Mikhail Tal (November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, a Chess Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.

He was often called "Misha" and also "The magician from Riga" for his daring combinational style. Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games and Modern Chess Brilliancies include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer. Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking player of all time. Source: Mikhail Tal's Chess Biography on Wikipedia.