Tigran Petrosian known as "Iron Tigran" is the 9th official world chess champion (1963-1969), editor and lecturer. He wrote chess books like, “The Petrosian Legacy” etc.
He was born on June 17, 1929 at Tbilisi, Georgia. He learned chess at the age of 8 by his father. At 12 years old he started training at the Tiflis Palace of Pioneers under Archil Ebralidze, a supporter of Nimzowitsch and Capablanca, and his approach to the game earned him the nickname "Iron Tigran," reflecting his seemingly impenetrable defensive skills, like Caro-kann Defence.
Petrosian's rise to chess stardom began in the 1940s when he emerged as a formidable player in the Soviet Union, which was a powerhouse in the world of chess at the time. He went on to win the World Junior Chess Championship in 1951, showcasing his exceptional talent and potential at a young age. This victory was a springboard for his future success in the chess world.
In 1952, he earned the title of Grandmaster by achieving the 2nd place in the Stockholm tournament, and qualified for the 1953 Candidates Tournament, his first candidates’ tournament out of 10 continuous and last on 1980.
In 1962, Petrosian placed second in the Interzonal with 15/22 points behind Bobby Fischer (17.5/22) gaining slot for the candidates tournament. Also in the same year, he won the candidates with 17.5/27 thus having the right to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik in a world championship title in 1963.
Petrosian gained the world title at 1963 World Championship with Mikhail Tal with 5 wins 2 losses and 15 draws in a 24 game match. Then defending the title in 1966 with Boris Spassky with +4 -3 =17 results.
And lastly lost the title on rematch with Boris Spassky at 1969 with 4 wins 6 losses and 14 draws.
After losing the title, he was still active in chess winning many strong tournaments like, Lone Pine 1976, Paul Keres Memorial 1979 and Interzonal 1979, Tilburg 1981 etc. Petrosian was also honored on the third banknote series of the Armenian dram, with his image on the 2,000 dram banknote.
In August 13, 1984, he died and buried at Moscow Armenian Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
There are 2194 games listed in the chessbase.
Let’s look of his best games which feature in our GMG page.