Dennis Monokroussos writes:
Were he still alive, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, the tenth World Chess Champion,
would be 80 years old today. In a cruel irony, it was exactly 40 years ago –
on Petrosian's 40th birthday, that he lost his title to Boris Spassky. A game
from that match might be the topic of another week's lecture, but tonight we
will of course look at a more successful performance by the enigmatic Armenian.
Petrosian
was nicknamed "the boa constrictor" for the remarkable way in which
he could suffocate even the greatest opponents over the chessboard. In an incredible
number of games, Petrosian would gain a space advantage, eliminate the opponent's
dynamic possibilities, and then squeeze the dried bones of the enemy position
until they collapsed. Indeed, this style gave him a twofold gift. The first
was his tremendous ability, and he'd have had that aside from any questions
of style. But because his way of playing was so unusual, it posed a further
problem for his opponents. They just couldn't figure out how to play against
him! Both Botvinnik in 1963 and Spassky in 1966 complained about this after
losing world championship matches to him, and it was only in 1969 that Spassky
finally managed to get enough of a handle to overcome him and take the title.
Yet for six years, Petrosian was the champion, and was the first player since
Alekhine in 1934 to win a title match as champion. Rather than looking at the
1966 match, however, we'll look at his first win in the 1963 match, against
Botvinnik. He had lost the first game of the match, in part due to nervousness,
but by game five he had himself under control. As the game left the opening
and went almost immediately to an ending, Petrosian didn't seem to have very
much. No one would have been surprised by a quick draw – but that's not
how things worked out. As we'll see, Petrosian went on to win a masterpiece,
one characteristic of his style. As you'll see, it was not only a beautiful
and instructive game, but a humorous one as well – and I think that too
is characteristic of his style. But see for yourself, and let me know if you
agree.
But how to watch? I'm glad you asked, and am pleased to report that it's quite
simple. Log on to the Playchess server tonight (Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET,
which is equivalent to 3 a.m. CET for those of you on the other side of the
pond), go to the Broadcast room, and either look for Petrosian-Botvinnik under
the Games tab or "Initiative" (that's me) under the Player tab. The
show is free; hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos'
Radio ChessBase
lectures begin on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST, which translates to 02:00h
GMT, 03:00 Paris/Berlin, 13:00h Sydney (on Thursday). Other time zones
can be found at the bottom of this page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible
program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download
a free trial client. |
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at World
Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here.
And you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in
the Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the lectures.
The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost you between one and
two ducats.
That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro cents (14-28 US cents).
Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007
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Dennis Monokroussos is 41, lives in South Bend, IN, where
he teaches chess and occasionally works as an adjunct professor of philosophy
at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.
At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S. and has reached
a peak rating of 2434 USCF, but several long breaks from tournament play have
made him rusty. He is now resuming tournament chess in earnest, hoping to reach
new heights.
Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for ten years now, giving lessons
to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of
years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of
the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very
active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.
When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas
of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame
(or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present
some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database),
which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess
software.
