Mikhail Tal had 3 fingers

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Streptomicin

I just recently found out that Tal had the congenital deformity of ectrodactyly in his right hand or “Lobster-Claw Syndrome”. That is, he had only 3 fingers on his right hand.

Does anyone else know of any other "landmarks" about famous GM's?

wujek_dziadek

yes, he had something like this ;)

bigmac26

GM Danny Gormally (England) suffers from depression and punched GM Aronian in the face, cos aronian danced with Arianne Caoili and Gormally fancies her...^_^ proffesionals...

goldendog

Supposedly Tal's deformity was symmetrical and his right foot was the same.

chry3841

wow really????

Streptomicin

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/TalVisitByFischer.jpg

Sigmoid_Flexure

Ectrodactyly means "monster fingers", so even scientists are insensitive? Apparently he had no problem handling the pieces! We have a friend with both hands affected, no big deal.

goldendog

The boy I sat next to in 6th grade had 3 normal fingers and a thumb on his right hand. It was hard to notice. This was before the "high five" era.

Sigmoid_Flexure

My favorite Tal quote: "You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."

Streptomicin

Someone described Tal, as wrestler which you throw, and beat, and strangle and after only one moment, one move, he is on top of you, and wining.

I have game that perfectly illustrate that statement, but I will need to look for it when I'm home.

camberfoil

Despite this, I hear he played the piano like a boss.

Phantom_Beast23

wow I never knew this 

chamo2074

he has 5 but they are mixed up which makes them look like 3

JamieDelarosa

Emanuel Lasker reportedly could smoke a cigar through his penile meatus :-o

JamieDelarosa

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-the-most-attacking-chess-player-in-the-world-Mikhail-Tal-had-3-fingers-in-his-right-hand

JamieDelarosa

Proof positive!

abelsmen
Streptomicin wrote:

I just recently found out that Tal had the congenital deformity of ectrodactyly in his right hand or “Lobster-Claw Syndrome”. That is, he had only 3 fingers on his right hand.

Does anyone else know of any other "landmarks" about famous GM's?

 

As far as I know Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch the German Grandmaster had a club foot. Thankfully in both cases they were relatively mild disabilities.

 

abelsmen

As far as I know Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch the German grandmaster had a club foot. Thankfully in each case they were relatively mild disabilities. 

snoozyman
And he was a great piano player too
JamieDelarosa

Is it true Tal had a cameo role in the Tom Cruise's 2005 "War of the Worlds"?

theringwow01-421x500.jpg