Douglas Griffin on X: Ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal (b. Riga, 1936; d. Moscow, 1992), pictured at Wijk aan Zee, January 1988. (📷: #chess / X

Douglas Griffin on X: Wijk aan Zee, 19th January 1982. Ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal (USSR) is pictured before play v. Vlastimil Hort (ČSSR) in the 4th round of the Hoogovens tournament. (Photo

Douglas Griffin on X: Ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal (b. Riga, 1936; d. Moscow, 1992), pictured at Wijk aan Zee, January 1988. (📷: #chess / X

Douglas Griffin on X: Anatoly Karpov & Mikhail Tal, pictured in play during the 39th USSR Championship, Leningrad, September-October 1971. (Photo: N. Naumenkov / TASS.) #chess / X

Douglas Griffin on X: Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee, 23rd January 1973. The 7th-round encounter between Mikhail Tal (USSR) & Hein Donner (Netherlands) is in progress. The ex-World Champion won this game in

Douglas Griffin on X: Mikhail Tal, pictured in play v. Garry Kasparov in the 5th round of the Moscow Interzonal tournament, 5th September 1982. The game, an early example of the 5.Bg5

Douglas Griffin on X: At the demonstration board, the 8th World Champion, Mikhail Tal (b. Riga, 9th Nov 1936; d. Moscow, 28th June 1992.) (Photo via #chess / X

Douglas Griffin on X: Surely one of the greatest photos of Mikhail Tal. Leipzig, 28th October 1960. The 1st round of the 14th Olympiad finals, the match USSR v. Bulgaria. The then-World

Douglas Griffin on X: Wijk aan Zee, 15th January 1968. In the 5th round of the Hoogovens tournament, Viktor Korchnoi faces Hans Ree. Standing by the board are Milko Bobotsov, Mikhail Tal & Victor Ciocâltea. (📷: #chess

Douglas Griffin on X: Mikhail Tal v. Tigran Petrosian, 25th USSR-ch, Riga 1958, which featured the trademark positional exchange sacrifice by Petrosian, 31Rf4! Semyon Furman looks on. ('#Chess in the USSR', No.

Douglas Griffin on X: Mikhail Tal (USSR) v. Theodor Ghiţescu (Romania), 14th Olympiad, Leipzig 1960. (Source: unknown.) #chess / X

Douglas Griffin on X: Riga, of course, has a long and rich #chess history. 40 years ago this September, Mikhail Tal scored one of the greatest results of his later career, winning

Douglas Griffin on X: Mikhail Tal. Date and place unknown; possibly c. 1980? (Photo source: Latvian Sports Museum.) #chess / X