Fritztrainer
| MASTER_CLASS
Master Class Vol. 13: Tigran Petrosian
Mihail Marin
Considered a master of prophylaxis, Petrosian sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.
In his games, the native-born Armenian excelled with a very correct playing style, avoiding tactical dangers and aiming to win through superior strategy. Legendary were Tigran Petrosian’s defensive skills. Considered a master of prophylaxis, he sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. If you want to improve your strategic skills and your defensive techniques, there just is no better teacher than Tigran Petrosian. Admired as a folk hero in Armenia, he has been emulated by many players there making the country a leading chess nation. Let our authors (Yannick Pelletier, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh) introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.
- Video running time: 6 h (English)
- All Petrosian games, and short biography
- Petrosian Powerbook: The opening repertoire of the 9th world champion as a variation tree
- Tactics training with 98 Petrosian games: 285 training questions, max. 615 points
Contents
8
Petrosian's favorite - Bg5
9
Queen's Indian: 4.a3 - Petrosian Variation
11
With Black against 1.d4
12
With Black against 1.e4
13
Wch match Spassky 1966 and 1969; Candidates final Fischer 1971
25
Petrosian-Pogrebissky, 1949: Petrosian exploits Black’s weakened king position (no pawn h7!) to strike on the light squares.
26
Petrosian-Keres, 1952: Cleverly getting the positional advantage of the two bishops, Petrosian masterfully converts.
27
Reshevsky-Petrosian, 1953: Classics at its best – two different exchange sacrifices à la Petrosian!
28
Petrosian-Guimard, 1955: Petrosian begins his mate attack on the kingside and finishes it on the other wing.
29
Petrosian-Simagin, 1956: The winning motif is a “simple“ knight fork, with preparation de luxe.
30
Petrosian-Taimanov, 1957:In a worse position, Petrosian starts to complicate matters – and emerges as the surprising winner!
31
Petrosian-Kozma, 1958: In a worse position, Petrosian starts to complicate matters – and emerges as the surprising winner!
32
Petrosian-Rosetto, 1958: Following a Queen’s Gambit minority attack, Petrosian fixes a black pawn weakness on c6… to win on the kingside!
33
Keres-Petrosian, 1959: The beginning of Petrosian‘s mate attack on the kingside sees his queen still being placed on a8...
34
Petrosian-Benko, 1959: In a closed Nimzoindian position, Black fatally fails to batten down the hatches for good.
37
Petrosian-Gufeld, 1959: Pick the right knight move for Black... to avoid Petrosian‘s winning combination!
38
Andersen-Petrosian, 1960: Petrosian shines with Black in a Saemisch King’s Indian - and how!
39
Holm-Petrosian, 1960: Pursuing a nice perpetual check motif, White overlooks Petrosian’s cool counter.
40
Petrosian-Krogius, 1960: A white queen’s rook c1 calls the shots in the attack on the kingside.
41
Petrosian-Pachman, 1961: Another Petrosian classic – weak dark squares, and a mate final with a queen sac.
42
Petrosian-Smyslov, 1961: Symmetrical pawns, a black position without weaknesses – and yet Petrosian’s renowned opponent isn’t given the slightest chance.
43
Petrosian-Spassky, 1966: The reigning champion Petrosian takes apart his great challenger in a Wch game. Motto: one exchange sacrifice is not enough!
44
Petrosian-Westerinen, 1968: A careless black pawn move makes Petrosian play on the kingside a very one-sided affair.
45
Petrosian-Tomic, 1970: “Tactics light“, for a change - the white knight allows a mate pattern to remember.
46
Kortchnoi-Petrosian, 1971: Petrosian uses of the offside white queen to unfold positional powerplay based on tactics.
49
Petrosian-Balashov, 1974: If you like IQP positions as White, this is a must- know game – power on the board!
50
Petrosian-Bangiev, 1974: Petrosian calculates a long variation, but fails to see the final winning point – can you do better!?
51
Petrosian-Portisch, 1974: Finally having created his dream pawn centre with e4 and d4, White is given a cold shower.
52
Petrosian-Rantanen, 1979: Playing the Dutch Black must just accept there is no pawn left on f7 - potentially fatal against a Petrosian in an aggressive mood...
53
Petrosian-Ljubojevic, 1983: Petrosian energically opens the position for his two bishops and won’t even have an exchange sacrifice stop him.
57
The exchange sacrifice
58
Excellent technique and the knowledge of theoretical endgames
60
The Andersson-Petrosian endgame
63
The king to the centre
65
Powerplay on the light squares
66
Petrosian's prophylaxis
71
Defence against Fischer
72
Mating attack out of the blue
74
All Games from Tigran Petrosian
76
Petrosian opening book with White
77
Petrosian opening book with Black