Mikhail Tal Didn't Play Wild Chess. He Grew the Forest.
Most People Think Mikhail Tal Played Wild Chess Most people think Mikhail Tal played wild chess. I don't think that's quite right because w ild suggests randomness and Tal wasn't random. He was cultivating possibility and there's a difference. Imagine two people standing at the entrance to the same forest, One studies the map, looking for the shortest route through while the other quietly plants seeds behind him.By the time the first traveler has chosen a path, the second has grown an entirely new landscape. To me that feels much closer to Tal I think... If you've never heard of him, here's the short version. Mikhail Tal was the eighth World Chess Champion. Born in Riga in 1936, he became one of the most beloved and feared players the game has ever known. Fans nicknamed him "The Magician from Riga" because his games often looked impossible. Pieces disappeared. Kings wandered into danger. Positions that seemed perfectly ordinary sudde...