Mikhail Tal: Difference between revisions

'''Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal'''{{efn|{{lang-langx|lv|Mihails Tāls}}; {{lang-rus|Михаил Нехемьевич Таль|Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal|mʲɪxɐˈil nʲɪˈxʲemʲɪvʲɪtɕ ˈtalʲ|links=yes}}; sometimes transliterated '''Mihails Tals''' or '''Mihail Tal'''.}} (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>

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]], [[French Third Republic]], 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}}

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 strivedstrove 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}}

In 1960, at the age of 23, Tal defeated the strategically-minded{{fact|date=December 2023}} [[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).

Naturally artistic, witty and impulsive, Tal led a [[Bohemianism|bohemian life]] of chess playing, [[Alcoholism|heavy drinking]] and [[chain smoking]]. 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> Tal also drank heavily before tournaments; in a tournament in the Netherlands, Tal and another Soviet grandmaster were tied in the standings, and the results of the next day's final round would determine the victor. The night before these games, the two drank together until four in the morning. Tal was ready to play at 8.:30 a.m. and won his game decisively, taking first prize.<ref name="Independent Obituary" />

*{{flagicon|RUSSoviet Union}} [[Anatoly Karpov]]: +0−1=19

*{{flagicon|RUSSoviet Union}} [[Garry Kasparov]]: +1−2=9

*{{flagicon|ESTSoviet Union}} [[Paul Keres]]: +4−8=20

[[Category:SportspeopleChess players from Riga]]

[[Category:RussianSoviet Jews]]