"Later, I began to succeed in decisive games, perhaps because I realised a very simple truth: not only was I worried, …"

"To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess."

"When one of us first plays chess, he is like a man who has already caught a dose of microbes of, say, Hong Kong flu. …"

"You must take your opponent into a deep, dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."

"There are two kinds of sacrifices: correct ones, and mine."

"The chess story of Mikhail Tal is about the act itself of straining against the leash of limited human imagination to…"

"Late in his career, Tal did win another, albeit unofficial world championship: the 1988 World Blitz Championship in S…"

"Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem."

"Misha was so ill-equipped for living... When he travelled to a tournament, he couldn't even pack his own suitcase... …"

"I can't imagine him without a cigarette in his mouth - he'd smoke five packs a game! He never needed a lighter - he'd…"