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'''Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian''' (born 17 June 1929 in [[Tbilisi]]; died 13 August 1984 in [[Moscow]]) was an Armenian [[chess]] master who won the [[Chess World Championship]] from [[Mikhail Botvinnik]] in 1963. He successfully defended his title against [[Boris Spassky]] in 1966 but was defeated by Spassky in 1969. Petrosian was noted for his patient style of play through which he sought to weaken an opponent's position gradually. After losing his world title, he remained an active member of the USSR's Presidium of the Chess Federation. In 1968, he published his book ''Chess and Philosophy''.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tigran-Vartanovich-Petrosyan Tigran Petrosian]. Encyclopaedia Britannica.</ref>


'''Tigran Petrosian''' ([[Armenian language|Armenian]] Տիգրան Պետրոսյան; [[June 17]], 1929 &ndash; [[August 13]],1984) was a former [[world chess champion]]. Due to [[Russification]] in the [[Soviet Union]] he is also known as '''Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian''' ([[Russian language|Russian]] Тигран Вартанович Петросян). His nickname was "Iron Tigran", because of his almost impenetrable defense, which guaranteed safety above all else (Vasiliev 1974:27) and (Kasparov 2004:7, 16, 62, 80).
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}


== Biography ==
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrosian, Tigran}}
An ethnic [[Armenians|Armenian]], Petrosian was born in the village Mulki of Aragatsotn region, [[Armenia]], and lived during his childhood in the city of [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Soviet Union|USSR]]. Most of his life he lived in the [[Russia]]n capital, [[Moscow]].  He learned the game of chess at the age of eight.  A significant step for Petrosian was moving to Moscow in 1949, and he began to play and win many tournaments there.  He won the 1951 tournament in Moscow, and began to show steady progress.
[[Category:Chess biographies]]
 
His results in the triennial [[Candidates Tournament]], held to determine the challenger to the world champion, showed a steady improvement: fifth at [[Zürich]] in 1953, equal third at [[Amsterdam]] in 1956, third in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] in 1959, and first at [[Curaçao]] in 1962. In 1963 he defeated [[Mikhail Botvinnik]] 12.5&ndash;9.5 to become world [[chess]] champion.  His patient, defensive style frustrated Botvinnik, who only needed to make one risky move for Petrosian to punish him.  Petrosian is the only player to go through the [[Interzonal]] and the Candidates process undefeated on the way to the world championship match.
 
Petrosian defended his title in 1966, defeating [[Boris Spassky]] 12.5&ndash;11.5, the first World Champion to win a title match while champion since [[Alekhine]] beat [[Efim Bogoljubov|Bogoljubov]] in 1934. In 1968, he was granted an [[Master's degree|M.Phil.]] from [[Yerevan]] [[University]] for his thesis, "Chess Logic".  He was also the chief editor of the chess magazine, "''Shakhmatnaya Moskva''" from 1963&ndash;66.  In 1969 Spassky got his revenge, winning by 12.5&ndash;10.5 and taking the title. 
 
He was the only player to win a game against [[Bobby Fischer]] during the latter's 1971 Candidates matches, finally bringing an end to Fischer's amazing streak of twenty consecutive wins (seven to finish the 1970 [[Palma de Mallorca]] [[Interzonal]], six against [[Mark Taimanov|Taimanov]], six against [[Bent Larsen|Larsen]], and the first game in their match).
 
Some of his late successes included victory in the 1979 [[Paul Keres Memorial]] tournament in [[Tallinn]] (12/16 without a loss, ahead of [[Mikhail Tal|Tal]], [[David Bronstein|Bronstein]] and others), shared first place (with [[Lajos Portisch|Portisch]] and [[Robert Huebner|Huebner]]) in the [[Rio de Janeiro]] Interzonal the same year, and 2nd place in [[Tilburg]] in 1981, half a point behind the winner [[Alexander Beliavsky|Beliavsky]]. It was here that he played his last famous victory, a miraculous escape vs. the young [[Garry Kasparov]] [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1069975].  Petrosian died of stomach cancer in August 1984.
 
== Chess heritage ==
He has two major [[chess openings|opening]] systems named after him: the Petrosian variation of the [[King's Indian Defence]] (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 '''7. d5''') and the Petrosian system in the [[Queen's Indian Defense]] (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 '''4. a3'''). A variation of the [[Caro-Kann]] defense also bears his name, along with former world champion [[Vassily Smyslov]]; the Petrosian&ndash;Smyslov variation (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 '''Nd7''').
 
He is most famous for being one of the best players pioneering the theory of [[prophylaxis (chess)|prophylaxis]], years after [[Aron Nimzowitsch]].  He also was an expert in the art of the [[exchange_sacrifice_(chess)| exchange sacrifice]], a move in chess when you purposely sacrifice a superior piece in order to obtain a long-term positional advantage.  His pioneering work in this particular tactic is widely used by top grandmasters today.
 
His style of play was often highly strategical, notable for anticipating opponent's possible attacks and he based many of his games on avoidance of error, content with accumulating small advantages.  His games are now widely used for instruction in chess schools around the world. 
 
== Notable chess games ==
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044494 Tigran Petrosian vs Robert James Fischer, Yugoslavia ct 1959, Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 (E40), 1-0] After Black's weak fifth move, Petrosian energetically exploits his spatial advantage.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032639 Tigran Petrosian vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Moscow 1963 (5th game of the WCh match), Gruenfeld Defense: Three Knights. Burille Variation (D94), 1-0] A classical endgame of R+N vs R+B.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106973 Mikhail Tal vs Tigran Petrosian, Moscow Ch URS 1973, Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation (B17), 0-1] Both former world champions attack, but Petrosian is quicker.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106725 Tigran Petrosian vs Boris Spassky, World Championship Match 1966, King's Indian, Fianchetto, Panno Variation (E63), 1-0] One of the most spectacular finishes to a World Championship game.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1069975 Garry Kasparov vs Tigran Petrosian, Tilburg 1981, Queen's Gambit Accepted (D25), 0-1]  Petrosian weathers the storm of a very aggressive young Kasparov.
 
==Quotes==
* ''In those years, it was easier to win the Soviet Championship than a game against "iron Tigran".'' — [[Lev Polugaevsky]] (Kasparov 2004:80).
 
== Further reading ==
* ''World Chess Champions'' by [[Edward G. Winter]], editor. 1981 ISBN 0-08-024094-1
* ''Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games'' by Irving Chernev; Dover; August 1995. ISBN 0-486-28674-6
 
{{start box}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Mikhail Botvinnik]]|
  title= [[World chess champion|World Chess Champion]] |
  years= 1963&ndash;1969 |
  after= [[Boris Spassky]]
}}
{{end box}}
 
==References==
* [[Garry Kasparov]] (2004). ''On my Great Predecessors'', Volume 3.  Everyman.  ISBN 1-85744-371-3
 
* [[Viktor Vasiliev]] ''Tigran Petrosian: His Life and Games''. Zhizn Shakhmatista, 1969.  [[B. T. Batsford]], 1974.  ISBN 0-7134-2818-X .
 
*{{cite web | title=Tigran Petrosian | work=Chess Champions | url=http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/petrosian.html | accessdate=August 14 | accessyear=2005}}
 
== External links ==
* [http://www.wtharvey.com/petr.html 50 Critical Positions from His Games]
* [http://www.tim-thompson.com/petrosian.html Biography]

Revision as of 08:38, 27 September 2019

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (born 17 June 1929 in Tbilisi; died 13 August 1984 in Moscow) was an Armenian chess master who won the Chess World Championship from Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963. He successfully defended his title against Boris Spassky in 1966 but was defeated by Spassky in 1969. Petrosian was noted for his patient style of play through which he sought to weaken an opponent's position gradually. After losing his world title, he remained an active member of the USSR's Presidium of the Chess Federation. In 1968, he published his book Chess and Philosophy.[1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Tigran Petrosian. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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