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.

One of the greatest books ever written about a world championship match. In 1960 Mikhail Botvinnik was the pillar of "scientific " chess and the ironwilled champion of the world. The young attacking genius Mihail Tal, the "Wizard of Riga," put the magic back into the game by defeating Botvinnik with spectacular tactics in one of the most dramatic and celebrated world championship matches of all time. This is Tal's own classic work on the contest. In it he sets the stage and explains every one of the 21 games, telling both the on- and off-the-board story of this tatanic clash of styles and thought. Take a trip with the Magician from Riga as he invites you to share his thoughts and feelings as he does battle for the world title. "Mikhail Tal's splendid account of his world championship match victory is one of the masterpieces of the golden age of annotation - before insights and feelings and flashes of genius were reduced to mere moves and Informant symbols. This is simply the best book written about a world championship match by a contestant. That shouldn't be a surprise because Tal was the finest writer to become world champion." - From the Foreword by International Grandmaster Andy Soltis

This look at the games of the swashbuckling former World Champion Mikhail Tal. Was he really the Magician from Riga or were his games a well-disguised bluff.

In Mikhail Tal: The Street-Fighting Years, Tal's long-term coach and second Alexander Koblenz takes the reader through the first 12 years of Tal's chess career, from promising junior to world champion in 1960 and encompassing his return world championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1961. This classic book, first published in the Soviet Union in 1963, contains 77 games and fragments annotated by the author who provides ring-side commentary and unique inside knowledge, as well as background information to the games and anecdotes. Five of the games are taken from Tal's 1960 world title match and seven from his 1961 world title match. Aside from Botvinnik, opponents include Bobby Fischer, Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, David Bronstein, Viktor Korchnoi, Paul Keres, Efim Geller, Yuri Averbakh and many other stars of chess during the 1950s and early 1960s. The analysis has been updated using the latest computer technology by International Master Valeri Bronznik. Bronznik delivers a masterclass in modern analysis of classical games while allowing Koblenz full scope to demonstrate how Tal destroyed his opponents with the best attacking chess known at the time. Indeed, Bronznik makes many new and exciting discoveries in Tal's games and this work serves as an instruction manual for playing practical, street-fighting chess. As Alexei Shirov writes in his foreword, "I am very happy that this old but highly instructive book is finally out in English. The old Russian edition has always been a special treasure for me and I truly enjoyed reading it through again."

Each chapter discusses an aspect of Tal's combinational play, provides examples, and then gives the reader an opportunity to attempt to solve puzzles drawn from Tal's games. Tips and solutions are provided.

One of the hardest tasks competitive chess-players face is the development of an opening repertoire suited to their own style of play. In view of the limited time most players have to study, an economic and well designed repertoire is essential, but it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. In this book, translated by Ken Neat, Grandmaster Gufeld makes the job easier by providing an ideal framework for a practical opening repertoire, specifically tailored for those who relish attacking play.