Tigran Petrosian seized the world championship from Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963, defended the title against Boris Spassky in 1966 and only relinquished it against the same dangerous opponent three years later. In individual play he defeated every other world champion whom he met over the board and in chess Olympiads he twice earned the gold medal on top board for the USSR for his personal performance.
In two weeks time the Petrosian Memorial tournament will commence in Moscow with a powerful line-up, the precise details of which have yet to be announced. Meanwhile here is one of Petrosian’s typical manoeuvring victories with notes based on the must-have book for Petrosian fans, Petrosian: Move by Move by Thomas Engqvist (Everyman Chess).
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