The Magic of Mikhail Tal (Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

Joe Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Series: Everyman Chess | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

A unique re-evaluation of ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal's approach to chess

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Few players have captured the public imagination like the former World Champion Mikhail Tal. With his unique attacking style, he dazzled the chess world on the way to becoming the youngest ever World Champion (at that time) in 1960, winning friends around the world for both his entertaining play and engaging personality. Although Tal's championship reign was brief, he continued to delight his many fans with brilliant sacrificial games until his death in 1992. In this book Grandmaster Joe Gallagher takes a fresh look at Tal's games and career, focusing on the previously neglected period from 1975 to 1992 during which he played some of his most accomplished chess. Despite periodic bouts of ill-health Tal occupied a place in the world's top ten for most of this period, winning any top-class events and securing dozens of wonderful victories, many of which are annotated in detail here. (6 1/4 x 9 1/4, 224 pages, diagrams)

About the Author

Joe Gallagher is a highly respected author of numerous best-selling chess books including being co-author of the single volume openings work Nunn¿s Chess Openings

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442660
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442663
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #978,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book, February 21, 2001

By 

Edgar Hermosillo (Cathedral City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magic of Mikhail Tal (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

Joe Gallagher goes all out in this book! Covering Tal's career from 1975 to his untimely death in 1992, Gallagher picks up where Tal left off in his autobiography. The games themselves are, of course, Tal masterpieces and are well annotated using some of Tal's own recommendations. Galllagher provides ample biographical detail to go with the games and his notes on the games themselves are very readable with not too many variations. All in all, a modern classic on "The Magician from Riga."

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great effort, but not the same..., September 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Magic of Mikhail Tal (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

Joe Gallagher does a great job on this book which is a follow-up of Tal's "Life and Games of Mikhail Tal." Gallagher is known for his great works on the openings, and that is reflected here as he uses Tal's games as a vehicle for opening study. The format is great, also following "L and G", with tournament/match results, ratings, and stories strewn about. The game notes are very good.

The downsides of this book are that 1) it is extremely hard to live up to Tal's beautiful writing and notes. Afterall, "Life and Games" is considered to be one of the best chess books ever written. Gallagher just doesn't have the same fire and passion in his writing and notes. Maybe he should have chosen a format that is different from "L and G" if he wanted to avoid such an obvious comparison. He tells some nice stories about Tal, but rather flatly. 2) the games are not of the same quality and beauty as Tal's earlier ones. The opponents are not as strong, and Tal's style dulled a bit, becoming more solid at the expense of sparkling sacs and combinations. However, the games are thoroughly enjoyable if you don't think about is earlier games too much. 3) The introduction chapter is too long, since it covers what Tal already has (before 1975). I found it a bit redundant, although it nice to have another perspective on this best part of Tal's career.

Overall, this is a must have for any Tal fan, as it is well done and gives a complete story in conjunction with "L and G." Just don't be too disappointed that it is not the same quality as Tal's classic work.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a sequel to an unfinished tale, March 13, 2005

By 

Gilles Benson (Beauvais, France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magic of Mikhail Tal (Everyman Chess) (Paperback)

Misha Tal finally died in 1992 at 56. Heavy smoking and drinking habits combined with bad health and a missing kidney just finished him off.
He was a most extraordinary chess player as can be read from his autobiography; as a matter of fact that book only covered the story up to 1975. Gallagher book is very welcomed by every fan of Tal since it tells the latter part of the story; this is not as witty as Tal's writings but it is able to tell the real truth because the KGB is gone...The book is interesting and does a good job telling us about the latter part of Tal's sad life; let's say that the book contains some astounding games too since Tal, at times could yet kindle great fires on the board: Hubner-Tal (Bienne 1976), Tal-Portisch (Bienne 1976), Spassky-Tal (Montreal 1979), Tal-Larsen (Montreal 1979), Tal-Korchnoi (montpellier 1984), etc...See also the games Tal-Ftacnick and Tal-Flesch.
This book must be seen as a labour of love for that great player from a non too distant past which was destroyed by the soviet system.