In this, the second of three volumes, award-winning author Tibor Károlyi continues his groundbreaking exploration of Tal’s sparkling career. Mikhail Tal is one of the most celebrated chess players of all time, and in 1960 he demolished Botvinnik to become the youngest ever World Champion at the time, at the age of twenty-three.
This book examines some of the golden years of Tal’s career, from 1960 to 1971. Despite losing his world title in a return match against Botvinnik, Tal remained one of the strongest, not to mention most popular and entertaining, players in the world. As in the first volume, cutting-edge chess analysis is complemented by the engaging story of Tal’s life and career. The book also contains numerous anecdotes from famous players who share their memories of the Magician from Riga.
International Master Tibor Károlyi was Hungarian Champion in 1984 and is renowned as an author and trainer. He won The Guardian Book of the Year prize in 2007 (Endgame Virtuoso Anatoly Karpov) and coached Peter Leko when in the space of four years Leko went from promising junior to world class Grandmaster.