Tigran Petrosian Petrosian in 1975 Country Soviet Union Born June 17, 1929 Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) Died August 13, 1984 (aged 55) Moscow, Soviet Union Title Grandmaster (1952) World Champion 1963–69 Peak rating 2645 (July 1972) Tigran Petrosian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (Russian: Тигран Вартанович Петросян; Armenian: Տիգրան Պետրոսյան ; June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a Soviet Armenian Grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasised safety above all else. [1][2] Petrosian was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the World Championship in 1963 (against Mikhail Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Boris Spassky), and lost it in 1969 (to Spassky). Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). Petrosian is widely known for popularizing chess in Armenia. [3][4] He was recognized as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess by the authors of a 2004 book. [5] Contents 1 Early years 2 Grandmaster in Moscow 3 1963 World Championship 4 Reigning World Champion 5 Later career 6 Death and legacy 7 Olympiads and team championships 8 Playing style 8.1 The positional exchange sacrifice 8.2 Contributions to opening theory 9 Deafness 10 Quotations 11 See also
Transcript
3/29/2015 Tigran Petrosian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tigran PetrosianFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (Russian: ТигранВартанович Петросян; Armenian: Տիգրան Պետրոսյան;June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a Soviet ArmenianGrandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almostimpenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasised
safety above all else.[1][2]
Petrosian was a Candidate for the World Championship oneight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974,1977 and 1980). He won the World Championship in 1963(against Mikhail Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966(against Boris Spassky), and lost it in 1969 (to Spassky).Thus he was the defending World Champion or a WorldChampionship Candidate in ten consecutive three-yearcycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959,1961, 1969, and 1975).
Petrosian is widely known for popularizing chess in
Armenia.[3][4] He was recognized as the hardest player to
beat in the history of chess by the authors of a 2004 book.[5]
Petrosian was born to Armenian parents on June 17, 1929 in Tiflis, Soviet Union (modern-day Georgia).[6] As ayoung boy, Petrosian was an excellent student and enjoyed studying, as did his brother Hmayak and sister
Vartoosh. He learned to play chess at the age of 8,[7] though his illiterate father Vartan encouraged him to continue
studying, as he thought chess was unlikely to bring his son any success as a career.[8] Petrosian was orphaned
during World War II and was forced to sweep streets to earn a living.[6] It was about this time that his hearingbegan to deteriorate, a problem that afflicted him throughout his life. In a 1969 interview with Time magazine, herecalled:
“ I started sweeping streets in the middle of the winter and it was horrible. Of course there were no
machines then, so we had to do everything by hand. Some of the older men helped me out. I was a
weak boy. And I was ashamed of being a street sweeper—that's natural, I suppose. It wasn't sobad in the early morning when the streets were empty, but when it got light and the crowds came
out I really hated it. I got sick and missed a year in school. We had a babushka, a sister of myfather, and she really saved me. She gave me bread to eat when I was sick and hungry. That's
when this trouble with my hearing started. I don't remember how it all happened. Things aren't veryclear from that time.[9] ”
He used his rations to buy Chess Praxis by Danish grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch, a book which Petrosian
would later claim to have had the greatest influence on him as a chess player.[8] He also purchased The Art ofSacrifice in Chess by Rudolf Spielmann. The other player to have had an early effect on Petrosian's chess was
José Raúl Capablanca.[8] At 12 years old, he began training at the Tiflis Palace of Pioneers[7][10] under the auspicesof Archil Ebralidze. Ebralidze was a supporter of Nimzowitsch and Capablanca, and his scientific approach tochess discouraged wild tactics and dubious combinations. As such, Petrosian developed a repertoire of solid
positional openings, such as the Caro–Kann Defence.[8] After training at the Palace of Pioneers for just one year,
he defeated visiting Soviet grandmaster Salo Flohr at a simultaneous exhibition.[7][10]
By 1946, Petrosian had earned the title of Candidate Master. In that year alone, he drew against Grandmaster PaulKeres at the Georgian Chess Championship, then moved to Yerevan where he won the Armenian ChessChampionship and the USSR Junior Chess Championship. Petrosian earned the title of Master during the 1947
USSR Chess Championship, though he failed to qualify for the finals.[10] He set about to improve his game by
studying Nimzowitsch's My System and by moving to Moscow to seek greater competition.[7]
Grandmaster in Moscow
After moving to Moscow in 1949, Petrosian's career as a chess player advanced rapidly and his results in Sovietevents steadily improved. He placed second in the 1951 Soviet Championship, thereby earning the title ofinternational master. It was in this tournament that Petrosian faced world champion Botvinnik for the first time.
facing right, is Mikhail Tal, then world champion.
Playing White, after obtaining a slightly inferior position from the opening, he defended through two adjournments
and eleven total hours of play to obtain a draw.[11] Petrosian's result in this event qualified him for the Interzonal thefollowing year in Stockholm. He earned the title ofGrandmaster by coming in second in the Stockholmtournament, and qualified for the 1953 Candidates
Tournament.[12]
Petrosian placed fifth in the 1953 Candidates Tournament,a result which marked the beginning of a somewhat stagnantperiod in his career. He seemed content drawing againstweaker players and maintaining his title of Grandmasterrather than improving his chess or making an attempt atbecoming World Champion. This attitude was illustrated byhis result in the 1955 USSR Championship: out of 19games played, Petrosian was undefeated, but won only fourgames and drew the rest, with each of the draws lastingtwenty moves or less. Although his consistent playingensured decent tournament results, it was looked downupon by the public and by Soviet chess media and
authorities.[12] Near the end of the event, journalist Vasily Panov wrote the following comment about thetournament contenders: "Real chances of victory, besides Botvinnik and Smyslov, up to round 15, are held byGeller, Spassky and Taimanov. I deliberately exclude Petrosian from the group, since from the very first rounds thelatter has made it clear that he is playing for an easier, but also honourable conquest—a place in the interzonal
quartet."[13]
This period of complacency ended with the 1957 USSR Championship, where out of 21 games played, Petrosianwon seven, lost four, and drew the remaining 10. Although this result was only good enough for seventh place in afield of 22 competitors, his more ambitious approach to tournament play was met with great appreciation from theSoviet chess community. He went on to win his first USSR Championship in 1959, and later that year in theCandidates Tournament he defeated Paul Keres with a display of his often-overlooked tactical abilities. Petrosian
was awarded the title of Master of Sport of the USSR in 1960, and won a second Soviet title in 1961.[14] Hisexcellent playing continued through 1962 when he qualified for the Candidates Tournament for what would be his
first World Championship match.[12]
1963 World Championship
After playing in the 1962 Interzonal in Stockholm, Petrosian qualified for the Candidates Tournament in Curaçaoalong with Pal Benko, Miroslav Filip, Bobby Fischer, Efim Geller, Paul Keres, Viktor Korchnoi, and Mikhail Tal.Petrosian, representing the Soviet Union, won the tournament with a final score of 17½ points, followed by fellow
Soviets Geller and Keres each with 17 points and the American Fischer with 14.[15] Fischer later accused the
Soviet players of arranging draws and having "ganged up" on him to prevent him from winning the tournament.[16]
As evidence for this claim, he noted that all 12 games played between Petrosian, Geller, and Keres were draws.Statisticians pointed out that when playing against each other, these Soviet competitors averaged 19 moves per
game, as opposed to 39.5 moves when playing against other competitors. Although responses to Fischer'sallegations were mixed, FIDE later adjusted the rules and format to try to prevent future collusion in the Candidates
matches.[15]
Having won the Candidates Tournament, Petrosian earned the right to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the title ofWorld Chess Champion in a 24-game match. In addition to practicing his chess, Petrosian also prepared for thematch by skiing for several hours each day. He believed that in such a long match, physical fitness could become a
factor in the later games. This advantage was increased by Botvinnik being much older than Petrosian.[15] Whereasa multitude of draws in tournament play could prevent a player from taking first place, draws did not affect theoutcome of a one-on-one match. In this regard, Petrosian's cautious playing style was well-suited for match play, as
he could simply wait for his opponent to make mistakes and then capitalize on them.[17] Petrosian won the match
against Botvinnik with a final score of 5 to 2 with 15 draws, securing the title of World Champion.[18]
Reigning World Champion
Upon becoming World Champion, Petrosian campaigned for the publication of a chess newspaper for the entire
Soviet Union rather than just Moscow. This newspaper became known as 64.[19] Petrosian studied for a degree ofMaster of Philosophical Science at Yerevan State University; his thesis, dated 1968, was titled "Chess Logic, Some
Problems of the Logic of Chess Thought".[14]
Three years after Petrosian had earned the title of World Chess Champion, he was challenged by Boris Spassky.Petrosian successfully defended his title, a feat that had not been accomplished since Alexander Alekhine defeated
Efim Bogoljubov in the 1934 World Championship.[20] However, Spassky would defeat Efim Geller, Bent Larsenand Viktor Korchnoi in the next candidates cycle earning a rematch with Petrosian, at Moscow 1969. Spasskywon the match by 12½–10½.
Later career
Along with a number of other Soviet chess champions, he signed apetition condemning the actions of the defector Viktor Korchnoi in 1976.It was the continuation of a bitter feud between the two, dating back atleast to their 1974 Candidates semifinal match in which Petrosianwithdrew after five games while trailing 3½–1½ (+3 −1 =1). His matchwith Korchnoi in 1977 saw the two former colleagues refuse to shakehands or speak to each other. They even demanded separate eating andtoilet facilities. Petrosian went on to lose the match and was subsequentlyfired as editor of Russia's largest chess magazine, 64. His detractorscondemned his reluctance to attack and some put it down to a lack ofcourage. At this point however, Botvinnik spoke out on his behalf, statingthat he only attacked when he felt secure and his greatest strength was in
defence.[21]
Some of his late successes included victories at Lone Pine 1976 and in the 1979 Paul Keres Memorial tournamentin Tallinn (12/16 without a loss, ahead of Tal, Bronstein and others), shared first place (with Portisch and Hübner)in the Rio de Janeiro Interzonal the same year, and second place in Tilburg in 1981, half a point behind the winner
Beliavsky. It was here that he played his last famous victory, a miraculous escape against the young Garry
Kasparov.[22]
Death and legacy
Petrosian died of stomach cancer in 1984 in Moscow and is buried in theMoscow Armenian Cemetery. In 1987, World Chess Champion GarryKasparov unveiled a memorial at Petrosian's grave which depicts thelaurel wreath of World Champion and an image contained within a crownof the sun shining above the twin peaks of Mount Ararat – the nationalsymbol of Petrosian's Armenian homeland. On 7 July 2006, a monumenthonoring Petrosian was opened in the Davtashen district of Yerevan, in
the street named after Petrosian.[23]
Olympiads and team championships
Petrosian was not selected for the Soviet Olympiad side until 1958; hehad already been a Candidate twice by that time. But he then made tenstraight Soviet Olympiad teams from 1958 to 1978, won nine team goldmedals, one team silver medal, and six individual gold medals.His overall performance in Olympiad play is impressive: +78 −1 =50(only one game lost, to Robert Hübner, out of 129 played), for 79.8 percent, the third all-time best performance after Mikhail Tal and Anatoly
Karpov.[24] His Olympiad results follow.
Munich 1958, 2nd reserve, 10½/13 (+8 −0 =5), board and team gold medals
Leipzig 1960, 2nd reserve, 12/13 (+11 −0 =2), board and team gold medals
Varna 1962, board 2, 10/12 (+8 −0 =4), board and team gold medals
Tel Aviv 1964, board 1, 9½/13 (+6 −0 =7), team gold medal
Havana 1966, board 1, 11½/13 (+10 −0 =3), board and team gold medals
Lugano 1968, board 1, 10½/12 (+9 −0 =3), board and team gold medals
Siegen 1970, board 2, 10/14 (+6 −0 =8), team gold medal
Skopje 1972, board 1, 10½/16 (+6 −1 =9), team gold medal
Nice 1974, board 4, 12½/14 (+11 −0 =3), board and team gold medals
Buenos Aires 1978, board 2, 6/9 (+3 −0 =6), team silver medal
Petrosian also made the Soviet team for the first eight European Team Championships (from 1957 to 1983). Hewon eight team gold medals, and four board gold medals. His totals in Euroteams play, according to olimpbase.org,
are (+15 −0 =37), for 64.4 per cent.[24] His Euroteams results follow.
Vienna 1957, board 6, 4/5 (+3 −0 =2), board and team gold medals
Oberhausen 1961, board 4, 6/8 (+4 −0 =4), board and team gold medals
Hamburg 1965, board 1, 6/10 (+2 −0 =8), board and team gold medals
Kapfenberg 1970, board 1, 3½/6 (+1 −0 =5), team gold medal
Bath, Somerset 1973, board 2, 4½/7 (+2 −0 =5), board and team gold medals
Moscow 1977, board 2, 3½/6 (+1 −0 =5), team gold medal
Skara 1980, board 3, 2½/5 (+0 −0 =5), team gold medal
Plovdiv 1983, board 3, 3½/5 (+2 −0 =3), team gold medal
Playing style
Petrosian was a conservative, cautious, and highly defensive chess playerwho was strongly influenced by Aron Nimzowitsch's idea of prophylaxis.He made more effort to prevent his opponent's offensive capabilities thanhe did to make use of his own. He very rarely went on the offensive
unless he felt his position was completely secure.[6] He usually won byplaying consistently until his aggressive opponent made a mistake,securing the win by capitalizing upon this mistake without revealing anyweaknesses of his own. This style of play often led to draws, especiallyagainst other players who preferred to counterattack. Nonetheless, hispatience and mastery of defence made him extremely difficult to beat. Hewas undefeated at the 1952 and 1955 Interzonals, and in 1962 he didnot lose a single tournament game. Petrosian's consistent ability to avoid
defeat earned him the nickname "Iron Tigran".[25]
Petrosian preferred to play closed openings that did not commit his pieces to any particular plan. As black,
Petrosian enjoyed playing the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation[26] and the French Defence. As white, he often
played the English Opening.[27] Petrosian would often move the same piece multiple times in a few moves,confusing his opponents in the opening and threatening draws by threefold repetition in the endgame. In a gameagainst Mark Taimanov during the 1955 USSR Chess Championship, Petrosian moved the same rook 6 times in a
24-move game, with 4 of those moves occurring on consecutive turns.[28][29] He had a strong affinity for knights
rather than bishops, a characteristic that is attributed to the influence of Aron Nimzowitsch.[30]
A number of illustrative metaphors have been used to describe Petrosian's style of play. Harold C. Schonberg said
that "playing him was like trying to put handcuffs on an eel. There was nothing to grip."[25] He has been described
as a centipede lurking in the dark,[25] a tiger looking for the opportunity to pounce, a python who slowly squeezes
his victims to death,[6] and as a crocodile who waits for hours to make a decisive strike.[31] Boris Spassky, whowould succeed Petrosian as World Chess Champion, described his style of play as such: "Petrosian reminds me of
a hedgehog. Just when you think you have caught him, he puts out his quills."[6]
Petrosian's style of play, although highly successful for avoiding defeats, was criticized as being dull. Chessenthusiasts saw his "ultraconservative" style as an unwelcome contrast to the popular image of Soviet chess as
"daring" and "indomitable".[32] His 1971 Candidates Tournament match with Viktor Korchnoi featured so manymonotonous draws that the Russian press began to complain. However, Svetozar Gligorić described Petrosian asbeing "very impressive in his incomparable ability to foresee danger on the board and to avoid any risk of
defeat."[25] Petrosian responded to his criticisms by saying "They say my games should be more 'interesting'. I could
be more 'interesting'—and also lose."[6] Petrosian was, in the words of future World Champion Vladimir Kramnik,
"the first defender with a capital D".[33]
The positional exchange sacrifice
Petrosian was known for his use of the "positional exchangesacrifice", where one side sacrifices a rook for the opponent's bishopor knight. Kasparov discussed Petrosian's use of this motif:
“ Petrosian introduced the exchange sacrifice for the
sake of 'quality of position', where the time factor,
which is so important in the play of Alekhine andTal, plays hardly any role. Even today, very few
players can operate confidently at the board with
such abstract concepts. Before Petrosian no one
had studied this. By sacrificing the exchange 'just like
that', for certain long term advantages, in positions
with disrupted material balance, he discovered latent
resources that few were capable of seeing and
properly evaluating.[34] ”One of Petrosian's most famous examples of the positional exchange sacrifice is from his game against Samuel
Reshevsky in Zurich 1953.[35] Reshevsky, playing white, appears to have an advantage due to his strong pawncenter, which may become mobile after Bf3 and d4–d5. Petrosian realized he was in a difficult position because ofthe passive placement of his pieces, relegated to defensive roles. He further understood that White might alsoadvance on the kingside with h2–h4–h5, provoking weaknesses that would make it more difficult to defend lateron. Faced with these threats, Petrosian devised a plan to maneuver his knight to the square d5, where it would beprominently placed in the center, and blockade the advance of White's pawns.
25... Re6!
With the rook vacated from e7, the black knight is free to move to d5, where it will be attacking the pawn on c3,and help support an eventual advance of his queenside pawn majority with b5–b4.
Petrosian was an expert against the King's Indian Defence, and he often played what is now known as the
Petrosian System: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.d5.[37][38] This variation closes thecenter early in the game. One of the tactical ideas for White is to play Bg5, pinning Black's knight to his queen.Black can respond by either moving his queen (usually ...Qe8) or by playing ...h6, though the latter move weakens
Black's kingside pawn structure.[39] Two of Black's responses to thePetrosian Variation were developed by grandmasters Paul Keres andLeonid Stein. The Keres Variation arises after 7...Nbd7 8.Bg5 h69.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.h4, and the Stein Variation begins an
immediate queenside offensive with 7...a5.[40]
The Queen's Indian Defence also has a variation developed by
Petrosian: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3,[41] with the idea ofpreventing ...Bb4+. This system received much attention in 1980when it was used by the young Garry Kasparov to defeat severalgrandmasters. Today the Petrosian Variation is still considered the
most pressing variation, with the greatest score in Master games.[42]
Other Petrosian variations can be found in the Grünfeld Defence after
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5,[43] and the French
Defence after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Qd7.[44] Someauthorities refer to a variation of the Caro–Kann Defence with hisname, along with former World Champion Vassily Smyslov: thePetrosian–Smyslov Variation, 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4
Nd7.[45]
Deafness
Petrosian was partially deaf[46] and wore a hearing aid during his matches, which sometimes led to strangesituations. On one occasion he offered a draw to Svetozar Gligorić, which Gligorić initially refused in surprise, butthen changed his mind in a few seconds and re-offered the draw. However, Petrosian did not even respond, insteadwent ahead and won the game. As it later turned out, he switched off his hearing aid, and did not hear when
Gligorić re-offered the draw.[47] In 1971, he played a candidates match against Robert Hübner in a noisy area in
Seville, which did not disturb him, but frustrated Hübner so much that he finally withdrew from the match.[48]
Quotations
"In those years, it was easier to win the Soviet Championship than a game against 'Iron Tigran'." – Lev
Polugaevsky[49]
"It is to Petrosian's advantage that his opponents never know when he is suddenly going to play like Mikhail
Tal." – Boris Spassky[50]
"He [Petrosian] has an incredible tactical view, and a wonderful sense of the danger... No matter how much
you think deep... He will 'smell' any kind of danger 20 moves before!" – Bobby Fischer
"Chess is a game by its form, an art by its content and a science by the difficulty of gaining mastery in it.
Chess can convey as much happiness as a good book or work of music can. However, it is necessary to
learn to play well and only afterwards will one experience real delight." – Tigran Petrosian
Spassky–Petrosian WCh 1966 Multimedia Annotated Game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=NbEpfKistHA) on YouTube
Awards
Preceded byMikhail Botvinnik
World Chess Champion1963–69
Succeeded byBoris Spassky
Achievements
Preceded byDavid Bronstein
Youngest chess grandmaster ever1952–1955
Succeeded byBoris Spassky
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tigran_Petrosian&oldid=651621137"
Categories: 1929 births 1984 deaths World chess champions Chess grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Armenian chess players
Armenian writers Georgian Armenians Soviet chess players Spartak athletes Sportspeople from Tbilisi
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Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery
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