Here are some pre-match comments about Tal:

<Bronstein: "Tal won't do it against Grandmasters."

Smyslov: "Tal wins by tricks. I consider it my duty as a grandmaster to beat him properly."

Pirc: "If Tal plays the way he did in the Challengers Tourney versus Keres and Smyslov, he hasn't got the slightest chance against Botvinnik."

Vukovic: "Tal has no chance against Botvinnik and would even lose a match against Keres."

Golombek: "Tal is certainly the riskiest player ever to have gotten so close to the world championship."

Borba (a Yugoslav newspaper): Took a poll of players and seconds asking who would win the 1959 Candidates. Smyslov got 7 votes, Petrosian 4, Tal 0.

Fischer: "My most dangerous opponent in [the 1959 Candidates] was Smyslov.">

Even if we toss that last one out on the grounds of cattiness (Fischer scored 2-2 vs. Smyslov; 0-4 vs. Tal), we see that Tal's victory was anything but a fait accompli.

(SIDE NOTE: You don't hear it much any more, but there used to be an "American Myth", that would appear in lots of chess articles written by non-chess players, to the effect that Fischer had lost all 4 games against Tal from superior middlegames. Anybody who has actually seen the games, knows that only in the last one did Fischer ever have a clear advantage.)

So anyway, even at Tal's height, he never quite established superiority over the ultra-positional players. He won in 1959 by "Bunny Smashing". He lost 1-3 against Keres. He steered a wide berth around Petrosian with 4 limp draws. He did score 2˝-1˝ aainst Smyslov, but that still leaves him with a losing record against the 3 of them combined. Then he goes up against the Ultimate Positional Player, Botvinnik, and Botvinnik goes down hard.

Why is that? Was Botvinnik just rusty in 1960 (he never played much after winning the title). Had he not figured out Tal's style yet. Or did Tal just flat out play better the first time?

Thanks for the pre-match quotes.

Chess Life, April 1961: <"Much comment has been generated that Tal "is not playing up to form" or that his recent illness, in addition to a seize of influenza during the match accounted for his "spotty" and inconsistent play. We must remember, however, that when he won the championship last year from Botvinnik, it was Botvinnik who was ill - in addition to having great emotional upsets due to the death of his wife just before the match, which accounts for his "un-Botvinnik-like" play at that time.">

I hate to perpetuate excuses, but these cancel each other to some extent. And the death of a spouse seems like a pretty big thing to have never heard before.

In fact, I'd never heard anything about any Botvinnik marriages, one way or the other, but Wikipedia has a few bits:

<His wife was an Armenian Russian named Gayane Davidovna, the daughter of his algebra teacher.>

<In early winter, 1936, Botvinnik was invited to play in a tournament at Nottingham, England. Krylenko authorized his participation and, to help Botvinnik play at his best, allowed Botvinnik's wife to accompany him – a privilege rarely extended to chess players at any time in Soviet history.>

<In April 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Botvinnik's wife Gayane, a ballerina,[27] told him that her colleagues at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre were being evacuated to the city of Perm,[28] then known as Molotov in honour of Vyacheslav Molotov.[29] The family found an apartment there, and Botvinnik obtained a job with the local electricity supply organization – at the lowest pay rate and on condition that he did no research, as he had only a Candidate's degree.>

Wiki links to a Sports Illustrated article about Tal's 1960 victory, which contains the following interesting story about Tal and Botvinnik's wife, when Tal was 11, right after Botvinnik became champion:

<Botvinnik was resting in seclusion at a resort near Riga. Tucking a chessboard under his arm, Tal threaded his way through pine trees to the beach to ask Botvinnik to play a game with him. He was met by Botvinnik's wife, the ballerina Gayane, who told him smilingly that the champion was taking a nap, and that, in addition, she had made him promise to give up chess during their vacation.>

Botvinnik was resting in seclusion at a resort near Riga. Tucking a chessboard under his arm, Tal threaded his way through pine trees to the beach to ask Botvinnik to play a game with him. He was met by Botvinnik's wife, the ballerina Gayane, who told him smilingly that the champion was taking a nap, and that, in addition, she had made him promise to give up chess during their vacation.>

This story is not true. Tal said so in his autobiography, "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal", p.21:

<Tal plays Bronstein's style, only much better, and absolutely without Bronstein's weaknesses.>

IMO Bronstein (esp @ his peak ) is much more complete and well rounded player than Tal of the 1960 .

Misha managed to ´complete´ his style , raising technique and positional strategy while still being able to play brilliant tactical game during his second peak , due to cooperation with Karpov ( they were toping the rating list together briefly at that time ) .

Ah, Korchnoi, as expected, owned Tal. Spassky wasn't a slouch, either. Almost everyone else, sure.

Misha managed to ´complete´ his style , raising technique and positional strategy while still being able to play brilliant tactical game during his second peak , due to cooperation with Karpov ( they were toping the rating list together briefly at that time ) >