Chess QuoteMasters #4: GM Mikhail Tal
Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine. (Rudolph Spielmann)
Clearly, the Magician from Riga got that middle part down pat! Amusingly, Botvinnik scolded Tal for his poor study habits (not sure what that implies for us non-titled types). Meanwhile, Tal specifically pointed to Capablanca as the endgame genius for others to emulate. But did Tal point to the great players of the Romantic era to learn how to play the middle game? Nope! Here's what he had to say on that topic: "For pleasure you can read the games collections of Andersson and Chigorin, but for benefit you should study Tarrasch, Keres and Bronstein." (Quotes About Learning Chess)
Questions for the Reader to Ponder
Why QM Mikhail Tal Ended at #4
Reminder About Those "Questions for the Reader"
Why a QM HoF? Well, you can find multiple sites that list plenty of chess quotes. Some even let you find quotes by a specific individual or a chess category (e.g., Chess Quotes - Wisdom and Interest).
Heck, you might even have an opinion on the greatest chess quote! Certainly, it wouldn't surprise anyone if you have a favorite quote. For many of us there's some quote that has stuck with us through thick and thin, like a jingle we can't shake out of our head. Can anyone get "Castle early and often" out of their head, no matter how often that turns out to be untrue? Or you may have switched your allegiance to some other quote over the weeks, months, years, or decades of your chess experience.
But have you ever spent some time speculating about who produced the best chess quotes and in the greatest quantity? Hey, it's no problem if you haven't considered the issue! I'm more than willing to fill that particular void in your thoughts with my opinions!!
What makes my opinions better than yours? Well, my opinion is informed by decades of chess and a (slowly shrinking) chess library that still occupies multiple shelves in my library [at the same time, my electronic chess library grows weekly and far more rapidly]. Primarily, though, I'm the one who took the time to put some thought into this sorely overlooked aspect of chess history, a Top Ten ranking of the greatest Chess QuoteMasters (QMs) of all time. NOTE: I'll offer a bevy of quotes by numbers 11 – 23 at a later date.
Still, it's just a set of my opinions. Besides, if you don't fully agree with my judgments, though I can hardly imagine such a contrary, confused, and contumacious state of mind, then chess.com generously provided a comments section so you can express your agreements, disagreements, quibbles, corrections, expansions, nominations, and questions. Some of which I will respond to!
Next, we quickly review the candidates.
The candidates, in alphabetical order starting from the top left corner, are Alekhine, Bronstein, Capablanca, Dvoretsky, Fischer, Kasparov, Kotov, Lakdawala, Emanuel Lasker, Mednis, Nimzowitsch, Nunn, Pachman, Romanovsky, Seirawan, Silman, Soltis, Spielmann, Steinitz, Tal, Tarrasch, Tartakower, and Znosko-Borovsky.
No, you can't add anyone. All the selecting has already been done, and that's that, so it's too late to nominate anyone else. And the choices for #1 to #10 are also locked in the electrons orbiting inside my computer. So there!
You may have noted there are more than ten candidates, twenty-three in point of fact! Well, of course there are! Otherwise, you could start making some incredibly well-informed guesses after the first five were announced. Now there's at least an attempt to shroud the results in a bit of mystery as we count down to numbers four, three, two, and one!
Thought I'd prompt you up front on some of the questions you might want to ponder while reading, and before commenting on the blog at the end.
| Based on the quotes you're about to read, already read for other QMs, or simply your ill-advised, preconceived notions, was Tal a good choice for the number four spot? |
| Who do you think will take the number 3 spot? Nobody chose wisely for numbers five through ten! But one person, @PokeGirl93, nailed it for this QM HoF entrant, #4 Mikhail Tal! |
| Who do you think will take the number one spot? |
Some Q&As from earlier blogs in this series.
| Question | Current Votes (last updated: 07192025: 5:32 PM EST) |
| Who do you think was left out? | Philidor (1), Morphy (1), Giri (1), Grischuk (1), Rozman (1), Tony Miles (1) |
| Who do you think won't make the QM Top Ten at all? | Capablanca (1), @DocSimoo's Grandma (1), Alekhine (1), Lakdawala (1), Znosko-Borovsky (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number ten spot? |
Bronstein (1), Nimzowitsch (1), Spassky (1), Tarrasch (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number nine spot? | Pachman (1), Lasker (1), Steinitz (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number eight spot? | Lasker (1), Nimzowitsch (1), Steinitz (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number seven spot? | Lasker (1), Lakdawala (1), Tartakower (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number six spot? | Lasker (1), Lakdawala (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number five spot? | Lasker (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number four spot? | Tal (1) 👍🏻Congrats to @PokeGirl93, Lasker (1) |
| Who did people think would take the number one spot? | Nimzowitsch (2), Fischer (½*), Tal (½*), Tarrasch (1)***,
Kasparov (1), |
* @DocSimoo split their vote for #1 between Fischer and Tal. Oops, after seeing QMs four and five that guess is crossed and tossed.
** It's clear we have a Lasker fan, but I won't mention the kiwi girl's name. She never specified which of the three Laskers she meant, but Berthold and Edward aren't among the nominees, so I'll assume she meant Emanuel, the former World CC and noted scribe. [She has since informed me that she definitely meant Emanuel.🙂]
*** Our participating titled player got convinced by a friend of theirs to change their vote for #1 from Nimzo to Tarrasch.
#15 chess.com Hall of Fame: Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal, aka Misha or The Magician from Riga, (9 Nov 1936) was a Soviet and Latvian GM known for brilliancies, even if it took decades for the computers to put a stamp of approval on some of his combinations! Vladislav Zubok said of him, "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem" The eighth World CC had a peak rating of 2705 in 1980, though that was well after his best playing years. ChessMetrics places his peak rating at 2799 in September 1960, #1 globally, and well before FIDE instituted a rating system.
For 44 years, 1974 – 2018, Tal held the longest unbeaten streak in chess history at 95 games. More amazing was his winning 46 of those games, a truly majestic winning percentage of almost 50%.
What others had to say about Tal (all quotes found at Chess Quotes by Mikhail Tal):
... Tal accepted absolutely all the world champion's conditions with a smile, taking away a very important psychological trump card from him - the harsh, prickly relations with his opponent that were characteristic of all Botvinnik's matches. - Genna Sosonko
Tal didn't try to take refuge in the past and, caring little about the future, tried to extract as much pleasure as possible from the present. He simply lived, not thinking about what people would say, think or write about him. - Gennadi Sosonko
The ex-world champion has often commented that he regularly watches the chess lessons on TV meant for lower rated players. His idea is that the repetition of the elements can never do any harm, but rather polishes up the grandmaster's thoughts. - Alexander Kotov
It only became clear after a careful analysis that his opponent's mistakes were caused by the extreme variety and difficulty of the problems that Tal set them. - Mark Dvoretsky
I personally never stood out amongst my contemporaries, because I always had to progress by hard work. Tal, on the other hand, there is an example of someone who did not have to work at it. - Mikhail Botvinnik
We are all, in a sense, Tal's children; I grew up on his games and in my childhood I played in such a style. - Vladimir Kramnik
Tal doesn't move the pieces by hand, he uses a magic wand. - Viacheslav Ragozin
Misha was also a phenomenal writer. No surprise given his Literature degree and his time spent teaching in Riga in his early 20s. I particularly relish that his thesis was on two Soviet satirical writers from the 1920s and 1930s, Ilf and Petrov. Satirists are a rare breed and some of that inevitably comes through in various Tal publications, particularly in his autobiography where he brought in Chukovsky’s famous couplet, “Oh, what a difficult job it was. To drag out of the marsh the hippopotamus.” A crane? A team of horses? Drain the swamp? These are not the difficult problems you should be solving at the board!!
Two of Tal’s most renowned books were The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal and Tal-Botvinnik 1960. For all bloggers out there, one of the reasons Tal’s writings were so renowned was the detailed narrative of his thinking during the games. Well, that and a superb education combined with lots of writing practice.
What others had to say about The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal:
His ability to infuse game analysis with personal experiences and emotions offers a rare and intimate perspective on both his life and the game of chess. His narrative was able to capture the essence of his dynamic playing style. 40 Best Chess Books [Your Ultimate Guide to Chess Mastery]
For chess enthusiasts and casual readers alike, this book is a must-read for its inspiration and tactical brilliance. It educates about the game and celebrates the creative and daring spirit of one of its greatest players. [Ibid]
...highlights Tal’s bold and creative chess style, encouraging readers to be innovative in chess and life. [Ibid]
It’s text-heavy and has limited diagrams, making it harder to follow the chess moves. [Ibid]
Okay, let's get to the heart of the matter, the ten quotes allowed to each candidate for the QM Top Ten.
You'll observe Quote #1 in the image above. As I explained in the Criteria, it's important to me to be able to visualize at least one quote.
Moving on to the remaining nine quotes. I could have created images for several of these, but the ample goal for each of the QMs will simply be to demonstrate that one of their quotes was readily converted to an image that resonates.
Some of Tal’s most famous quotes were:
There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine. Chess Quotes - Sacrifices
Just as one's imagination is stirred by a girl's smile, so is one's imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess. Mikhail Tal Quotes About Chess | A-Z Quotes
I will not hide the fact that I love to hear the spectators react after a sacrifice of a piece or pawn. I don't think that there is anything bad in such a feeling; no artist or musician is indifferent to the reactions of the public. Chess Quotes - Sacrifices
As long as my opponent has not yet castled, on each move I seek a pretext for an offensive. Even when I realize that the king is not in danger. Chess Quotes - Strategy
In my games I have sometimes found a combination intuitively simply feeling that it must be there. Yet I was not able to translate my thought processes into normal human language. Chess Quotes - Combinations
I'd like to always be romantic in chess. Sadly, this doesn't always work like that. Mikhail Tal Quotes About Chess | A-Z Quotes
It's funny, but many people don't understand why I draw so many games nowadays. They think my style must have changed but this is not the case at all. The answer to this drawing disease is that my favorite squares are e6, f7, g7 and h7 and everyone now knows this. They protect these squares not once but four times! TOP 25 QUOTES BY MIKHAIL TAL | A-Z Quotes
I prefer to make my annotations ‘hot on the heels’, as it were, when the fortunes of battle, the worries, hopes and disappointments are still sufficiently fresh in my mind. 40 Best Chess Books [Your Ultimate Guide to Chess Mastery]
Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent. Mikhail Tal Quotes About Chess | A-Z Quotes
I would hope some sharp-eyed critic out there would ask this critical question: What criteria did I use to determine who made the QM Top Ten List and who didn't? You asked for it, you got it! Right here, and right now.
| #1 | Gut feel. Darned if what they said doesn't resonate somewhere in my chess soul. |
| #2 | Must have ten quotable quotes that I could find without too much painful research on my part. |
| #3 | It must have been written or translated into English. I leave it to others to manage their linguistic chess QMs. |
| #4 | If it's a full paragraph...it isn't a quote. |
| #5 |
If it made me laugh it's probably a winner. |
| #6 | If it made me laugh and cry it's almost definitely a winner. |
| #7 | If it seemed glaringly obvious, I tried to consider when it was said. Sometimes that works, sometimes...not. |
| #8 | Can I visualize at least one quote? Can I create a picture that captures the essence of a quote? |
For each QM, I will be adding my take on why QM #9 was better than QM #10, and #8 was better than #9, and so forth, with every post. That's found at Why the Magician from Riga Earned the #4 Spot.
There might be a quote shootout, with five to ten additional quotes, if two QM candidates are evenly matched after their first ten quotes. This is unlike the 2024 World Blitz CC, and more like a golf tournament with a sudden death playoff. There can be no ties, but if it comes down to a coin flip, a spin of the roulette wheel, a random dart toss, or a roll of the dice to decide, so be it. Ultimately, I wield the scythe that separates and slots the candidates.
Tiebreaks will usually occur behind the scenes. I even considered posting the quotes from #1 and #2 simultaneously and deciding the winner based on a reader's poll. Not gonna.
Are there any flaws in your approach?
Away with thee!!
Sigh, of course there are. For instance, for most of the potential QMs I relied on quotes easily found in the wild, sayings that were gyrating around the meme-verse, t-shirts, and on the lips of players and coaches everywhere and everywhen. However, some of these folks wrote very quotable material, but for some reason their quotes have not spread broadly across the chess echosystem. ("Echosystem" is my second-newest contribution to the Urban Dictionary: Hello KevinSmithIdiot; echoverse is my most recent entry, comprising a system of echosystems.)
Okay, what's your point? You did a lot of research, so what?
In my circular way of getting to the point, I found that I turned up a lot of very quotable material going through a book for those whose sayings did not yet appear widely across the chess quote echosystem. I harbor hope these twelve posts will alleviate some of that lack of respect for people who are eminently quotable.
Still, the process left me to ponder whether an in-depth look into only some candidate's published works was an injustice to those who had plenty of quotes already bouncing around the echoverse. Bottom line, I chose not to do a page-by-page review of every candidate's works. One, I don't have books by all of them. Two, I don't have an infinite amount of time and energy.
To double down, I'm not going change my approach. As a character said in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, "So it goes."
Why? Because I said so, and in saying so imposed my will over the board.
Two World CCs in a row?! Is this the beginning of a trend amongst the QMs? Only this blogger knows! Well, me and the people who read this series for the first time only after it's complete.
But the question I must answer to be consistent (even though Emerson wrote that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.") is why Tal enters the QM HoF at a higher position than Fischer. Will it suffice to say that Tal had a degree in Literature and actually taught the topic for several years? Sigh, I suspected not.
Okay, despite my contention that logic is how we rationalize decisions already made, I'll press ahead with some "reasoning", which is like seasoning in that it should add flavor that covers up any flaws in an otherwise brilliant masterpiece of baking. (Heaven forfend that I should cook the books, but there are limits to my ability to persuade with my opinions, however noble my inspiration.)
So, why was Tal better than Fischer, imo? In general, it was the range and depth of emotion and game context. That offers one differentiator because they shared some similar insights. For instance, Fischer came to realize that he could win with Black, while Tal realized that in a game where a decisive result is likely, his opponent was at least as worried as Tal! In some sense, that captures the essence of the difference between the two. Tal understood the role that psychology played in the game, while Bobby didn't believe in it. That said, what's my bottom line? Okay, my two cents worth. Tal understood the romance of the game that attracts all of us to the game in the first place. I'm not sure Bobby did. That difference alone makes Tal's quotes more meaningful.
Reminder About Reader Questions
Many of these questions will change with every entry in the QM Top Ten posts. But that seems kind of obvious.🤣
| Do you think Tal was a good choice for the number #4 spot? Enthusiastics "YES!!" responses will be received with applause. |
| Who do you think will take the number #3 spot? Can you be the second person to correctly link a name to a position in the HoF? |
| Who do you think will take the number one spot? Lots of choices left...take your best shot. |
I considered letting people cast early votes for #2 but decided that was asking too much of a mostly unresponsive viewership.
In the table below I'll track responses.
| Question | Your Votes (Time: 0557, Date: 27 Oct 2025) |
| 1 | Yes (2), No (#), Maybe (#), huh? (#) |
| 2 | Lasker (2), Dvoretsky (1) |
| 3 | Nimzowitsch (2), Znosko-Borovsky (1) |
Short, sweet, surely spellbinding! Well, that's the goal. Ultimately, if someone besides me reads these, I'll consider the success box checked. [I'm also waiting for the first person to let me know which blog in the series used a different word in the first sentence of this paragraph.😉😎]
If you enjoyed this, please come back to see who was ranked #3 all the way through #1...and then a special edition with quotes from all the QMs, including those who didn't make my Top Ten, but about whom you might have your own opinions on where they should have fallen.
Cheers!
Kevin
I believe in magic ... There is magic in the creative faculty such as great poets and philosophers conspicuously possess, and equally in the creative chessmaster – Emanuel Lasker Quotes About Learning Chess
A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror – Wilhelm Steinitz [Chess Amateur, March 1913, p. 176 -177]
Chess is the gymnasium of the mind – Blaise Pascal (purportedly)
Prior Blogs in the Quote Master Series
ANNOUNCMENT! The Top Ten Chess Quotemasters (QMs)
Chess QuoteMaster #10: GM Andrew Soltis
Chess QuoteMaster #9: GM Rudolf Spielmann
Chess QuoteMaster #8: GM Garry Kasparov
Chess QuoteMasters #7: GM David Bronstein
Chess QuoteMasters #6: IM Jeremy Silman
