The final was against his Leningrad rival Korchnoi at Kiev, and Spassky triumphed (+ 4 − 1 = 5 ), which earned him another match with Petrosian.

Tigran Petrosian ( Tigran Petrosyan ; Tigran Vartanovich Petrosyan ) ( June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984 ) was a Soviet Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969.

Petrosian was recognised as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess by the authors of a 2004 book.

Tigran Petrosian was born to Armenian parents on June 17, 1929 in Tiflis, Soviet Union ( now Georgia ).

As a young boy, Petrosian was an excellent student and enjoyed studying, as did his brother Hmayak and sister Vartoosh.

Petrosian was orphaned during World War II and was forced to sweep streets to earn a living.

It was in this tournament that Petrosian faced world champion Botvinnik for the first time.

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.

Petrosian was awarded the title of Master of Sport of the USSR in 1960, and won a second Soviet title in 1961.

This advantage was increased by Botvinnik being much older than Petrosian.

Petrosian studied for a degree of Master of Philosophical Science at Yerevan State University ; his thesis, dated 1968, was titled " Chess Logic, Some Problems of the Logic of Chess Thought ".

Three years after Petrosian had earned the title of World Chess Champion, he was challenged by Boris Spassky.

It was the continuation of a bitter feud between the two, dating back at least to their 1974 Candidates semifinal match in which Petrosian withdrew after five games while trailing 3. 5 – 1. 5 (+ 3 − 1 = 1 ).

Petrosian went on to lose the match and was subsequently fired as editor of Russia's largest chess magazine, 64.

Yerevan Chess House was named after Petrosian after his death.

On 7 July 2006, a monument honoring Petrosian was opened in the Davtashen district of Yerevan, in the street named after Petrosian.

Petrosian was not selected for the Soviet Olympiad side until 1958 ; he had already been a Candidate twice by that time.

Petrosian was a conservative, cautious, and highly defensive chess player who was strongly influenced by Nimzowitsch's idea of prophylaxis.

Fellow Soviet chess grandmaster and personal friend Mikhail Tal described Petrosian as " cowardly ", out of frustration that this eminent tactician so rarely showed the chessworld what he was capable of.

" Petrosian was, in the words of future World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, " the first defender with a capital D ".

By 1946, Petrosian had earned the title of Candidate Master.

Another disappointment for Spassky came at the qualifier for the next Interzonal, the Soviet final, played in Moscow 1961, where he again lost a crucial last-round game, this to Leonid Stein, who thus qualified, as Spassky finished equal fifth with 11 / 19, while Petrosian won.

Spassky lost a keenly fought match to Petrosian in Moscow, with three wins against Petrosian's four, with seventeen draws, though the last of his three victories came only in the twenty-third game, after Petrosian had ensured his retention of the title, the first outright match victory for a reigning champion since the latter of Alekhine's successful defences against Bogoljubov in 1934.

Petrosian earned the title of Master during the 1947 USSR Chess Championship, though he failed to qualify for the finals.

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.

After playing in the 1962 Interzonal in Stockholm, Petrosian qualified for the Candidates Tournament in Curaçao along with Pal Benko, Miroslav Filip, Bobby Fischer, Yefim Geller, Paul Keres, Viktor Korchnoi, and Mikhail Tal.

As evidence for this claim, he noted that all 12 games played between Petrosian, Geller, and Keres were draws.

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.

Upon becoming World Champion, Petrosian campaigned for the publication of a chess newspaper for the entire Soviet Union rather than just Moscow.

Petrosian also made the Soviet team for the first eight European Team Championships ( from 1957 to 1983 ).

Petrosian was known for his use of the " positional exchange sacrifice ", where one side sacrifices a rook for the opponent's bishop or knight.

Petrosian introduced the exchange sacrifice for the sake of ' quality of position ', where the time factor, which is so important in the play of Alekhine and Tal, plays hardly any role.

He tied for third place in the 1961 Soviet Championship, at Moscow, defeating Tigran Petrosian on the way.

At Zürich 1961, he tied for 6th – 7th places with 6 / 11, as Keres won ahead of Tigran Petrosian.

* 7. d5 is the Petrosian System, so named for the 1963-69 world champion, who often essayed the line in the 1960s, with Vladimir Kramnik playing this variation extensively in the 1990s.

In 1977 Viktor Korchnoi and former World Champion Tigran Petrosian played a twelve-game quarter-final Candidates Match to ultimately determine the challenger for the 1978 World Championship.

* June 17 – After a 23 game match, Boris Spassky defeats Tigran Petrosian to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow.

Spassky defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1969 to become World Champion, then lost the title in the Fischer – Spassky match in 1972 – one of the most famous chess matches in history.

* Boris Spassky vs Tigran Petrosian, World Championship match, Moscow 1969, game 19, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation ( B94 ), 1 – 0 Aggressive style of play and brilliant sparkles of combinations shows Spassky at his heights.

Petrosian won the match against Botvinnik with a final score of 5 to 2 with 15 draws, securing the title of World Chess Champion.

Petrosian successfully defended his title beating Spassky, a feat that had not been accomplished since Alexander Alekhine defeated Efim Bogoljubov in the 1934 World Chess Championship.

Boris Spassky, who would succeed Petrosian as World Chess Champion, described his style of play as such: " Petrosian reminds me of a hedgehog.

* Tigran Petrosian vs Vasily Smyslov, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation ( B84 ), 0 – 1 The first meeting of two future World Champions goes to Smyslov in a precise positional performance.

Keres shared first with World Champion Tigran Petrosian at the very strong 1963 Piatigorsky Cup in Los Angeles with 8. 5 / 14.

He shared first place with World Champion Tigran Petrosian at Buenos Aires 1964, with 12. 5 / 17.

At Bamberg 1968, he won with 12 / 15, two points ahead of World Champion Tigran Petrosian.

He also had plus records against World Champions Euwe and Tal, and equal records against Smyslov, Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov.

He had multiple wins over all seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov., but lifetime minus scores against them.

* Bent Larsen vs Tigran Petrosian, Santa Monica 1966, Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon Variation ( B39 ), 1 – 0 Larsen unleashes a queen sacrifice to defeat the World Champion.

On both of these occasions, he won an individual silver medal on first board ; in 1968, his score was bettered only by the World Champion, Tigran Petrosian.

World champions Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov have all played this variation.

* 1963-Tigran Petrosian defeats Botvinnik 12. 5 – 9. 5 to become the ninth World Chess Champion.

* 1966-Tigran Petrosian successfully defends his World Championship title against Boris Spassky, 12½ – 11½.