Happy Birthday, Misha! Soviet Latvian World Champion Mikhail Tal (image:wikipedia) stands out as possibly the most creative player in history. In fact, he has been such a genius that the Soviet School of chess, which is known for strict rules, principles and bulletproof play, didn't understand him first. Their methodic, very scientific approach to chess very much collided with Tals ability to sacrifice pieces all over the place, accusing him of bluffing and working with psychological tricks. With strong engines today, we know that lots of Tals sacrifices were indeed correct. AI-driven engines favour Tals decisions even more than classical brute-force engines. Today's position is from Tal's (white)game against World Champion Tigran Petrosian (black), who is considered an absolutely defensive powerhouse. Tal However demolished him in just 23 moves. In this position, Tal already sacrificed a knight to soften up the kingside. Which breakthrough forced Petrosian to resign two moves later? White to play and win.