“Iron
Tigran” Petrosian
Tigran
Vartanovich Petrosian (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a
Soviet Armenian Grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to
1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost
impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above
all else.
Petrosian
was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953,
1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the World
Championship in 1963 against Mikhail Botvinnik, successfully defended
it in 1966 against Boris Spassky, and lost it in 1969 to Spassky.
Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship
Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet
Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975).
Petrosian
is widely known for popularizing chess in Armenia. He was
recognized as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess.
Petrosian was not selected for the Soviet Olympiad side until
1958; he had already been a Candidate twice by that time. But he then
made ten straight Soviet Olympiad teams from 1958 to 1978, won nine
team gold medals, one team silver medal, and six individual gold
medals.
His
overall performance in Olympiad play is impressive: +78 −1
=50 (only one game lost, to Robert Hübner, out of 129 played), the
third all-time best performance after Mikhail Tal and Anatoly Karpov.
Petrosian was an expert against the King's Indian Defence, and
he often played what is now known as the Petrosian System. The
Queen's Indian Defence also has a variation developed by Petrosian.
This system received much attention in 1980 when it was used by the
young Garry Kasparov to defeat several grandmasters. Today the
Petrosian Variation is still considered the most pressing variation,
with the greatest score in Master games.
For
his excellence in World Chess and significant contribution to the
game, the Glenwood Chess Club honours his memory through the
Petrosian Memorial Tournament, a one day rapid swiss on 1 June 2014.
Current can be seen here. (Note a player's entry will only appear here if they entered using the online entry)