Sports Society and represented Latvia in internal Soviet team competitions. Much of his life, he suffered from bad health conditions as he had serious kidney problems and he had to be hospitalized several times throughout his life. Poor health condition couldn’t prevent him from chasing his passion, even if it was at the cost of eloping to the local chess club from the hospital. The last thing he ever spoke about, before his operation, was chess. Tal was a heavy smoker and a drinker as well and was also reported to be addicted to Morphine. He died of kidney failure in the year 1992, 28th June in a hospital in Moscow.

Tal’s talents were extensive…he was an author to several chess journals and books. His book on his World Championship Match against Botvinnik is regarded as “…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…” by the American Grandmaster Andrew Soltis. He was also an editor for a magazine in Riga known by the name of ‘Sahs’ that is ‘Chess’.

The Saga Begins…

It was in the year 1956 that Tal qualified for the USSR Chess Championship final. He won it in the following year 1957 at the age of 20 and he was the youngest of all to do so. FIDE awarded him the title of Grandmaster in spite of him not playing many international tournaments, waiving off the normal restrictions because of his achievement in the USSR Chess Championship. He won three gold medals at the Student Olympiads for three appearances that he made from 1956 to 1958. He kept the title of Soviet Championship to himself for the following year and participated in the World Chess Championship for the first time.

World Chess Championship:

Mikhail Tal was 23 years old when he won the title of World Chess Championship. It was in the year 1960 that Tal defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in Moscow in the WCC with a score of 12.5–8.5. He was the youngest ever World Champion till Kasparov won it at the age of 22. However, Tal lost the title to Botvinnik in the year 1961 pertaining to his deteriorating health conditions and Botvinnik strong spells. Tal’s highest Elo rating was 2705, which was achieved in the year 1980.