”During his most fortunate years Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was so rarely beaten that each of his defeats caused a sensation. For this legendary invincibility he was nicknamed “iron Tigran” though due to his peculiar “passive” style his name could be hardly associated with the names of proud chess Olympus conquerors.

Yet Petrosian managed to create perfectly harmonic and energetic positions where beyond the seeming lack of dynamics hid enormous internal power (and the smallest changes were immediately accounted in the general strategy, which was not always clear to his competitor).

His heritage has not yet been investigated as thoroughly and comprehensively as it should be. At first sight he taught chess world common truths, but as a matter of fact these very truths form the basis of the chess art.

Tigran Vartanovich’s depth of style results from his lucid thought and a rare gift of understanding not only global chess problems but also the cobweb of the game tactics and strategy.

”Perhaps I prefer to defend myself than to attack, but who said that defense is a less dangerous and risky thing than the attack? Were there not enough games that entered the treasury of the chess art particularly due to the masterly defense? – said Petrosian – It is logics that I value in chess in the first place. I am convinced that there is nothing accidental in this game. That’s my credo. I believe only in a logic “proper” game…”



He mounted the throne in the year of my birth in 1963. And we met in l970s, when Petrosian was already an ex-champion with a long service and a habitue of matches of challengers. It became more and more difficult for him to play in his full capacity and he played many games in a draw.

But when circumstances pressed on him and the game excited him, his actual strength manifested. As a matter of fact natural understanding of positioning cannot disappear with years and he was still able to go all out in two or three games in one chess tournament.

When I was 16 years old I got a lucky chance to play together with Petrosian in my first international tournament (Banja Luka, 1979). He took care of my like a father and tried to create a good spirit. We talked a lot and not only about chess, analyzed and discussed games.

As my long-term trainer Alexander Nikitin justly writes, “the tournament drew together a young man and an experienced ex-champion, and during the following five years of Tigran’s life Garry and I learned a lot from the wise Master during creative talks for which we came to his place”. I actually picked up much from Petrosian's valuable experience and this helped me in my struggle for a world crown.

His deep philosophical approach to everything with regard to chess helped to develop emotional stability and to overcome the most intense situations. Tigran Vartanovich also taught me unforgettable lessons when we played in Moscow and Tilburg in 1981. Petrosian's amazing skill to defend constrained positions and to launch a counterattack unexpectedly for a competitor showed during those games.



I was so lucky in the beginning!
At the age of 18 I was a thoughtless d’Artagnian who rushed to Paris to conquer it, but on his way he suddenly met an out-and-out and treacherous “stranger from Maine” ...

And I lost. Duels with Petrosian expanded the borders of my understanding of chess. If it were not for those two defeats, perhaps I would never reach the chess top.

Our duel in Tilburg developed under a similar scenario. Before that I had lost a vantage position in white to Spassky, but later I beat Hubner in black using a good style and naturally I was eager "to revenge" upon another world ex-champion.

From an advantageous position I sacrificed a pawn to win tempo and to build an attack upon the king. But in a mutual time trouble I could not see a clear continuation and again faced Petrosian’s exciting defense. I saw, how many latent opportunities for defense could often hide in constrained positions! And certainly I got imbued with immense respect for the talent of the 9-th world champion.

His long-term journalistic and pedagogical activities deserve an equal recognition. He made brilliant comments since Botvinnik - Smyslov and Botvinik-Tal matches and was the author of the most interesting problematic articles. In mid-60s he edited the Chess Moscow newspaper; in 1968, using his contacts with top government officials he created and ran a popular all-Union weekly journal 64 for almost 10 years.

And in 1977 he willingly accepted Nikitin's suggestion to organize Petrosian's school for young Spartak chess players, and he had never been just “a very important person”, had never missed a session and until his health allowed worked with children twice a year. At this school, which was later named after Petrosian, studied future grand masters Gelfand, Novikov, Matveeva, Dokhoyan and many other future masters.

During the last months of his life Petrosian had a severe disease and looked emaciated (the same happened to his friend Tal years later). Nevertheless in the spring 1984 he agreed to help me to prepare for a world title match with Karpov and we even met a couple of times. I remember a ceremony at the Spartak chess club on the occasion of my victory in the final match of challengers, where I beat Smyslov. Petrosian and Tal sat in the honorary presidium.

When someone from the audience asked me: “What do you think about Fisher?” – I answered: “Let his competitors - live classics who are present here – answer this question”! At hearing these words dozing Tal who was slightly tipsy raised his head and murmured: “hardly live classics”; Petrosian cast an angry glance at him, but immediately sniffed dramatically, hopelessly waved his hand and burst out laughing.

He was 55 in June. One could still meet him at the USSR Central Chess Club in the Gogol Boulevard; he had a dream of playing the second Match of the Century (London, 1984), he wanted to go with his team and refused to believe that his disease was incurable. Yet – alas – his days were limited. Two months later, on August 13 Tigran Vartanovich passed away”.