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Tigran Vardani Petrosian (; ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster. The ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969, he was nicknamed " Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else. Petrosian is often credited with popularizing chess in Armenia.
Petrosian was a candidate for the World Chess 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 to Spassky in 1969. 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 used his rationing to buy Chess Praxis by Danish grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch, the book which Petrosian later stated had the greatest influence on him as a chess player. He also purchased The Art of Sacrifice in Chess by Rudolf Spielmann. The other player to have had an early effect on Petrosian's chess was José Raúl Capablanca. At the age of 12 he began training at the Pioneers Palace under the tutelage of Archil Ebralidze. Ebralidze was a supporter of Nimzowitsch and Capablanca, and his scientific approach to chess discouraged wild tactics and dubious combinations. As a result, Petrosian developed a repertoire of solid positional Chess opening, such as the Caro–Kann Defence. After training at the Palace of Pioneers for just one year, he defeated visiting Soviet grandmaster Salo Flohr at a simultaneous exhibition.
By 1946, Petrosian had earned the title of Candidate Master. Also that year he drew against Grandmaster Paul Keres at the Georgian Chess Championship, then moved to Yerevan where he won the Armenian Chess Championship and the USSR Junior Chess Championship. Petrosian earned the title of Chess master during the 1947 USSR Chess Championship, though he failed to qualify for the finals. He set about improving his game by studying Nimzowitsch's My System and by moving to Moscow to seek greater competition.
Petrosian placed fifth in the 1953 Candidates Tournament, a result which marked the beginning of a stagnant period in his career. He seemed content drawing against weaker players and maintaining his title of Grandmaster rather than improving his chess or making an attempt at becoming World Champion. This attitude was illustrated by his result in the 1955 USSR Championship: out of 19 games played, Petrosian was undefeated, but won only four games and drew the rest, with each of the draws lasting twenty moves or less. Although his consistent playing ensured decent tournament results, it was looked down upon by the public and by Soviet chess media and authorities. Near the end of the event, journalist Vasily Panov wrote the following comment about the tournament contenders: "Real chances of victory, besides Botvinnik and Smyslov, up to round 15, are held by Geller, Spassky and Taimanov. I deliberately exclude Petrosian from the group, since from the very first rounds the latter has made it clear that he is playing for an easier, but also honourable conquest—a place in the interzonal quartet."
This period of complacency ended with the 1957 USSR Championship, where out of 21 games played, Petrosian won seven, lost four, and drew the remaining 10. Although this result was only good enough for seventh place in a field of 22 competitors, his more ambitious approach to tournament play was met with great appreciation from the Soviet chess community. He went on to win his first USSR Championship in 1959, and later that year in the Candidates 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. His excellent playing continued through 1962 when he qualified for the Candidates Tournament for what would be his first World Championship match.
Having won the Candidates Tournament, Petrosian earned the right to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the title of World Chess Champion in a 24-game match. In addition to practicing his chess, Petrosian also prepared for the match by skiing for several hours each day. He believed that in such a long match, physical fitness and endurance could become a factor in the later games. This advantage was increased by Botvinnik being much older than Petrosian. Whereas a multitude of draws in tournament play could prevent a player from taking first place, draws did not affect the outcome 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. Petrosian won the match against Botvinnik with a final score of 5 to 2 with 15 draws, securing the title of World Champion.
In 1966, three years after Petrosian had earned the title of World Chess Champion, he was challenged by Boris Spassky. Petrosian defended his title by winning rather than drawing the match, a feat that had not been accomplished since Alexander Alekhine defeated Efim Bogoljubov in the 1934 World Championship.In the 1951 and 1954 World Championship matches, Botvinnik retained his title because he drew with David Bronstein and with Vasily Smyslov respectively. All other World Championship matches between 1934 and 1966 were won by the challengers. However, Spassky defeated Efim Geller, Bent Larsen, and Viktor Korchnoi in the next candidates cycle, earning a rematch with Petrosian, in 1969. Spassky won the match by 12½–10½.
Some of his late successes included victories at Lone Pine 1976 and in the 1979 Paul Keres Memorial tournament in Tallinn (12/16 without a loss, ahead of Mikhail Tal, David Bronstein, and others). He shared first place (with Lajos Portisch and Robert Hübner) in the Rio de Janeiro Interzonal the same year, and won second place in Tilburg in 1981, half a point behind the winner Alexander Beliavsky. It was here that he played his last famous victory, a miraculous escape against the young Garry Kasparov.
In 1952,An interview with Yuri Averbakh. Petrosian married Rona Yakovlevna (née Avinezer, 1923–2005), a Russian Jew born in Kiev, Ukraine. A graduate of the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages, she was an English teacher and interpreter. She is buried at the Jewish section of the Vostryakovsky cemetery in Moscow. They had two sons: Vartan and Mikhail. The latter was Rona's son from the first marriage.
His hobbies included football, backgammon, cross-country skiing, table tennis, and gardening.
Petrosian died in Moscow of stomach cancer on 13 August 1984, and is buried in the Moscow Armenian Cemetery.
In 1987, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov unveiled a memorial at Petrosian's grave which depicts the laurel wreath awarded to Chess World Champion and an image contained within a crown of the sun shining above the twin peaks of national symbol of Petrosian's Armenian homeland. On 7 July 2006, a monument honouring Petrosian was opened in the Davtashen district of Yerevan, in the street named after Petrosian. Petrosian was also honoured on the third banknote series of the Armenian dram, with his image on the 2,000 dram banknote.
Petrosian also made the Soviet team for the first eight European Team Championships (from 1957 to 1983). He won eight team gold medals, and four board gold medals. His totals in Euroteams play are (+15−0=37), for 64.4 per cent. His Euroteams results follow:
Petrosian preferred to play openings that did not commit his pieces to any particular Chess strategy. As black, Petrosian enjoyed playing the Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation and the French Defence. As white, he often played the English Opening. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian on ChessGames.com Petrosian would often move the same piece multiple times in a few moves, confusing his opponents in the Chess opening and threatening draws by threefold repetition in the Chess endgame. In a game against Mark Taimanov during the 1955 USSR Chess Championship, Petrosian moved the same rook six times in a 24-move game, with four of those moves occurring on consecutive turns. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian vs Mark Taimanov on ChessGames.com He had a strong affinity for knights rather than bishops, a characteristic that is often attributed to the influence of Aron Nimzowitsch.
A number of illustrative 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." He has been described as a centipede lurking in the dark, a tiger looking for the opportunity to pounce, a python who slowly squeezes his victims to death, and as a crocodile who waits for hours to make a decisive strike. Boris Spassky, who succeeded Petrosian as World Chess Champion, described his style of play thus: "Petrosian reminds me of a hedgehog. Just when you think you have caught him, he puts out his quills."
Petrosian's style of play, although highly successful for avoiding defeats, was criticized as being dull. Chess enthusiasts saw his "ultraconservative" style as an unwelcome contrast to the popular image of Soviet chess as "daring" and "indomitable". His 1971 Candidates Tournament match with Viktor Korchnoi featured so many monotonous draws that the Russian press began to complain. However, Svetozar Gligorić described Petrosian as being "very impressive in his incomparable ability to foresee danger on the board and to avoid any risk of defeat." Petrosian responded to his criticisms by saying: "They say my games should be more 'interesting'. I could be more 'interesting'—and also lose."
Another consequence of Petrosian's style of play was that he did not score many victories, which in turn meant he seldom won tournaments even though he often finished second or third. However, his style was extremely effective in matches.
Petrosian could also occasionally play in an attacking, sacrificial style. In his 1966 match with Spassky, he won Game 7 and Game 10 this way. Boris Spassky subsequently stated: "It is to Petrosian's advantage that his opponents never know when he is suddenly going to play like Mikhail Tal." (Tal was known as the most aggressive attacker of his era.)
One of Petrosian's most famous examples of the positional exchange sacrifice is from his game against Samuel Reshevsky in Zurich 1953 (). Reshevsky, as White, appears to have an advantage due to his strong , which may become mobile after Bf3 and d4–d5. Petrosian realized he was in a difficult position because of the passive placement of his pieces, relegated to defensive roles. He further understood that White might also advance on the with h2–h4–h5, provoking weaknesses that would make it more difficult to defend later on. Faced with these threats, Petrosian devised a plan to maneuver his knight to the square d5, where it would be prominently placed in the centre and blockade the advance of White's pawns.
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 pawn with ...b5–b4.
The game was eventually drawn on move 41.
The Queen's Indian Defence also has a variation developed by Petrosian: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3, Queen's Indian Defense, Petrosian Variation on Chess.com with the idea of preventing ...Bb4+. This system received much attention in 1980 when it was used by the young Garry Kasparov to defeat several grandmasters. Today the Petrosian Variation is still considered the most pressing variation, with the greatest score in Master games.
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, Gruenfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Petrosian System on Chess.com and the French Defence after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Qd7. French Defense: Winawer Variation, Petrosian Variation on Chess.com Some authorities refer to a variation of the Caro–Kann Defence with his name, along with former world champion Vassily Smyslov: the Petrosian–Smyslov Variation, 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7.
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