INTRODUCING MIKHAIL TAL

Mikhail Tal, born in 1936 in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is one of the historically most popular chess players from a stylistic perspective—he was the modern Paul Morphy: uncompromising chess, attacking, striving for the initiative...and he lived his life as he played the game.

Tal learned how to play chess at 8 and attended, as did many other future top Soviet players, a "Pioneer Palace." These were essentially chess clubs/training centers for promising junior chessplayers, and they were set up all over the Soviet Union. It may be said that the Pioneer Palaces were the root of the Soviet chess dominance that exists to this day (though there is no longer a Soviet Union, Russia, Ukraine, etc. are constantly churning out chess mega-stars).

At the Pioneer Palace, Tal did not show a great deal of promise, but worked hard to improve, being trained by Alexander Koblentz (who remained his trainer even in his World Championship days). In hindsight it is clear that Tal had different ideas about how chess should be played, and was still in the process of "finding himself" and making it all work while in eary adolescence.

In 1953 Tal became Latvian Champion, not a bad achievement, good enough for the Candidate Master title (this would probaby be equivalent to a player of about 2100-2200 strength today).

In 1956 Tal qualified for the Soviet Championship, finishing in a tie for 5th place. For a person without international experience, this was an enormous accomplishment. Could he do better in the future? He could: Mikhail Tal won the Soviet Championship in 1957 at 20 years old ahead of a long list of legendary chess figures. This achievement cannot be overstated: the Soviet Championship (and today the Russian Championship) is by a good margin the toughest in the world to win.

FIDE, the International Chess Federation, took an unprecedented step because of this achievement: Tal, by virtue of becoming Soviet Champion, was awarded the title of International Grandmaster, even though he had not competed in enough international events. Undoubtedly, anyone who wins the Soviet Championship is Grandmaster strength, and a strong Grandmaster at that.

Tal defended his title in 1958, and then won the Interzonal in Potoroz, the first step to becoming THE CHAMPION. The top 6 finishers qualified for the 1959 Candidates Tournament in Yugoslavia, plus the top two finishers in the previous Candidates Tournament, including Smyslov who had lost the World Championship match to Botvinnik. In the 28-round Candidates Tournament everyone would play four games agains the other competitors. Tal won the event with 20/28, a margin of 1.5 points and, most notably, defeated Bobby Fischer 4-0 in their encounters.

This gave Tal the right to face Mikahil Botvinnik in the 1960 World Championship Match. Shunning the "rules" of how modern chess "should" be played, Tal defeated Botvinnik 12.5-8.5 in a match that was as much about chess ideology as it was about chess. The 23-year old became the 8th and youngest World Champion ever.

Right after becoming Champion, Tal began to suffer from the health problems that would plague him for the remainder of his life. He was constantly hospitalized, even in 1961 when the return match against Botvinnik was scheduled. Instead of postponing the match, Tal played anyway, but lost by 5 points. Tal made no excuses, though his chronic kidney ailments were very real.

Tal was automatically seeded into the 1962 Candidates Tournament at Curacao, but was forced to withdraw to be hospitalized for kidney problems. In the 1965 Candidates matches, it is said that he suffered several heart attacks.

Tal continued to play top-level chess, but never again challenged for the Title. He won numerous international events, won five Interzonal Tournaments, and six Soviet Championships (the last in 1978). Tal was a chain-smoker and heavy drinker, and this very likely contributed to his health problems. Tal died in 1992 at the age of 54.

Tal loved the game of chess and was known to play blitz for hours on end. He loved meeting and talking with spectators, an extremely popular figure.

To see Mikhail Tal's biography on Wikipedia, click here.

To see Mikhail Tal's games on ChessGames.com, click here.