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    Tigran Petrosian
    2019. Photo: Harry Pot / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    9THWorld chess champion

    Tigran Petrosian

    Tigran Petrosian was world champion 1963–1969, for 6 years. He won the title in 1963, beating Mikhail Botvinnik 12½–9½ in Moscow.

    Born
    17 June 1929 · Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
    Died
    13 August 1984 · Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
    Learned chess
    Learned at eight; his father urged him to keep up his studies, doubting chess could be a career
    Profiles
    FIDE World Chess MuseumWikipediaChessmetrics
    6 years
    World champion
    2 of 3
    Title events won or kept
    2796
    Peak (Chessmetrics), Jul 1962
    2817
    On today's scale: 13th of 18

    Every title event

    YearOpponentScoreResultGamesWhere
    1963Mikhail Botvinnik12½–9½Won+5 −2 =15Moscow
    1966Boris Spassky12½–11½Won+4 −3 =17Moscow
    1969Boris Spassky12½–10½Lost+4 −6 =13Moscow

    Across 3 title matches, Petrosian won 13 games, lost 11 and drew 45: a score of 51.4% of the points against the best player of his day.

    Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Petrosian's side, counted from chessgames.com and shown only where they add up to the official score. Source: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships.

    Honours

    2
    World championship titles

    1963, 1966

    1
    Candidates wins

    1962

    1
    Interzonal wins

    1979*

    4
    National championships

    1959, 1961, 1969, 1975

    9
    Olympiad team golds

    1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974

    6
    Olympiad board golds

    1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1974

    8
    European team golds

    1957, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983

    Each year links to its source. * Shared title. World championship titles are title events won or kept. Olympiad board golds are the best score on a board. Most of these events didn't exist before the 1920s.

    Compare all 18 champions' honours

    Impact at home: Soviet Union and Armenia

    • GrowthOften credited with popularising chess in Armenia source
    • HonoursA monument to him opened in 2006 in Yerevan's Davtashen district, on the street named after him source
    • HonoursIn 1987 Kasparov unveiled a memorial at his grave showing the champion's laurel wreath and the sun above Mount Ararat source
    • PoliticsAfter losing his bitter 1977 match with Korchnoi, he was fired as editor of 64, Russia's largest chess magazine source
    • InstitutionsWon the Armenian Championship and the USSR Junior Championship source

    The Soviet Union had 24 grandmasters when Petrosian became world champion in 1963. By 1973 the Soviet Union had 41, and by 1991, its last year, 129.

    Measure1963when he became champion1973ten years on1991the Soviet Union's last year
    Grandmasters2441129
    In the world top 100–49 Jul 1973 list45 Jul 1991 list

    Soviet grandmasters, 1950–1991

    02040608010012014019501960197019801990Petrosian champion

    Move over the chart to see any year.

    Grandmasters by the year FIDE gave the title, from Wikipedia's list of all 2,162 grandmasters (October 2026); Soviet players are counted to 1991, including those the list now files under a successor state. Top 100 from FIDE's rating lists (OlimpBase to 2001, then FIDE); FIDE's lists begin in 1971. These numbers show what happened around each champion, not what he caused: many things grow a country's chess.

    Rivalries

    Botvinnik v PetrosianTitle event 1963

    4 wins20 draws · 31 games7 wins

    Petrosian v SpasskyTitle events 1966, 1969

    10 wins54 draws · 75 games11 wins

    How strong was Petrosian?

    Tigran Petrosian's best years came before FIDE's first rating list (July 1971). On Chessmetrics, Jeff Sonas's historical rating system, he peaked at 2796 in Jul 1962. FIDE's lists, which came later, rated him at most 2645 (Jul 1972).

    That month the best other player was Mikhail Botvinnik, at 2764: Petrosian was 32 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2756; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2817, 13th of the 18 champions. How this is worked out.

    Chessmetrics also ranks him 17th of all time on three-year average (2789, 1961-Jan to 1963-Dec). Source.

    2500260027001972197419761978198019821984Peak 2645 · Jul 1972
    FIDE standard rating on each list where Tigran Petrosian was in the world top 100 (lists were published once or twice a year until 2000), and FIDE's own monthly record from April 2003. Sources: OlimpBase, FIDE.
    Every month as a table
    FIDE listRating
    Jul 19842580
    Jan 19842580
    Jul 19832580
    Jan 19832605
    Jul 19822605
    Jan 19822605
    Jul 19812585
    Jan 19812585
    Jan 19802615
    Jan 19792610
    Jan 19782620
    Jan 19772645
    Jan 19762635
    Jan 19752645
    May 19742640
    Jul 19732640
    Jul 19722645
    Jul 19712640

    The road to the title

    1. Tiflis Palace of Pioneers Training[1]

      Trained under Archil Ebralidze

      A follower of Nimzowitsch and Capablanca whose scientific approach discouraged wild tactics

    2. 1951-12

      19th USSR Chess Championship (Moscow)[1]

      Second; earned the IM title

      His first game against world champion Botvinnik

    3. 1962-06

      Curacao Candidates Tournament[1]

      Won with 17½

      Ahead of Geller and Keres (17 each) and Fischer (14); it earned a 24-game title match

    4. 1963-05-20

      World Chess Championship Match vs. Botvinnik (Moscow)[1]

      Won: 5 wins, 2 losses, 15 draws

      Became world champion

    5. 1966-06-09

      World Chess Championship Match vs. Spassky (Moscow)[1]

      Won the match

      The first champion to win, not draw, a title defence since Alekhine beat Bogoljubov in 1934

    What Petrosian changed about chess

    • strategyA cautious, defensive player strongly influenced by Nimzowitsch's idea of prophylaxis: he worked harder to stop his opponent's plans than to pursue his own.[1]
    • strategyKnown for the positional exchange sacrifice: giving a rook for the opponent's bishop or knight.[1]
    • openingOften played what is now called the Petrosian System against the King's Indian (7.d5), which closes the centre early.[1]

    Achievements

    • 1975Four-time Soviet Chess Champion (1959, 1961, 1969, 1975)[1]
    • Champion or Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles[1]
    • 1958–1978Ten Olympiads for the USSR (1958–78): nine team golds, one loss in 129 games[1]
    • 1968Master's degree in philosophy; his 1968 thesis was on the logic of chess thought[1]
    • Campaigned for a chess newspaper for the whole USSR, which became 64[1]

    Famous games

    • Tigran Petrosian v Ludek Pachman, Bled International Tournament 1961 · 1–0[1]

      Petrosian sacrificed his queen to lure Black's king out into a mating net.

      Ludek Pachman
      Tigran Petrosian

      Start position

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      22. 1–0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    • Boris Spassky v Tigran Petrosian, World Chess Championship 1966, game 7 1966 · 0–1[1]

      An exchange sacrifice to start an attack, followed later by a piece sacrifice.

      Tigran Petrosian
      Boris Spassky

      Start position

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      44. 0–1

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    • Tigran Petrosian v Boris Spassky, World Chess Championship 1966, game 10 1966 · 1–0[1]

      Two exchange sacrifices for a strong initiative, finished by an elegant fork.

      Boris Spassky
      Tigran Petrosian

      Start position

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      31. 1–0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    In his words

    "I have a weakness for any piece in excess of my opponent's numbers - from pawn to queen."[2]

    More on Tigran Petrosian

    Quick answers

    When was Tigran Petrosian world chess champion?

    1963–1969: 6 years. He won the title in 1963, beating Mikhail Botvinnik 12½–9½ in Moscow.

    Sources

    1. [1] en.wikipedia.org: "began training at the Tiflis Palace of Pioneers under the tutelage of Archil Ebralidze. Ebralidze was a supporter of Nimzowitsch and Capablanca, and his scientific approach to chess discouraged wild tactics and dubious combinations."
    2. [2] en.wikiquote.org: "I have a weakness for any piece in excess of my opponent's numbers - from pawn to queen."