Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Latvian: Mihails T?ls, Russian: ?????? ?????????? ????) (November 9 1936 - June 28 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion.

Miscellaneous

Although Tal's playing style was scorned by ex-World Champion Vasily Smyslov as nothing more than "tricks," he convincingly beat every notable grandmaster with his trademark aggression (Viktor Korchnoi and Paul Keres are two of the few with a significant plus record against him). His intuitive sacrifices created vast complications, and many masters found it impossible to solve all the problems he created over the board, though deeper post-game analysis found flaws in some of his conceptions.

Related Topics:
Vasily Smyslov - Viktor Korchnoi - Paul Keres

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Of the current top-level players, the Latvian-born Spaniard Alexei Shirov has probably been most influenced or inspired by Tal's sacrificial style. In fact he studied with Tal as a youth. Many other Latvian grandmasters and masters, for instance Alexander Shabalov and Alvis Vitolins, have played in a similar vein, causing some to speak of a "Latvian School of Chess."

Related Topics:
Alexei Shirov - Alexander Shabalov

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