Tigran Petrosian
June 17, 1929 –August 13, 1984
Chess player, Journalist, Writer, Athlete, Grandmaster
Lived 55 years
- Born in
- Tbilisi
- Passed away in
- Moscow
Tigran Vardani Petrosian (Armenian: Տիգրան Վարդանի Պետրոսյան; Russian: Тигран Вартанович Петросян; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster. The ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969, he was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else. Petrosian is often credited with popularizing chess in Armenia.
Petrosian was a candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the World Championship in 1963 (against Mikhail Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Boris Spassky), and lost it to Spassky in 1969. Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975).
Awards: world chess champion, Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of the Badge of Honour, Medal "For Labour Valour", Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR, honorary citizen of Gyumri
Source: Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigran_Petrosian