Tal (Thal) Mikhail (Michail) Nekhemyevich Tal (9 November 1936, Riga — 28 June 1992, Moscow) — chess player, international grandmaster (1957), eighth World Chess Champion. Honored Master of Sport of the USSR (1960).
He learned to play chess at the age of 10 and developed his skills in the chess club of the Riga Palace of Pioneers. At 13, he was a member of the Latvian SSR youth team; at 17, he became champion of the republic.
At the USSR Team Championship (1953), he shared 1st–2nd place on board two and earned the right to play a match for the title of Master of Sport, which he won in 1954 against the multiple champion of Belarus, V. Saigin.
In 1955, he took 1st place in the semifinal of the 23rd USSR Championship; in 1956, he debuted in the USSR Championship (5th–7th place). In 1957, he became USSR Champion for the first time. In 1958, he won the FIDE Interzonal tournament (Portorož).
He graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Latvian State University in 1958.
In 1960, Mikhail Tal won the World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik (6:2 excluding draws), becoming the youngest World Champion in chess history at that time. A year later, he lost the return match to Botvinnik (losing 10 games and winning 5).
From 1961 to 1985, he remained one of the main contenders for the world title.
He was a six-time USSR Champion (1957, 1958, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1978), winner of eight Chess Olympiads as part of the USSR team, six-time European Champion, and three-time World Student Team Champion.
He won numerous international tournaments, including Reykjavík (1964), Palma de Mallorca (1967), Wijk aan Zee, Tallinn, and Sochi (all 1973), Montreal (1979), and Moscow (1982). In 1988, he won the unofficial World Blitz Championship.
He served as editor-in-chief of the magazine “Shakhs” (“Chess”) from 1960 to 1970 and authored many articles.
For his achievements, he was awarded the Orders of the Badge of Honour (1960) and Friendship of Peoples (1981).
Tal’s chess style evolved from sharply combinational to a universal approach.
He is buried in Riga.
Works:
“Into the Attack (В огонь атаки)” (Moscow, 1978, co-author)
“When the Pieces Come Alive (Когда оживают фигуры)” (Moscow, 1983)