Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
	Tal in 1962
Full name	Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal
Country	Soviet Union (until 1991); Latvia (1992);
Born	9 November 1936; Riga, Latvia
Died	27 June 1992 (aged 55); Moscow, Russia
Title	Grandmaster (1957)
World Champion	1960–1961
Peak rating	2705 (January 1980)
Peak ranking	No. 2 (January 1980)

Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal^[a] (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992)^[1] was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as one of the most influential players in chess history. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style.^[2]^[3] 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".^[4]

His nickname was "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and he earned the nickname "The Magician from Riga". Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games^[5] and Modern Chess Brilliancies^[6] 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.^[7]^[8] 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.

^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Zubok, V. M. (2011) Zhivago's children: the last Russian intelligentsia, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674062329
^ Clarke, P. H. (1969) Tal's Best Games of Chess, Bell, ISBN 0713502045
^ Zubok, Vladislav. Zhivago's Children. Harvard University Press, 2009. p. 179 ISBN 9780674033443
^ Cite error: The named reference Burgess was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Evans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Soltis, Andrew (2002) Chess Lists Second Edition, 2nd ed., McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina and London, pp. 43–44, ISBN 0786412968.
^ "Official FIDE Ding, Liren (CHN) Individual Calculations full report".

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[died-1] 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.

[3] Zubok, V. M. (2011) Zhivago's children: the last Russian intelligentsia, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0674062329

[4] Clarke, P. H. (1969) Tal's Best Games of Chess, Bell, ISBN 0713502045

[5] Zubok, Vladislav. Zhivago's Children. Harvard University Press, 2009. p. 179 ISBN 9780674033443

[Burgess-6] Cite error: The named reference Burgess was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Evans-7] Cite error: The named reference Evans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Chess_Lists_Second_Edition_2002,_pp._43–44-8] Soltis, Andrew (2002) Chess Lists Second Edition, 2nd ed., McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina and London, pp. 43–44, ISBN 0786412968.

[9] "Official FIDE Ding, Liren (CHN) Individual Calculations full report".

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