Mikhail Tal: A Genius that Still Nobody Understands

Perhaps it is unsurprising to you when you learn that you don't really understand the genius that was Tal. Perhaps deep inside you have known it all along. Still, it gives you a sense of inane shock: wasn't he the guy who would attack like nobody else and sac all his minor pieces and then queen and mate his opponent's full army with just 2 rooks? This is the Tal of legend, but the Tal of fact is in fact far more devious and far more dangerous. For you see, the secret will soon be out. The key to chess aggression is tranquility. If you aren't tranquil while you attack, what are you? Tal did not have the entire kit and kaboodle but he had the seed of it. He paradoxically played very conservatively and people mistook it for aggression.

My source?

I was Tal in a past life.

That's funny, I was Petrosian in my past life! 

@YuriSenkevich, Some of them weren't sound, but they were of great practical value. And many of his were, beautifully illustrating beautiful positional themes such as color complexes, space, and piece activity. If a sacrifice is completely sound, can it really be called a sacrifice?

"There are two types of sacrifices: Sound ones and mine" - Mikhail Tal.

"You must lead your opponent into a dark forest, where 2 + 2 = 5 and the path out is only broad enough for one of you" - Mikhail Tal.

I'm a great fan of his. I recently read Lakdawala's book on Tal (Tal: Move by Move) and was a bit disappointed. Why they chose an obvious "strategist" to write a book on Tal, the epitome of dynamism, I have no idea. He constantly remarks on how Tal did not choose the best move but that it has good practical value...completely misrepresents his skill as a player. It's quite obvious that Lakdawala was not a big fan.

Yeah...

Cyrus Lakdawala's book is one of a VERY few Tal books that I have not bothered to buy and read.  Haven't heard much good about it.

Tal was one of a kind.  Kasparov said something to the effect that there has never been a chess player who plays like Tal, and it is unlikely there will be another player like him in the future.  He seemingly had the ability to look at the board, and just KNOW the right move to make!

As for the "soundness" of Tal's sacrifices?  Who cares!  They were beautiful, and most of the time they worked.  What more could you ask?

Leave tal's sacs alone.

When I was coming up my library had 2 chess books. One was a collection of Tal's games and the other Spassky's games. I borrowed the Tal one and after going over the first game-a peaceful looking Ruy Lopez until Tal rips his opponents guts out with a double knight sac..I decided I wanted to be a better chess player. I'm not sure that would have happened if I had borrowed the Spassky book first. 

All you "past life" guys are funny!  Every one of you was Tal, or Petrosian, or King Louis XIV, or someone famous like that!   Not ONE of you was the stable boy for an obscure innkeeper on the outskirts of Paduka... kicked to death by a scared mare during his 8th year of dull and uneventful employment!

That was me in another past life.

Well I was born in Paducah. Is that close enough?

This explains everything, your past life was so intense that now you feel the necessity to waste your current life in a ridiculous way, such as posting trash in these forums.