Life & Games of Mikhail Tal

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest chess books ever written.
Review: I own the original edition of this book got in the 1970s. It's binding is now held together with duct tape, pages are falling out, margins are filled with scribbling... well, you get the point. I used to carry it with me everywhere I went, until I became afraid of losing pages. It was and is my favorite chess book. Tal is a great writer with a wry sense of humor and an incredible imagination. His games are among the most entertaining in the history of chess. Opening this book to any page will reveal something that will amuse, astonish or instruct. It was with great pleasure that I greeted the news that this classic was once again in print. Every chessplayer should own a copy. The new edition from Cadogan (the original was from RHM, now defunct), is in algebraic notation ( I prefer the descriptive in the original edition, but only because my eyesight has worsened, and the descriptive notation was larger ) and Tal's complete tournament and match record is included ( this volume covers his career up to 1975, but he played great chess up until his death in 1992 ). Not much else is different. This book ranks up with the greatest classics of the game (Bobby Fischer's 60 Memorable Games, Alekhine's Best Games of Chess, Timman's The Art of Chess Analysis and Kasparov's Fighting Chess). The re-release of this book around the same time as the publishing of Shirov's "Fire On Board", is the attacking player's dream. It has made my year.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: I should have been suspicious after reading nothing but glowing reviews for this book. Tal and his attacking style are extremely popular which probably accounts for the undeserved attention this book gets. First of all there is no game with a queen sacrifice for a bishop as another reviewer...claims- he must have been reading a different book. Second, the positions do not stand up to computer analysis- either the win was already there and any move would have won (Tal chose the most spectacular continuation), or his opponent's defense was insufficient, as my Chessmaster 6000 program has shown. Its a good book- you get 100 complete games, but the additional 100 game fragments have hardly any explanations. Good book but WAY overhyped. Few chess players will be able to adopt Tal's highly tactical style- he has little control over the entire board as a Jan Timman would, and his games are wild and uncontrolled. Tal's narrative is often difficult to understand- he seems to assume you had a video camera attached to his head as he lead his life. The narrative is totally disjointed. Its a good games collection and nothing more- the tactics are way too deep for the average player- if you are rated over 2100 then perhaps you might learn something, though I doubt it. Amateur players attempting wild combinations based on Tal's style of play will lose many more games than they will win.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing. Simply amazing.
Review: I was a little skeptical when I first picked up this book, seeing how much of it was filled with stories, instead of actual chess analysis. Well, guess what, those worries were put to rest within the first hour. The stories give a look into the thoughts of "the magician from Riga" and are a perfect supplement to the brilliant games that he annotates. Do yourself a favor, and read this book, and immediatly follow it up with Tal-Botvinnik, 1960.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional, inspiring and funny book!
Review: I was surprised and excited to discover Cadogan's reissue of this amazing book - I had been searching for several years for a copy of RHM Press' original version, which is out of print. There are many books about Mikhail Tal, "The Magician", an attacking player from Latvia who conjured up explosive tactics in the most surprising ways. This particular book blows away all the others, though; anyone who thinks chess is boring, or who is burned out as a chess player, should treat himself or herself to Tal. Tal went from a complete unknown (outside the USSR) to World Champion in a few short years. Tal's life, as well as his astonishing games, reminds me that chess is a beautiful and exhilerating hunt where everything is possible! He was also a very impish, funny man and this book's conversational style brings his personality through cleanly. Recently I read an interview with a Senior Master in the US who said beginners should avoid reading Tal because "there's no way you can understand what he's thinking!" Well, I may not understand his thoughts, but I can certainly enjoy his games!!

Rating:
Summary: An all-time classic
Review: I've been a chessplayer for 40 years (best rating was 2250 ELO) and I still enjoy Internet chess. During my chess life I have read dozens of chess books, mostly in openings which are quickly outdated. Not this book. This is a great book by one of the five all-time best chess players (the others being Kasparov, Fischer, Alekhine and Capablanca). It's a book I return very often, simply for enjoying myself. In Chess, beauty does not lie in winning a game, but in the ideas and the conceptions that are required for the battle. Mikhail Tal had it all: an amazing mind, and the free-thinking that illuminates the lifes of lesser mortals. And the book is exceptionally well-written and well commented. I agree with other reviewers: this is probably the best chess book ever written.

Rating:
Summary: An all-time classic
Review: I've been a chessplayer for 40 years (best rating was 2250 ELO) and I still enjoy Internet chess. During my chess life I have read dozens of chess books, mostly in openings which are quickly outdated. Not this book. This is a great book by one of the five all-time best chess players (the others being Kasparov, Fischer, Alekhine and Capablanca). It's a book I return very often, simply for enjoying myself. In Chess, beauty does not lie in winning a game, but in the ideas and the conceptions that are required for the battle. Mikhail Tal had it all: an amazing mind, and the free-thinking that illuminates the lifes of lesser mortals. And the book is exceptionally well-written and well commented. I agree with other reviewers: this is probably the best chess book ever written.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best chess books I have ever read.
Review: Mikhail Tal's entertaining writing is almost comparable to his games and his excellent commentary. It seems that Tal was one of the chess players who had a well rounded personality, besides being a great chessplayer. In his book you can follow the life of the person Tal besides his chess. It can be seen that he is a good natured and warm person. It is a pity that he had to pass away so early. The games are a joy to follow. Recommended without reservation.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy This Book
Review: Mikhail Tal's game collection is one of the best books ever written by a world champion, but I cannot recommend this edition and here's why: Cadogan Books always fall apart! Regardless of the size of the book, I cannot get through a Cadogan book without half the pages falling out. The pages started falling out before page 80 of this 496-page book. Tal is probably the best writer of all the world champions, but do you really want to pay twenty-five bucks or so for a book that falls apart while you're reading it and has little or no resale value? Despite all that, if you don't mind reading your books in pieces, by all means buy this book. For you, I give this book 5 stars. Cadogan has several other great chess books and will surely publish more great ones in the future; but I won't be qualified to review them, because I will NEVER buy another Cadogan book again.

Rating:
Summary: great book!!best for positional play as welll!!!!!
Review: now lets see what u get in this book apart from the promised
100 games.one may turn his back from this book thinking
that "I dont think I want to pay $.24.95 for just 100 games
well in fact u get more than that.
he gives u some unannotated games, a few minigames where half of
the game is already played but he doesnt give u any of the previous moves but a position and then goes about to explain
the moves he played
and if u look deep enough then u will find good exercise for

tactical ideas in his games even though TAL used to sacrifice
on intuition u can see that most of them are positional sacrifices like in one of the starting games he sacrifices his QUEEN for a BISHOP!!! but goes on to win that game because it gives him a great positional advantage where if his opponent goes on to make even one wrong move then he loses the game
in other cases he sacrifes minor pieces so as to weaken his opponents advatage and that is the best way to learn positional
play keeping channels open for tactical possibilities as well
on a whole this is a real good book tactical players will enjoy the sacrifices and tacics while positional players will get a new out look for their play
I read in some the reviews saying that the binding is not so good
taht is not the case I have already reading the whole book and yet I see nothing wrong with my book
maybe they got a defective edition or something like that
but I can promise you that u will like this book for sure and love it more than anything else in this chess world

Rating:
Summary: Great Book on Chess
Review: Tal, the great GM from Latvia introduces us to his life and his game in an interview format which is in its won right creative. Tal give an in-depth analysis of many of his matches and many openings and defences. This is a must read for players to gain a fuller grasp on the game of chess. Tal's fortitude as a player is second to none and his abilities as a plaer are well recorded. I highly recommend this book.