Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal (1936–1992) was the eighth World Chess Champion and the most dazzling attacking player in chess history, earning the nickname "The Magician from Riga" for his supernatural tactical creativity. Born in Latvia, Tal became world champion in 1960 at age 23, defeating Botvinnik with a style so chaotic and sacrifice-laden it seemed to defy logical refutation — his games generated complications so vast that neither player nor any contemporary computer could fully calculate them. Though Botvinnik won the title back in 1961, Tal's peak performance rating around 2780 and his tournament victories across the 1960s mark him as one of the most gifted attackers ever to sit at a board.