Is Mikhail Tal the greatest Internet blitz player of all time?

Nowadays most people seem to think that title is between Carlsen and Nakamura, who recently met in the final of the chess.com GM Blitz Championship. And while these two are no doubt legends in Internet blitz, I think it is easy to get caught up in the hype and forget just how amazing the legends of the past were. Mikhail Tal is one of those names that has been unjustly set aside in the Carlsen vs. Nakamura conversation. People seem to be forgetting how dominant he was in his prime, when his incisive attacks and wild sacrifices struck fear into the hearts of all of his opponents. There was simply no way for anyone in the world to respond to his moves under short time controls. For me, he will always be the greatest Internet blitz player of all time.

So, what are other peoples' thoughts on the issue? Do you agree with my assessment of Mikhail Tal? Do you agree with the prevailing opinion that Carlsen or Nakamura is the greatest Internet blitz player in history? Or do you think that title belongs to someone else? Share your thoughts below!

I thought you said all GM's were cheats and didn't deserve to be recognized?

Tal only considered himself a GA or Grand Amateur.

Some people claim he wasn't as good at Internet blitz as you think. But they're just unbelievers. Good old GM Mikhail_Tal_0023 will always be a fan favourite when talking about Internet blitz, and for obvious reasons.

Yeah - and it's not just the fans who appreciate him. Boris Spassky used to call him "the F1 racer of chess," and I couldn't agree more with that assessment.

Mikhael Nekhemovich Tal , for me no one compares to him in chess

Of course. Tal would be the WC if he was in his 30s today.

Agreed

I don't know about that. Remember, Tal crushed Petrosian 10-2 in their famous 1/0 match. He had a huge positive record in online blitz and bullet against just about any top GM of his day. Fischer was not a bad blitz player, but his achievements in online chess don't match the scale of Tal's.

Some GM could say Tal was a patzer, according to the records:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tal#Score_with_some_major_grandmasters

Score with some major grandmasters[edit]

Only official tournament or match games have been taken into account. '+' corresponds to Tal's wins, '−' to his losses and '=' to draws.

1+

"Some GM could say Tal was a patzer, according to the records"

Only a patzer could have scored such results against Karpov and Kasparov a few decades after his peak, I mean, 4 losses in 35 games is rather embarrassing...

In this game Tal played like a patzer and lost for an unknown player.

Come on, the "GREAT" chess player lost in only 25 moves:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139272

Another patzer-like loss for Tal - only 24 moves.

I think I could beat him easily, playing with white pieces - my famous Brain Fry Attack could smash him.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1760342

Only 19 moves and another unknown chess player crushed Tal.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139208

This is the GREAT MASTER who humiliated Tal in only 19 moves:

Zigurds Pigits 
Number of games in database: 1
Years covered: 1953

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Zigurds Pigits
Search Google for Zigurds Pigits 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=45382

You missed this one:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139143

Yes, there are tons of games that indicates Tal was a patzer, with lucky, then some of his "great sacrifices" worked in some games and made him famous.

But he had only lucky.

Are you guys serious? Tal is definitely better than Fischer, who didn't even know what the internet was. TERRIBLE

Stop trolling, the only comments that are actually normal are marco's and macers. Even this comment is the worst.

true... your famous Brain Fry Attack to brutal... especially on a flat Earth... what GM can prove you wrong??