Python Strategy by Tigran Petrosian and the Red and Blue book game collections

Quality Chess released a game collection of Tigran Petrosian's called Python Strategy.  It is an english translation of the russian text Strategy of Soundness.  I'm looking for a list of the games out of the book because I read that the Red and Blue books of Petrosians games have the same games and comments.

http://www.amazon.com/Games-Tigran-Petrosian-1942-1965/dp/4871874230/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1438714292&sr=8-7&keywords=petrosians+games

If this is the case I don't want to buy Python Strategy.  But if there are significant differences then I will.  The best way for me to judge is to compare the list to what is in the Read and Blue Books.

Another similarity between them is that all of the forwards and essays in the beginning of Python Strategy and the Red and Blue Books are the same, and they all have the same compiler.

Can someone help me out?

The relationship between Python Strategy and The Games of Tigran Petrosian (as published in blue and red volumes by Ishi Press) seems to be somewhat complicated and I am afraid that I can not do a comprehensive comparison at this time, but perhaps I can provide enough information to enable one to make an approximate guess about the situation.

Python starts with an "Editor's Foreword" (by Oleg Stetsko) that does not, as far as I can tell, correspond to anything in Games. The concluding paragraph states, "In editing the book I have endeavoured not only to preserve the legacy of Tigran Petrosian as collected together by Eduard Shekhtman, and to leave the style unchanged while eliminating some outdated and no longer topical material (from a number of interviews). I have also attempted to fill some gaps in the presentation of Petrosian's competitive career. The main task was to supplement the book with some games of key importance in that career, particularly in the matches with Spassky and Fischer."

The "Editor's Foreword" is followed by a "Compiler's Foreward" by Eduard Shekhtman, "The Logic of Talent" by GM Nikolai Krogius, "The man I Knew" by GM Svetozar Gligoric, "A Journey Across the Street" by Nikolai Tarasov, and a quote of TP himself, introduced by "Tigran Petrosian recalls:". This all seems to be similar to material at the beginning of Games.

GAME 1 in Python appears to be #69 in the first volume (blue) of Games. GAME 2 appears to be #105 in the 1st volume of Games. I would guess that the Python and Games annotations are different translations from the same source. I noticed an example where the difference is more than a matter of phrasing. In Games, it says, "The fact that, with the given pawn formation,the exchange of light-square bishops favours Black, was well known to the lads in our club." In Python, it says, "The children in our club had firmly absorbed the principle that with this kind of pawn formation, an exchange of light-squared bishop's is in Black's favour. A short essay on this topic, under Ebralidze's auspices, was written by A. Busalev who later became a master."

GAME 111 is the last game in the main text of Python. It appears to match #978 in the second volume (red) of Games. Most of the over-2000 games in Games are not annotated or annotated with little more than symbols.

I do not see anything in Games that corresponds to the Appendix after GAME 111 in Python. For that appendix, GM Karsten Mueller wrote, "Under the Microscope of the Computer".

At the quality chess site, it is possible to view an excerpt of Python. You can see GAMEs 46, 47, 48, and 75.

Thank you for your comments.  I did go through the Python sample on the Quality Chess Website.  It turns out, that, Python and the games collection's comments are different for game 46.  They are even commenting on different moves.  Games 47 and 48 are virtually identical, just some minor translation differences.  Game 75 is the most interesting.  In the games collection it is just a list of moves.  In Python it has full comments.  So they are different and I am going to buy it along with Positional Decion Making in Chess.  And Thank you for your help, you really did help me decide to get it.

I have both Python and the red and blue books. The source material is the same. The translation virtually identitical. The main difference is the uncommented or lightly informator styled commented games are not present in Python. All games commented on by Petrosian are identical in comments. Some games at end of collection are annotated by Aagard or other players,four or five games of these. There is a chapter by a German GM, which shows some of the mistakes in annotation made by Petrosian and others, which software has picked up on. So myself was a little bit disappointed because thought was a russian book not translated into english before.

Hi!

I need a well commented book on Petrosian's best chess games.

I suspect , Petrosian master of  Defence' would be the one I need to understand prophylaxis, but $115 is beyond my budget. Would anyone help?

cantav,

I believe that Master of Defence is the same as the book Petrosian's Best Games of Chess by Clarke.  It is often available in its hardcover form used at various places including Amazon for less than the later paperback edition.

There is a 2007 book that is, in part, about Petrosian:

Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy by Neil McDonald.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092313/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review620.pdf

This book in pgn ?

I do not know what it means for a book to be in pgn. Anyway, here is another possibility to consider.

Petrosian’s Legacy by Tigran Petrosian (1990)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review309.pdf

Also, perhaps Petrosian: Move by Move by Thomas Engqvist is of interest.

"Engqvist gives us a rare treat and a genuine, sympathetic understanding of one of chess' greats who nowadays tends to gets lost in the shuffle!" - Michael Ciamarra (2014)

USCF Sales is still selling Tigran Petrosian - His Life and Games by Vik. L. Vasiliev, and, of course, there is the relatively new Python Strategy by Tigran Petrosian, as well as the red and blue Games of Tigran Petrosian. It would perhaps be a good idea to be wary of duplication among these books.

Pgn book version allow u to read it on an electronic device and the pieces move,, u dont need a board n pieces to read... its jus a formate.. instead of pdf...https://www.everymanchess.com/ebooks/chess-viewer

The McDonald and Engqvist books are both published by Everyman. I have not checked, but it seems like a good bet that they are both available in some sort of ebook format. By the way, I gave the wrong link for the review of the McDonald book. It has now been fixed.