Books by Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal, the 'magician from Riga,' was the greatest attacking World Champion of them all, and this enchanting autobiography chronicles his extraordinary career with charm and humor. Dazzling games are interspersed throughout with anecdotes and witty self-interviews, and in typically objective fashion he related both the downs and ups of his encounters. An inveterate smoker and drinker, Tal's life on the circuit was punctuated by bouts in the hospital with kidney problems, but nothing could dull his love for chess and his sheer genius on the chessboard. His illustrious tournament record, up to his death in 1992, is included here in full, along with 100 complete games and nearly as many positions. Tal's annotations in this book are a world apart from ordinary games collections. No reader could fail to be swept along by his passion and vitality as he sets the scene for an encounter and then recounts every psychological twist and turn.

The legendary Mikhail Tal was the finest ever exponent of attacking chess. His all-out sacrificial style took him all the way to the World Championship title. Dogged by ill-health, Tal's reign was a short one, and he was never able to regain his crown, but Tal remained an outstanding player right up to his death in 1992. His departure has taken away one of the chess world's most charismatic figures; a player who excited chess passions wherever he went. In this, his last book, written together with Russian sports journalist Iakov Damsky, Tal shows how to unleash devastating attacks in all kinds of positions.

De tous les champions du monde, Mikhaïl Tal, "le magicien de Riga", fut le plus grand attaquant. Dans cette autobiographie, il retrace sa carrière extraordinaire avec charme et humour.De santé fragile, la vie de Tal sur le circuit échiquéen fut ponctuée par de fréquents séjours à l'hôpital à cause de problèmes rénaux chroniques. Cependant, aucun ennui de santé ne put jamais émousser son amour pour le jeu d'échecs et son génie sur l'échiquier.Tal analyse ses parties captivantes en les jalonnant d'anecdotes qu'il raconte à un interviewer imaginaire. Sans faux-semblants, il évoque les hauts et les bas de ses rencontres contre tous les meilleurs joueurs du monde avec beaucoup d'objectivité.Les annotations de Tal sont particulièrement pénétrantes et le lecteur apprendra beaucoup en écoutant Tal expliquer comment il préparait ses rencontres, puis l'entendre raconter les rebondissements psychologiques durant celles-ci.Ce premier tome contient l'autobiographie de Tal de sa jeunesse jusqu'à sa conquête du titre mondial en 1960. Un second tome contiendra la suite de sa carrière à partir de la perte de son titre.Une oeuvre qui a fait date dans la littérature échiquéenne.