Latvian chess grandmaster who in 1960, at the age of 23, became the youngest world chess champion when he upset the defending champion, Mikhail Botvinnik (Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseyevich), by a score of 12¹/₂ to 8¹/₂.

Tal, who learned to play chess at the age of six, was known for his complex and audacious moves. He became a national master and Latvian champion in 1953, at age 16. In 1957, the year he graduated from Riga University, he became an international grandmaster and won the first of his six titles as champion of the U.S.S.R. He established his right to challenge Botvinnik with impressive victories in the 1958 interzonal and 1959 candidates' tournaments, both held in Yugoslavia. He became seriously ill with kidney disease shortly before he lost to Botvinnik in a 1961 rematch. Despite continuing bouts with liver and kidney ailments, he won five more Soviet titles (1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, and 1978) and numerous international competitions, notably the high-speed world blitz championship in Canada in 1988.

Tal was one of the best and wittiest writers of the world champions. Two of his books, translated as Life and Games of Mikhail Tal (1976) and Tal-Botvinnik 1960 Match for the World Championship (1970), are treasures of chess literature.