Petrosian's Legacy
Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984) was World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969 and was one of the strongest players in the world throughout his lengthy career. Tigran Petrosian was born in Tbilisi, Georgia on 17 June 1929. Petrosian lived in Moscow most of his life. In spite of neither being born nor living in Armenia, he has always been considered to be Armenian and he is a national hero of the Republic of Armenia. Petrosian was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the world championship in 1963 by defeating Botvinnik, successfully defended it in 1966 against Spassky, and lost it in 1969 to Spassky. Thus, he was the defending World Champion or a World Champion Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). He died of stomach cancer in Moscow on 13 August 1984. The poor quality of the Soviet Health Care System may have contributed to his early death at age only 55.