Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) was the eighth World Chess Champion.
John Nunn wrote: “Mikhail Tal was a remarkable man. His brilliant successes in the years leading up to his World Championship victory excited the chess world; his very name became synonymous with brilliance and attacking flair.” [Mikhail Tal, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal (London: Everyman Chess, rpt. 2011), “Editor’s Foreword.”] Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik add that "Tal was a master of attack, and even in positions where anything would have won, he had a tendency to find the most aesthetic road to victory" [Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik, MIkhail Tal Tactical Genius (London: Everyman Chess, 2004), 18.
In reflecting on his approach to chess, Tal wrote in "Knowledge? Intuition? Risk?":
It is impossible to imagine a chess player, even a famous one, who would not be
beset by doubts during a game. Equally, a master with an intuitive style will
not achieve any significant success if he is quite opposed to the calculation
of specific variations or if his intuition is totally fed by what he has read. As
though daring to discover America, I have attempted to formulate a thought,
namely that the main thing to do is to play well, in short to be in form. Then
everything works for you – knowledge is exploited to the full, intuition is
not suppressed and risk is justified…
[Karsten Muller & Raymund Stolze, The Magic Tactics of Mikhail Tal: Learn From the Legend (Alkmaar, The Netherlands: New in Chess, 2012), "Prologue."]
I hope you will enjoy this Crossword on Mikhail Tal.
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On Tal, see:
Mikhail Tal--The Great Endgame Player (Part 1)
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