Tigran Petrosyan: biography, personal life, family, career and achievements

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:45

Although chess was played in ancient Armenia, as evidenced by the manuscripts of the 12th and 13th centuries, only Tigran Petrosyan can be called the first outstanding Armenian chess player. Yes, perhaps, and not only at the level of this republic, but also on a global scale. In the Soviet Union, people were very fond of chess, this game can be seen in many films and works of literature. Championships were held in every city and region. Pairs of players sat on many benches in the park, surprising the opponent with coups.

Due to the extraordinary popularity of the game, there were many clubs and sections where coaches taught children to think ahead from an early age. After all, this is a game for thinking people. With so many enthusiastic players from all over the Soviet Union, it was very difficult to break through to the top of the chess Olympus, but Tigran Petrosyan succeeded, so much so that his style of play is still popular among players around the world.

In the article we will consider the biography of the grandmaster, the beginning and end of his career, the most strikingmoments of chess career. What Tigran Vartanovich Petrosyan did in addition to the intellectual game, what titles he had during his lifetime, how his descendants honor him now, we will tell further.

Young years

The future champion was born in an Armenian family, which at that time lived in the capital of Georgia, Tiflis (now Tbilisi), on June 17, 1929. They lived with their sister Vartush in poverty, his father worked as a doorkeeper at the House of Officers. Even when Tigran Petrosyan was very young, his mother died. Soon after her family buried her father. The boy was raised by his older sister.

Since childhood, Tigran fell in love with the game of chess and devoted all his free time to his hobby. In the early 40s, he studied under the guidance of A. Ebralidze in the Tbilisi Palace of Pioneers, where in 1.5 years he learned to play a thoughtful and calculated game. His coach greatly appreciated the Cuban player Capablanca, teaching the great master's playing style to his students. The respectful attitude towards the Cuban was also passed on to the young chess player, and he remained his imitator until the end of his life.

Over time, participating and winning in youth championships, Tigran Petrosyan felt the need to learn and develop further.

First big win

When the Second World War ended, chess player Tigran Petrosyan began an active promotion to world fame. Already at the age of 16, he loudly declared his talent at the youth championship of the USSR, held in 1945. The following year, he again took the top honor, repeating his success last year.

After 5 years, Petrosyan was already wanted to be seen in Moscow, where he continued to study with eminent masters, conducting constant training with experienced Soviet chess players. Immediately after the move, he participated in the men's championship of the Soviet Union and took 3rd place, sharing it with Efim Geller from Odessa, but already in 1951 he confirmed his skills, becoming the owner of a gold medal. At the same time, Petrosyan showed the grandmaster class of play, and he was nominated by the coach to participate in international competitions.

Constantly improving, Petrosyan moved towards conquering the chess Olympus. In 1953, he was invited to participate in the Candidates Tournament for the world championship, held in Switzerland, in the city of Zurich. There he showed an excellent result, finishing 5th.

Recognition at home

In the Soviet Union, sporting achievements were often political in nature, and the winner was rewarded and provided with all sorts of benefits. This was especially true for chess. The political leaders of the country followed each championship, as our players could well qualify for prizes in world championships.

Therefore, chess players felt extraordinary tension and pressure from the outside, afraid to show themselves as a loser.

Petrosyan also played very responsibly, because when he entered the world chess arena, players from the opposite political camp became his rivals. And here in no case it was impossible to hit the face in the dirt. In 1962, Tigran Vartanovich won the Candidates Tournament, therebyhaving achieved participation in a responsible match with M. Botvinnik, in which he won a landslide victory. The very next year, 1963, he won the title of world champion.

Honorary awards

For such achievements, the grandmaster was awarded, giving a bonus of 2000 rubles. For comparison, we can say that the average salary at that time was 85 rubles a month. It was an incredibly large sum. In addition, after the solemn closing ceremony of the match, the Union of Composers of the Armenian SSR presented its gift to the great compatriot - a brand new GAZ-21 car, although Tigran Vartanovich was not a good driver and rarely used it.

At 33 years old, the chess player beat the strongest player in the world. Repeating the achievements of his Cuban idol Capablanca, Petrosyan won the high title of world champion 6 times in a row. Spassky won the championship only in 1969.

Tigran Petrosyan's biography has a huge number of victories both at the national championships and in world competitions of players and teams from different countries.

First place in the ranking

In 1964, the first rating of the world's great chess players, created by Arpad Elo, was released. The honorable first place was divided in half by Tigran Vartanovich Petrosyan and Robert Fisher. Their rating was 2690. Until 1980, he was listed in this list in the top six. And according to another version of Kina-Divinsky, our champion entered the top ten best chess players in the world from the 18th century to 1987.

With the advent of computers,the moves of the great chess players were checked in different periods and the result of Guida-Bratko's “least mistakes” was given precisely by Petrosyan.

Character traits

Chess player Tigran Petrosyan, whose photo you can see in the article, had a rather complex character. Many ill-wishers and envious people rated him as a quick-tempered and tactless person. They cited as an example the scandalous end of the duel in Odessa between him and Viktor Korchnoi in 1974, when emotions near the chessboard reached the limit. But many historians attribute a greater role in this to the rival than to Petrosyan himself.

Of course, no champion will achieve a high level without hard work and diligence, a zeal for victory and extraordinary wisdom. Naturally, Petrosyan was a stubborn and meticulous person who liked to get to the bottom of things, and it was not for nothing that he was nicknamed the Iron Tigran.

People who knew him better claimed the opposite, that Tigran Vartanovich was an unusually good-natured person, had a good sense of humor, treated his friends warmly and loved to be with his family, play football and backgammon with his sons, fry barbecue and gardening.

Family Life

Everyone knows the proverb that behind every great man is a great woman. That was exactly the wife of Tigran Petrosyan. Chess and Rona Yakovlevna Avinezer are what he loved the most. The wife of Tigran Vartanovich was born in Kyiv, in Podil, she was Jewish by nationality. Before meeting with the chess player, she was already married. From the firstmarriage she had a son - Michael. Petrosyan loved him like his own, and Misha called him his father.

A common child was born in the marriage, also a boy, named Vartan, in honor of Father Petrosyan. They say that Rona Yakovlevna was courted by a chess player from Odessa, Yefim Geller, and she could not make a choice between two suitors. She told her friends that a chess tournament would decide her fate, whoever wins, she will marry. Lucky for Petrosian, who beat Geller by only half a point.

Influence of wife

Some close friends of the family claimed that Petrosyan's wife made him the champion. She guided him all his life, gave practical advice on life and provided him with complete freedom from domestic worries. He was only supposed to play chess. Rona Yakovlevna successfully solved the rest of everyday issues herself. All officials knew the woman's efficiency, because it was she who ensured that their family was changed from a small apartment to a luxurious mansion in the center of the capital.

At one time, Tigran Vartanovich did not receive a higher education, his wife insisted on studying, and already in his mature years he defended his thesis for a candidate of philosophical sciences.

Tigran Petrosyan (see photo in the article) is a chess player who knows how to build a chess battle strategy in an original way, harmoniously combine attack and defense, deep calculation with subtle intuition. Robert Fischer wrote: "Petrosyan knows how to eliminate the danger of a situation 20 moves before it appears!"

Tournaments andmedal, Central House of Chess Players in Armenia. The FIDE World Organization declared 2004 the year of his memory. A postage stamp bearing his image was issued. Now there is a portrait of the great chess player on Armenian drams with a face value of 2000.

Although the great master died on August 13, 1984, he is still remembered and honored.