Some chess biographies focus on the person, and others focus on the player's games - if you prefer to learn about the player through his play, this is the book for you. Author Gallagher focuses on one of the more dynamic chess personalities of the twentieth century, and he does it with a twist. While Tal's own autobiography, THE LIFE AND GAMES OF MIKHAIL TAL, is a classic both for the quality of the games and the depth of the author's insight into his life, it only covers the period up through 1974. While this included Tal's short stay as world champion (and his rise ... and fall from that lofty place), it did not cover his entire career.

This book seeks to fill in that missing period, which runs from 1975 until Tal's death in 1992. While many had already written Tal off during this period, the fact remains that he spent most of this time rated among the top ten players in the world, and he had his shots as a candidate for the world championship.

The author, best known for a string of high quality books on the opening phase of the game, expresses his admiration for Tal in the book's preface, and it shows in the end product. The book's heart is the games - here are 34 Tal victories painstakingly annotated. To the author's credit, he has resisted the temptation to turn this into a love-fest; the notes suggest many places where previously published analysis (often by Tal himself) was in error. This re-examination gives the book a fresh feel. As the author notes, Tal was a practical player with an immense imagination, and if some of his combinations do not survive intense scrutiny, so be it. Gallagher points out that Tal himself was not too concerned about demonstrated flaws in his conceptions - Tal is quoted as saying that "I shall observe for the thousand and first time: years of analysis and minutes of play are not quite the same thing."

After the author's preface, the book starts with a 28 page introduction that summarizes the years covered in Tal's autobiography. This includes 9 lightly annotated games as well. The author uses this as a segue into the meat of the book, and it is fitting that Gallagher notes that Tal concludes his autobiography in 1975 by asking of his future plans: "To Play" is his answer. This book then seeks to detail that play.

The six chapters cover periods in Tal's life. The first, from 1975-78, is labeled as "ups and downs;" the second, 1979, "some great results;" the third, 1980-1984, is listed as "mixed results;" the fourth, from 1985-1986, is titled "improvement, a candidate again;" the fifth, from 1987-88 is called "playing with the good guys again;" the final chapter, covered 1989-1992, is called "the final years."

There is no doubt that author Gallagher poured a ton of time and effort into this book. As he notes in the preface, Gallagher went through the games himself and did his own analysis before consulting other notes on these games. As a result, there is a fresh perspective and a willingness to challenge accepted dogma that runs throughout the book. This is perhaps the book's strongest feature, and it makes for an interesting read, especially for players who may have seen some of these games before.

The author also makes this a useful book for players interested in specific opening variations espoused by Tal in the book. Gallagher provides extensive coverage of both the way Tal played these openings in other games in his career and the way theory views them at present. Even though the games were generally played a long time ago, this analysis gives them a current feel.

While the games are very interesting and annotated with care, I can't help but feel that these are not Tal's best efforts. As the author (and others) have noted, Tal was, in his later years, hampered by health (and, perhaps, lifestyle) concerns. While his own autobiography is studded with games against the world's elite (Botvinnik, Bronstein, Fischer, Geller, Gligoric, Keres, Korchnoi, Larsen, Najdorf, Petrosian, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Spassky), there are only eight games in this book against this caliber of player.  Further, in his later years Tal resorted to taking quick draws with most strong players as black. Of the 34 primary games, only seven are with Tal playing black and only one of these (against Ribli in 1985) occurs after 1979.  

My only other complaint with the book rests with the author's coverage of matters other than the games themselves (because his coverage in that part of the book is top notch). It is hard to follow Tal's autobiography, which allowed so much insight into the man and included so much interesting material. It is still disappointing that this book covers most of the chess tournaments via the box score approach - i.e., Tal finished with 10 of 15, which was good for a tie for first with player x, ahead of players y, z and others.

I also grew a bit weary of the method in which Tal's illnesses were discussed. It seems, from my reading of the text, that Tal never had a truly bad result that was not the result of his physical condition. If this is in fact the case, it needed more explanation that was provided here. Finally, there are all kinds of mentions of Tal's brushes with the authorities, including a Korchnoi mention of this fact; these do not get much attention.  They deserve more. This was what Tal was, and I think it would better explain him as a player as well.

In conclusion, this is a carefully annotated collection of 34 games by one of the chess greats. The author provides opening context and a great deal of depth in the discussion of each game. While this is a great effort and may help many players form a complete opinion of his later playing years, the fact remains that this was not Tal's most fruitful period. This is a great addition, but the best book on this player's chess life continues to be THE LIFE AND GAMES OF MIKHAIL TAL.