* 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.

As black, Petrosian enjoyed playing the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation and the French Defense.

Today the Petrosian Variation is still considered the most pressing variation, with the greatest score in Master games.

* 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.

* 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.

* Miguel Najdorf vs Robert Byrne, Buenos Aires 1964, King's Indian Defense, Classical / Petrosian Variation ( E93 ), 0 – 1 A key victory from the tournament where Byrne earned his GM title.

* Lajos Portisch vs Tigran Petrosian, Moscow 1967, Slav Defence, Exchange Variation ( D10 ), 1-0 Although not really considered a tactician, Portisch proves here in a quiet opening variation that not even the World Champion can be proof against his attacking skills.

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

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

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 was an expert against the King's Indian Defence, and he often played what is now known as the Petrosian System: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. d5.

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, and the French Defence after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Qd7.

Keres won Pärnu 1947 with 9. 5 / 13 (+ 7 = 5 − 1 ), Szczawno-Zdrój 1950 with 14. 5 / 19 (+ 11 = 7 − 1 ), and Budapest 1952 with 12. 5 / 17 (+ 10 = 5 − 2 ), the latter ahead of world champion Botvinnik and an all-star field which included Geller, Smyslov, Gideon Stahlberg, Laszlo Szabo, and Petrosian.

He placed tied 7th – 8th in the USSR Championship, Tbilisi 1959 ( URS-ch26 ) with 10. 5 / 19, as Petrosian won.

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.

He placed 5th at San Antonio 1972 on 9. 5 / 15, as Petrosian, Lajos Portisch, and Anatoly Karpov won.

Perhaps his best result came at the 1952 Saltsjöbaden Interzonal, which he won with a score of 16. 5 / 20, three clear points ahead of Tigran Petrosian and Mark Taimanov in second place, and without losing a game.

* 4 ... Bb7 5. a3 became the more common move order to reach the Petrosian system by the mid-1980s, where White has avoided 4. a3 c5 5. d5 Ba6 and 4. a3 Ba6.

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

The position at left arose from the English Opening in the famous miniature Petrosian – Ree, Wijk aan Zee 1971 after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Nd5 Nxd5 6. cxd5 e4 ??

In 1964, Byrne's third-place finish at the Buenos Aires tournament ( behind Paul Keres and World Champion Tigran Petrosian ), with 11. 5 / 17, made him an International Grandmaster.

Petrosian vs. Spassky, World Championship 1966 ( game 12 ) 1. Nf3 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. e4 e6 6. Be2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Qc2 h6 10. Rad1 O-O 11. d5 e5 12. Qc1 Kh7 13. g3 f5 14. exf5 Nxf5 15. Bd3 Bc8 16. Kg2 Nf6 17. Ne4 Nh5 18. Bd2 Bd7 19. Kh1 Ne7 20. Nh4 Bh3 21. Rg1 Bd7 22. Be3 Qe8 23. Rde1 Qf7 24. Qc2 Kh8 25. Nd2 Nf5 26. Nxf5 gxf5 27. g4 e4 28. gxh5 f4 29. Rxg7 Qxg7 30. Rg1 Qe5 31. Nf3 exd3 32. Nxe5 dxc2 33. Bd4 dxe5 34. Bxe5 + Kh7 35. Rg7 + Kh8 36. Rg6 + Kh7 37. Rg7 + Kh8 38. Rg6 + Kh7 39. Rg7 + ½ – ½

His works influenced numerous other players, including Savielly Tartakower, Milan Vidmar, Richard Réti, Akiba Rubinstein, Bent Larsen and Tigran Petrosian, and his influence is still felt today.

* 1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player ( d. 1984 )

** Tigran Petrosian, Georgian chess player ( b. 1929 )

* 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.

He shared second place in the 26th Soviet final with Tal, at Tbilisi 1959, finishing a point behind champion Tigran Petrosian, on 12½ / 19.

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.

Spassky then finished ahead of Petrosian and a super-class field at Santa Monica 1966 ( the Piatigorsky Cup ), with 11½ / 18, half a point ahead of Bobby Fischer, as he overcame the American grandmaster's challenge after Fischer had scored 3½ / 9 in the first cycle of the event.

Before Spassky, Mark Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian, had lost convincingly to Fischer, but Spassky maintained his composure and competitiveness.

Spassky finished in fourth place at the annual IBM tournament held in Amsterdam, one point behind winners Petrosian and Albin Planinc.

Resisters Alexander Kazarian and Bardukh Petrosian were awarded by the highest military orders of France by General Charles de Gaulle.

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.

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.

He used his rations to buy Chess Praxis by Danish grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch, a book which Petrosian would later claim to have had the greatest influence on him as a chess player.

As such, Petrosian developed a repertoire of solid positional openings, such as the Caro-Kann Defence.

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

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

Petrosian ( standing on right, with jacket ) at the 1961 European Chess Team Championship.

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