Tigran Petrosjan

                                                                                                           He was nicknamed Tigran of Iron and the Rock because of his style characterized by an almost impenetrable defense, which emphasized safety above all else. He was nominated for the world championship on eight occasions between 1953 and 1980. He became world champion in 1963 (defeating his compatriot Mikhail Botvinnik) and successfully defended the title in 1966 against the other Soviet, Boris Spassky, against whom he later lost it definitively in 1969. He was four times Soviet national champion (1959, 1961 , 1969, 1975) and was defeated in only one match of the 129 played at the chess Olympics. He is probably considered the most difficult player to beat in the history of the discipline. Of an Armenian family, Petrosjan was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he spent most of his childhood. He learned to play chess at the age of eight, after entering a local chess school at the Pioneer Palace in Tbilisi, being influenced by Aaron Nimzowitsch's theories in his playing style. His first important result was 1st-3rd place (tied with J. Vasilchuk and A. Reško) at the fourth edition of the Soviet junior championship (Leningrad 1945), with the result of 11 points out of 15. The sixth Armenian championship ( Yerevan 1946) saw Petrosjan win the title with a score of 9 out of 11. But the same year, in Leningrad, among the candidates for the title of master he could only achieve 6.5 out of 15, for a joint 8th-11th place. In the seventh Georgian championship (Tbilisi 1946) he scored 12.5 out of 19, second among the Georgians. The winner Paul Keres (18 out of 19) practically played a tournament of his own, conceding only two draws, one of which was to Petrosjan. An important step for Petrosyan was the decision to move to Moscow in 1949, where he began to play, and win, many tournaments. The capital, along with Leningrad and Kiev, was one of the three major Soviet chess cities. He won the 1951 tournament in Moscow and began to show steady progress. In 1952 he became a twenty-three-year-old Soviet and international grandmaster. Before dedicating himself solely to his career as a chess player, Petrosian worked as a janitor and a street cleaner. In 1952 he married Rona Jakovlena Avinezar, a translator also active in chess circles. In the 1963 world championship, he won the 1962 Curaçao Candidates Tournament and the following year he defeated Mikhail Botvinnik 12.5 to 9.5 thus becoming the new world chess champion. Botvinnik suffered from the Armenian's cautious and patient style, with which a single rash or even imprecise move on his part was enough for Petrosjan to punish him harshly. Along the way to the world championship he is the only player in history to have been undefeated during all the matches of the interzonals and the candidates tournament. Petrosyan defended his title in 1966 by defeating Boris Spassky 12.5 to 11.5. He thus became the first player to win the first world title match during his reign since Alekhine's victory over Bogolyubov in 1934. In 1968 Yerevan State University awarded him a degree for his thesis "Chess logic". In 1969 Spassky attempted to attack the title again and this time Petrosjan was defeated 10.5 to 12.5. In the following round of qualifications Petrosjan was defeated in the candidates' final by Bobby Fischer with a clear 2.5 to 6.5 (+1 =3 -5), Petrosjan however at least had the satisfaction of winning the second match, thus putting an end to the series, almost incredible at such levels, of 20 consecutive victories for Fischer (seven during the international tournament in Palma de Mallorca, six against Tajmanov, six against Larsen and the first match against Petrosjan himself). Petrosyan was not selected for the Soviet Olympic team until 1958, which was curious enough as he had already been nominated for the world title twice by then. However, he then participated in ten consecutive Chess Olympiads, from 1958 to 1978. He won 9 team gold medals, one team silver medal and six personal gold medals. His overall Olympic performance was impressive: +78 =50 -1 (only one defeat in 129 games, against Robert Hübner), an overall result of 79.8%. Among those who have participated in at least four Olympics this is the third best result ever, after that of Mikhail Tal' (81.2%) and Anatoly Karpov (80.1). Petrosyan participated as a member of the Soviet team in every European team championship held during his lifetime, a total of eight times (from 1976 to 1983), winning eight team and four personal gold medals. According to Olimpase.org, he recorded a winning percentage of 64.4% with 15 wins, 37 draws and 0 losses. Together with several other strong Soviet chess players, he signed a petition condemning the actions of Viktor Korčnoi, considered by the state a traitor for abandoning the Soviet Union in 1976. Beyond the important geopolitical issues of the Cold War era , it is likely that Petrosjan's membership was also motivated by personal issues. The two players had in fact had an acrimonious relationship with each other at least since the 1974 candidates' match, where Petrosjan abandoned the semi-final against Korčnoj after five games, when he found himself trailing by 1.5 to 3.5 (+1 =1 -3). . His match against Korčnoj in 1977 saw the two former colleagues refuse to shake hands (common practice before and after a match) or even speak to each other; they even asked to have separate canteens and toilets. Petrosian was defeated and consequently fired from the position of editor of the chess magazine 64, the most widespread in the Soviet Union, which he had founded together with Aleksandr Rošal'. His detractors condemned his reluctance to attack and some attributed it to a lack of courage. At this point, however, Botvinnik spoke in his defense, stating that Petrosjan attacked, but only when he had a concrete chance of success, and that his greatest strength was his defense. Among his later successes we can mention the victories at the 1976 Lone Pine tournament and in the 1979 Paul Keres Memorial in Tallinn (12 out of 16 undefeated, ahead of, among others, Michail Tal' and David Bronštejn). In the same year, together with Lajos Portisch and Robert Hübner, he shared first place in the interzonal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. In 1981 he was 2nd in Tilburg, half a point behind the winner Oleksandr Beljavs'kyj. Here he achieved his last great victory, with an incredibly precise defense against the strong attack of the young Garri Kasparov. He died in 1984 in Moscow at the age of 55 from stomach cancer. He is buried in the Vagan'kovo cemetery. In 1987 the then 13th world chess champion Garry Kasparov discovered a memorial on his grave. It features the world champion's laurel wreath and an image of the solar corona shining behind the twin peaks of Mount Ararat, the national symbol of Armenia. In Aparan, a town in Armenia, a monument to Tigran Petrosjan was inaugurated. The great chess players Spassky, Kasparov and Topalov sent messages of congratulations. The main square of Aparan was also dedicated to him. In 2018 he was depicted on the Armenian 2000 Dram banknote, the second player ever to receive this recognition after Paul Keres, depicted on the 5 Estonian crowns. Two important opening variations bear his name: Petrosjan variant of the East Indian defense: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Petrosjan system of the West Indian defense: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 He is best known for being one of the best players to develop the prophylaxis theory, years after Aaron Nimzowitsch. His playing style was purely strategic, notable for his ability to anticipate his opponent's possible attacks, so much so that Bobby Fischer said of him: "He knows how to sense an opponent's threat twenty moves in advance." He did not concede any weaknesses to his opponent and it was very difficult to beat him: the term "super-positionalist" was coined for him, as the complementary opposite of Mikhail Tal's "super-romanticism".