Alone in a Crowd

17th Chess Olympiad, Havana, Cuba, autumn 1966. Amidst the crowd, on the top left, 9th World Chess Champion Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian takes a picture of the very spot where 11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (bottom left) is showing Fidel Castro (seated in front of him) something from a chess book. Photo: Mariano Ferré.

Tutti Frutti

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian – Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov
47th Moscow City Chess Championship; Moscow, 1956
English Opening A16

The Russian Chess Federation announced the death of Russian Grandmaster Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov (born in Moscow on March 5, 1933), who passed away in Moscow on May 10, 2018. During his prime, from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Vasiukov scored wins in individual games over many world’s top players. 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. 0-0 0-0 5. c4 d6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3 Nh5 8. Rb1. Robert James “Bobby” Fischer recommended 8. d4 e5 9. d5 Ne7 10. e4 c5! 11. Ne1 Kh8 12. Nd3 f5 13. Rb1 Nf6= T. V. Petrosian – Boleslavsky, Semifinal of 24th Championship of USSR, Kiev 1957. 8. ... f5! 9. Qc2 a5 10. a3 f4. “Black obtains an excellent aggressive setup. I was as impressed by that game as Petrossiàn must have been, since he got crushed”, Bobby Fischer writes in his book “60 partite da ricordare”, Milano, Mursia, 1972, p. 18. 11. b4 axb4 12. axb4 Bg4 13. e3 e5 14. b5 Ne7 15. Ne4 Qd7 16. Bd2 h6! 17. Bc3 g5 18. exf4 gxf4. Black is dominating the board. 19. Qe2 Ng6 20. Ra1 Rxa1 21. Bxa1 b6! 22. Bc3 Qf5 23. Bd2 Kh8! 24. Bc1 Bf6 25. Kh1

25. ... Ng7! Black’s Knight heads to g5 with devastating effect. 26. Bb2 Ne6 27. Qc2 Qh5 28. Ned2 Ng5 29. Nxg5 Bxg5 30. Be4 Be2 31. Kg1 f3! Evgeni Andreyevich finishes in grand style. 32. Re1 Bxd2 33. Rxe2 Bg5 34. Re1 Qh3 35. Bxf3 Rxf3 36. d4 Nf4! 37. gxf4 Bxf4 0 : 1. Mate cannot be avoided.

The members of the winning team in the 3rd World Student Team Chess Championship in Uppsala, 1956; from left: Anatoly Stepanovich Lutikov, Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky, Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal, Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov, Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi, and Vladimir Sergeyevich Antoshin. Photo: Shakhmaty v SSSR.

A Most Wanted Man

“When the famous ‘Coca-Cola’ company offered him a firm contract, Fischer rejected it, saying that there is no money which could persuade him to give publicity to a drink that is harmful to people’s health... I like such a man who does not measure his accomplishments against the size of other people’s pockets...”, Grandmaster Lajos Portisch said. Quoted in Svetozar Gligorić, “Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?”, London, Batsford, 2002, p. 35.

Rare AP Archive footage from 1971 Candidates final between Robert James Fischer and Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian. The clip shows the audience of the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 26, 1971, giving Fischer a standing ovation when Petrosian resigned the 9th game.

Standing ovation

Rare AP Archive footage from 1971 Candidates final between Robert James Fischer and Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian. The clip shows the audience of the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 26, 1971, giving Fischer a standing ovation when Petrosian resigned the 9th game.

Iron Tigran

Rare Movietone footage from 1966 World Chess Championship match between Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and Boris Vasilievich Spassky.

Hasta siempre

17th Chess Olympiad; Havana, Cuba, 23 October – 20 November 1966. Rare film footage featuring (among others) Robert James Fischer, Boris Vasilievich Spassky, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Fidel Castro.

宙斯 (Zeus)

 

Robert James Fischer and Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian enjoying blitz at the Moscow Central Chess Club in June 1958.

乒乓球 (Table tennis)

Robert James Fischer

Michail Nechem’evič Tal’ & Tigran Vartanovič Petrossiàn

Zsuzsa, Zsófia and Judit Polgár

Magnus Carlsen

Photos: Zsuzsa Polgár (@SusanPolgar)

Some Say No

Jacqueline Piatigorsky and Bobby Fischer at the Herman Steiner Chess Club (Los Angeles, 1961). Photo: World Chess Hall of Fame.

Jacqueline Piatigorsky watches Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky relax after their drawn game in the penultimate round of the Piatigorsky Cup Tournament (Santa Monica, 1966). Photo: Phil Bath.

Bobby Fischer competes against Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian in the Piatigorsky Cup Tournament (Santa Monica, 1966). Photo: Art Zeller.

亞美尼亞虎 (Armenian tiger)

[Event "International Jubilee Grandmaster Tournament"]
[Site "Bled YUG"]
[Date "1961.09.10"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Petrosian, Tigran Vartanovich"]
[Black "Pachman, Ludek"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Fischer, Robert James"]
[PlyCount "42"]

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.d3 e6 6.e4 Nge7 7.Re1 O-O 8.e5 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Nb3 Nd4 12.Bf4 Qb6 13.Ne5 Nxb3 14.Nc4 {Very nice tempo move.} 14...Qb5 15.axb3 a5 16.Bd6 Bf6 17.Qf3 Kg7 18.Re4 {Now Petrosian is preparing for a very beautiful finish.} 18...Rd8 19.Qxf6+ Kxf6 20.Be5+ Kg5 21.Bg7 {This is a real problem move.} 1-0

Photo: eBay