Mikhail Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls; Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, Michail Nechem'evič Tal, [mʲixʌˈiɫ nʲɪˈxɛmʲɪvʲit͡ɕ ˈtal]; sometimes transliterated Mihails Tals or Mihail Tal; November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992)  was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.

He was often called "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and "The magician from Riga" for his daring combinatorial style. Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer; his professional career was that of a chess journalist.

The Mikhail Tal Memorial is held in Moscow each year since 2006 to honour his memory.

He holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history. Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking Grandmaster of all time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tal

Happy birthday :)