Worse was to come: that same year, 1986, a much younger English rival, Nigel Short, blazed his way to a series of tournament victories so emphatic that he shot ahead of Miles. Now Miles was not even the top British player, a situation he found unendurable. In the 1986 Chess Olympiad, Miles used his position as a national side selector to retain the right to play on "top board", while a furious Short was allocated third. A journalist who queried the fairness of this in print was punched in the face by Miles.

This was the early sign of a series of psychotic episodes. The itinerant Miles's behaviour at overseas tournaments became increasingly eccentric. Back in the UK, he was arrested by police as he climbed over barriers to Downing Street to protest to Margaret Thatcher about an imaginary threat to his life from other chess players.

Nigel Short is convinced that his own ascendancy was inextricably linked to Miles's mental collapse: "Tony was insanely jealous of my success, and his inability to accept that he was no longer Britain's number one was an indication of, if not a trigger for, his descent into madness. His first psychiatric internment came in 1987, and he was in and (usually) out of institutions for the remainder of his days. Thankfully, there was much more to him than that."

Indeed there was. Tony Miles was not only the man whose over-the-board achievements inspired a generation of British talents. He also left a legacy of wonderful games, to be treasured for as long as chess is played. Perhaps the most dazzling is this victory with White over ex-world champion Boris Spassky in 1978. The notes are from Miles's own comments at the time. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3. c4 e6 4.Bf4 (My latest anti-Nimzo-Indian variation. It has the merit of being  untried at master level) Bb7 5.e3 Be7 6.h3 0-0 7.Nc3 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 c5 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Ne5 c4 12.Bc2 a6 13.g4! b5 14.g5 Ne8 15.Qg4 g6 16.Rad1 Ng7 17.h4 Bb4? (A serious mistake. Probably best is 17...b4 18.Ne2 f6 although White retains some advantage) 18.Nd7! Bc8 19.Nxd5 Kh8 20.N5f6 Ra7 (Best. If 20...Be7 21.Be4 or 20...Ne8 21.Be5. Now White must lose the Nd7 but in the meantime mounts a decisive attack) 21.d5! Ne7 22.Be5! Rxd7 (Not 22...Bxd7 23.Qd4 wins) 23.h5! Rxd5 24.Qf4 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Qa5 26.Ne8! f6 (Or 26...Rxe8 27.Qf6 Rg8 28.h6 mates quickly) 27.gxf6 Kg8 (Or 27...Rxe8 28.f7 Rf8 29.h6 Nef5 30.Qxf5 Bxf5 31.hxg7 mate) 28.Nxg7 (Black resigned since 28...Nc6 29.hxg6 soon forces mate).