Hi there.
In this lecture, I would love to show you one of my favorite Tigran Petrosian games.
So taken.
Petrosian is a player, which is great at tactics and combinations but is known more as a positional
defensive style player with a capital D instead of an attacking player.
And even when he was world chess champion, Boris Spassky was winning most of the tournaments, not
Petrosian.
So he was great in matches.
But when he did win, he sometimes could play magnificent combinations and it's interesting to see the
attacking lead up so all the world chess champions could play attacking and dynamic chess on occasion.
Of course, it's so then it's like, how beautiful should it be for it to be permitted entry into this
course?
But there's also these classic attacking players, which we want to study.
But this is one of the beauties from Petrosian, in my view, against Ludwik PASHMAN, who I knew about.
I'm actually, you know, I had a book for the middle game from PASHMAN So he's a great player in his
own right and great writer.
So we have a free from Tigran Petrosian.
This is 1961, the Bled Tournament round six.
So it starts off with the king's engine attack.
So, yes, this is this has attack in its name and sometimes it can lead to attacking positions.
And you might think, well, this is slow brewing, isn't it?
It's kind of quiet.
No clash between the pieces.
It's a build up isn't that this formation is building up and you can see, know, strong central influence,
central control, solid pawn structure.
And this kind of E5 over protection wants to have E5 grip and it's kind of released here it seems with
D6.
But remember, we don't literally have to occupy the center with pawns the modern school taught us,
you know, we could replace our lecture occupation with control and influence.
So it doesn't matter that much that the pawn is taken away.
We have Knight B2 so once Knight controls E5, this knight's ready to control E5 via C4 if needed.
So Queen C7 but actually here with the pawn neglected might be free is played so tickling black by attacking
that pawn.
94.
Here is a bit of a mistake it seems already if b6 Bishop f4 eight here is tenable, it seems C free
Black's position is tenable.
It hasn't done that much wrong here.
So this position should be about equal.
If instead of c free we try d4 c takes this position is also it should be tenable if knight takes D
four that would be a mistake is then unleashes the king's engine attack bishop and yeah, y could win
the exchange.
But there are ways to play this with B6 which don't lose.
It looks maybe a little bit counter-intuitive, a little bit risky.
Maybe that was why it wasn't used, but it does seem tenable for black.
So yeah, just to recap this position where once if one tries to open up the G2 Bishop of D4, it seems
yeah, Black has resource just in time with Bishop b7.
Okay.
So anyway, 94 is a mistake and we have Bishop F4.
So White's grip is tangible here in terms of control and influence, authority versus material or occupation
authority over key squares as a prelude to attacking chess.
If you have authority within the position like control of a foe, control of key squares, that really
is important.
So Queen B six, if Queen D eight, we're just going to take on C5, there's no real backfire.
Well, you might think, well, this is a backfire.
But the thing is, after rook B1 is a backfire of the backfire.
And we're going to win b seven with tempo against the queen.
So even in this situation, we're going to eventually be material up.
Thanks very much.
We're a pawn up and the bishop's kind of better than Knight B files.
Nice.
So if Knight takes a free check, Queen takes her free.
This position is kind of nice of the bishop E5.
Bishop Siegfried White has a very pleasant position indeed as a basis for doing various things like
winning material.
So, for example, this situation, winning material is going to be nice for once, even if the free
drops, once bishop power and potential for a passport on the queenside is nice.
So okay, we have Queen B six now.
Knight E five.
Night takes be free.
So very interesting move now, which makes a lot of difference.
That's why it's important, in my view, to be super nerdy in chess, especially this lure of going
on autopilot to win an automatic recapture.
If Knight takes me through wasn't played, let's just for a moment examine this knight.
See for queen this position dropping the pawn is good for one f6 94.
And then we're winning the pawn again.
It's big problems with C5.
So Knight takes B3.
Okay, so you're playing white Hare.
What would you play in this position?
If you have two moves in a row or a few moves in a row, let's imagine Black didn't do that.
Maybe there'll be an idea of getting onto this sensitive diagonal for that pin and also hanging C5.
So that would be an idea.
So that's facilitated with Tempo 94 instead of the auto recapture.
Very nice, nuanced move.
It takes be free Black could consider.
Bishop takes E5.
That's pretty radical to give up the square Bishop.
But with F6, it's actually.
Yeah, it does have a small edge.
It is unpleasant, but it's not completely losing just yet.
If Queen D 894.
The thing is this position Bishop D6 It's kind of pleasant for whites, for example, here.
You know what the thing is?
C5 is going to be hanging if the bishop goes back.
So this is just a position which ends up being a clear advantage to white.
C5 is a recurring issue in these variations.
So, okay, nine C4 though, we have Queen B five and now eight XP three.
Now the Queen is subject to tempo gaining with things like Rook five and 96.
And Bishop Desexed is also a major threat in conjunction with Rocky five to win C five.
So it looks kind of nasty, this whole configuration for black whites opening a hair.
You can see that the hyper modern school is at work here.
We've got authority, influence, authority and influence in the possession over the central squares.
We don't naturally literally need to occupy them.
We haven't got a pawn in those central squares, but we've got a huge pressure command to black's pressure
in the sense of authority.
So we have a five which we can squares now.
Even more trying to shut down a five.
If H six.
Bishop six.
This position Rook five winning material.
There's no be sex here.
Bishop takes B6 rotates eight if Bishop D7 Rook five c free.
When's the queen going?
It's tramps.
So 85.
Try it.
But now Bishop D sex.
And now this is a very dangerous state of affairs for black.
Indeed, Bishop f6 is played.
So why?
Because that's another loose piece potentially, which could be hit.
So why if rookie eight Queen D two is nice hand looking at a five if five hitting the bishop Bishop
e5 So we're still looking at A5 hare this situation we can still look at A5 and there's a lot of scrutiny
one, two, three, four against A5 and we can win A5 with advantage if A4 we can play Bishop thanks
to you seven 1967 and here Queen A4 And actually we've got France here like 96 with tempo to look at
F7.
We've got a number of interesting things going on here.
If Knight Queen if right.
This is just a very pleasant position where tactics takes balance crop up with advantage to white like
this.
So okay Bishop f6 it's an unprotected piece liability a natural downside being presented and it's just
hit naturally with queen and three so Knight nicely protects B2.
What is done with Bishop The king is a bad protector in general of things, so King G7 The thing is,
what does black do?
Bishop G7 would just win E7 rookie.
Ain't we just we've got to take it on.
F6 So yeah.
King G7 is kind of necessary.
And now Rookie four there was something else, but I'm not going to ruin the game combination for you
by showing you that there was something nifty there.
Rook D8 is played now here.
If 95, then we're just winning the exchange.
That's good enough to win the exchange with big advantage.
So rook the eight and here for 1000 tactical points, I've gone at length to explain some of the nuances
here.
Well, to some, some level.
Anyway, what would you play here?
There's actually a beautiful win available now by force.
We can force matters.
We're in the commentary phase.
There has been an attacking build up and you might think was that there was only exchanging a glitch
occupation and sense with with authority you know with central influence.
But yeah that was the attacking ingredient you know, hyper modern school.
You know, good central control here means that you're really stable.
You're really in balance for any attack.
You've got a good lock on the situation on the board.
There's not much counterplay here for black.
It's kind of a stable situation to naturally base an attack.
And we have this absolute stunner.
Queen size f6 check bringing the king out.
So King takes f6 and points.
Bishop E5 check.
And the King's brought down the board and a technique of bringing the King down board.
You stop the reverse gears, cutting out the reverse squares of the King f6 and H6 bringing the King
to our resources to be mated.
Black actually resigns here at Move 21.
What a classic.
So if the game had continued say f6 h4 check Bishop F3 is checkmate.
Yep.
At five h for check.
And then bishop and friends champ Mate Rook takes D3.
We can play C tanks same night at five H for Shaq and then Bishop and friends.
Champ makes NOI f5 H for Jack, nine H for G takes H for Shaq.
And now here King F5, this Bishop H free.
Checkmate.
Yeah.
It's all pretty, pretty hopeless.
You know, King, King H5.
We've got Bishop Alfred.
Checkmate.
Wonderful staff as well as Bishop and the other one.
We also had 93 as a choice for checkmate.
By the way, if King Inch five here, Bishop African King G5, age four check and here G4 is Champ Main.
Yeah it's it's pretty vicious.
The king has been brought to our resources.
The king has brought out and about not all the way down the board, but here it's convincing enough
just for Black to resign here.
We've already got resources in near contact with the king that the king doesn't have to be literally
brought down the pawn here.
So we've exchanged the opponents thing cats out, Bishop with our own here taking out the reverse gears.
Yeah Petrosian because he's such a master of tactics and combination is he does have these beautiful
games which we could consider attacking games and quite often he's provoking the opponent's great weaknesses
and then pouncing on those weaknesses later.
This is one of the more beautiful Petrosian games.
So yes, am I naughty, including Petrosian?
Shouldn't I just be focusing on the attacking players?
Well, yeah, but it's a beautiful game.
Bobby Fischer admired it.
If it was like a nice problem, like finish.
It's one of my favorite Tigran Petrosian games and you check out my take where I'm chosen.
Course, I just focused on his wins.
I just the beauty.
Now we can just skip all his draws, skip all his longer grinding games and look at his tactical wins.
And this is one of the more beautiful ones.
Okay.
And so much.