In classical music, we often express that the lyrics, meaning and song are brilliantly composed. After listening, we commented that the song has a nice rhythm and melodious tune. Perhaps an alternate word we use is Taal. Song had its own Taal which was mesmerizing! Can we relate to this? I’m sure many songs would come in mind because of its signature Taal!Now, I’m suddenly shifting the conversation to a person who is the 8th World Chess Champion and famously known for his unique style of play viz. Mikhail Tal!Born in the capital of Latvia, Riga in 1936, with his attacking, innovative and super powerful ideas on the chess board, Tal was known as “The Magician from Riga“! Tal had his own way of playing. He used to sacrifice a few pieces to gain substantial advantage by imposing a devastating attack on the opponent.
Tal’s games had seen not only pawn sacrifices, but many piece sacrifices and even queen sacrifices too. Now, many chess grandmasters or experts found a way to deal with it only post games. During the games, it used to make opponents so shocked and to find the right solution to something you don’t see coming is not an easy task. Opponents used to get puzzled with the novelty, launching attacks, sacrifices and eventually lose to Tal’s magic on the board!
(Tal is often referred as Magician from Riga)
If we compare this with our life, isn’t it challenging to respond to situations that are unpredictable, and come across as daring, surprising responses for us? Yes, to deal with such scenarios we might often take more time than usual!
(Explains Tal’s philosophy)
Tal in 1960 became the youngest world chess champion then (beating Botvinnik). In 1988, at the age of 51 years, Tal won the World Blitz chess championship ahead of Kasparov, Karpov and so on. Now, that shows his sharpness and love for the game! Tal faced multiple times and prolonged health issues but that never had any impact on his love and passion for chess!There are so many games of Tal that we all can see and understand his sacrifices, his ability to visualize and launch attacks to literally disturb the opponent’s mindset! Do you think Mikhail Tal had his own ‘Taal’ on 64 squares? We would love to have your views on the Magician of Riga!
