The Battle Of Two World Champions

Published January 9, 2013 | By DoughBoy

by National Life Master Loal Davis

Mikhail Tal (November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess Grandmaster and the eighth World Chess Champion. Widely regarded as a creative genius and the best attacking player of all time, he played in a daring, combinational style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Every game, he once said, was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem. He was often called “Misha”, a diminutive for Mikhail, and “The magician from Riga”. Both The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly regarded chess writer. He also holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history.

Tigran Petrosian (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was ninth World Chess Champion. He was nicknamed “Iron Tigran” due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defense, which emphasized safety above all else. He won the world championship in 1963 (against Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Spassky), and lost it in 1969 (to Spassky). He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). He was arguably the hardest player to beat in the history of chess.

In 1974 they played each other in the USSR Team Cup Championship – and what a battle it was. Short, Sweet, Instructive.

Click on the Diagram to step through the annotated game.

Posted in Chess Game Analysis, Mihail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Tournaments and Championships | Leave a comment

The ‘Iron Tiger’ Crushes The ‘Beast Of Baku’

Published April 8, 2012 | By DoughBoy

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. His playing style earned him the nicknamed “Iron Tigran”. He was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the world championship against Botvinik in 1963, successfully defended it against Spassky in 1966, and lost it to Spassky in 1969. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975) and is generally recognized as the hardest player to beat in all of chess history. “In those years, it was easier to win the Soviet Championship than a game against ‘Iron Tigran’.” – Lev Polugaevsky “It is to Petrosian’s advantage that his opponents never know when he is suddenly going to play like Mikhail Tal.” – Boris Spassky “He [Petrosian] has an incredible tactical view, and a wonderful sense of the danger… No matter how much you think deep… He will ‘smell’ any kind of danger 20 moves before!” – Robert Fischer “Chess is a game by its form, an art by its content and a science by the difficulty of gaining mastery in it. Chess can convey as much happiness as a good book or work of music can. However, it is necessary to learn to play well and only afterwards will one experience real delight.” – Tigran Petrosian In the seventh round of Tilburg (1981) the ‘Iron Tiger’ crushed the ‘Beast Of Baku’.

Kasparov versus Petrosian (1981)

Black To Play (Move 30)

For the annotated game (PGN file) – See Comments

Posted in Chess Game Analysis, Gary Kasparov, Tigran Petrosian, Tournaments and Championships | Tagged Gary Kasparov, IBM Deep Blue vs. Gary Kasparov, Kasparov | 1 Comment