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Tal had an engaging personality, and had no known enemies, which is amazing considering the many feuds and vendettas in international chess. <ref>http://www.geocities.com/lifemasteraj/m_tal.html</ref> He was also a gifted writer; his book ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'' is an entertaining recap of his early career, replete with many humorous anecdotes and over 100 of his most entertaining games. For example, in the book, Tal, tells the story of his famous "[[hippopotamus]]" game, in which he spent much of his time wondering how one would drag a hippopotamus from a marsh instead of thinking about his game, yet still made a strong sacrifice to win the game. <ref>Mikhail Tal (reprinted 1997), ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'', Cadogan Books.</ref>

Tal had an engaging personality, and had no known enemies, which is amazing considering the many feuds and vendettas in international chess. <ref>http://www.geocities.com/lifemasteraj/m_tal.html</ref> He was also a gifted writer; his book ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'' is an entertaining recap of his early career, replete with many humorous anecdotes and over 100 of his most entertaining games. For example, in the book, Tal, tells the story of his famous "[[hippopotamus]]" game, in which he spent much of his time wondering how one would drag a hippopotamus from a marsh instead of thinking about his game, yet still made a strong sacrifice to win the game. <ref>Mikhail Tal (reprinted 1997), ''The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal'', Cadogan Books.</ref>

Tal struggled with health problems his entire life, and especially suffered from bouts of [[kidney]] problems. Despite this, he was a heavy smoker and drinker. <ref>Burgress, Nunn & Emms (2004), ''The Mammoth Book of the World's Great Chess Games'', Carroll & Graf.</ref> Kidney failure finally did him in, and he died in 1992, at the age of 55. <ref>http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=14380</ref> He had continued to play chess, almost to the very end.  

Tal struggled with health problems his entire life, and especially suffered from bouts of [[kidney]] problems. Despite this, he was a heavy smoker and drinker. <ref>Burgess, Nunn & Emms (2004), ''The Mammoth Book of the World's Great Chess Games'', Carroll & Graf.</ref> Kidney failure finally did him in, and he died in 1992, at the age of 55. <ref>http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=14380</ref> He had continued to play chess, almost to the very end.  

==External Links==

==External Links==