Mikhail Tal, the eighth world chess champion, remains one of the most recognisable figures in the royal game's history. Born in Riga on 9 November 1936, the grandmaster became known for a style based on initiative, tactical imagination and a willingness to enter unclear positions. His games often featured sacrifices that were difficult to calculate fully, but which created practical problems his opponents could not solve at the board.
Tal became world champion in 1960, when he defeated Mikhail Botvinnik, and held the title for one year before losing the return match. His period at the top was short, but his influence on the game was lasting. Nicknamed "Misha" and "the Magician from Riga", Tal is still associated with some of the most memorable attacking games ever played. He died in Moscow on 28 June 1992, thirty-four years ago today.
Mikhail Tal in 1988 | Photo: Rob Croes / Anefo
Master Class Vol. 2: Mihail Tal presents the former world champion through a series of video lessons devoted to different aspects of his chess. Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller examine Tal's openings, strategic understanding, endgame technique and tactical play. The course is built not only around Tal’s famous combinations, but also around the broader qualities that allowed him to remain one of the strongest players in the world after losing the title.
The FritzTrainer also places Tal's career in context. It recalls his victory over Botvinnik in 1960, his defeat in the return match a year later, his six USSR Championship titles, his team gold medals with the Soviet Union at eight Chess Olympiads and his victory at the 1988 World Blitz Championship. It also notes his unbeaten run of 93 consecutive games in 1973-74, a record that underlines the practical strength behind his reputation as a purely tactical player. The video course includes all Tal's games, many of them annotated, as well as comments, tournament tables and interactive tests.
One of the examples analysed by endgame specialist Karsten Müller comes from Tal's 1966 game against Antonio Medina in Palma de Mallorca. Tal reached an endgame with queen and knight against queen and bishop, and converted it with precision. Müller highlights the importance of the queen-and-knight tandem in this case, noting that he does not agree that this duo is always stronger than queen-and-bishop. The presence of Black's advanced pawn on h3 is crucial in the setup.
The key final idea was 38...Ne3!, a great-looking move that showed Tal's ability to find forcing resources even outside the middlegame.
White cannot stop the promotion of the h-pawn!
Another section looks at Tal's 1979 game against Boris Spassky in Montreal. In that encounter, Tal took advantage of a positional error by his opponent. Spassky's 17.Qa5? placed the queen away from the main area of play, allowing Black to soon begin a direct attack, with the main idea of sacrificing his bishop on h2.
From that moment, Tal coordinated his pieces against the white king with characteristic energy, starting with 17...Ne5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Nc4 Rd5!
IM Oliver Reeh's analysis also points to a striking variation that did not appear in the game. The move 22...Bxg2!! introduces a tactical sequence of the kind naturally associated with Tal, and Reeh suggests that it is the sort of resource Tal was likely to have seen in his calculations.
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