Mikhail Tal, the "Magician from Riga"

Tal was an attacking genius at the board. His attacks often looked like sheer madness but later analysis would show that his intuition had been correct. Botvinnik is quoted as having said, " I was surprised by his ability to figure out complex variations. Then the way he sets out the game; he was not interested in the objectivity of the position, whether it's better or worse, he only needed room for his pieces. All you do then is figure out variations which are extremely difficult. He was tactically outplaying me and I made mistakes." Said Botvinnik in an implicit admission of the Latvian’s enormous talent, “If Tal would learn to program himself properly, then it would become impossible to play him.” Replied Tal laughingly many years later, “Botvinnik’s right! When he says such things, then he’s right. Usually, I prefer not to study chess but to play it. For me chess is more an art than a science. It’s been said that Alekhine and I played similar chess, except that he studied more. Yes, perhaps, but I have to say that he played, too.”