Tigran Petrosian
"One must beware of unnecessary excitement."
World Champion 1963-1969
Born: 1929, Tbilisi
Petrosian had a special talent for prophylaxis.
Nobody could do anything against him. As soon as someone began mobilizing
their forces for an attack, Petrosian would see their plan and put it to
rest. He rarely tried to initiate his own attacks. Often he would think
only of his opponent's plans and stop them, leaving his opponents not knowing
what to do. Eventually his antagonist would make some
small error and Petrosian would pounce just like a tiger who has been
lying in wait for just the right moment. This tendency earned him the name
"Tiger". Petrosian defeated Botvinnik in 1963 to become the World Champion,
until his downfall in 1969 to Boris Spassky.
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