Tigran Petrosyan – “It’s possible to try and move to chessboard #3.”
Shoushan Stepanyan
December 08, 2008
Tigran Petrosyan junior, a champion of the recent 38th International Chess Olympiad in Dresden, is no relation to world chess champion Tigran Petrosyan. This, despite the fact that the victory and excellent gamesmanship of the latter was a deciding factor when it came time for Levon Petrosyan to name his future son. “Being a chess aficionado, my father always dreamt of having a son. Since our last name was Petrosyan he named me Tigran and taught me how to play chess. It worked out fine,” says the Dresden champ.
Tigran’s father, Levon Petrosyan, became the boy’s first coach at the age of five and helped him execute the first moves in the chess game of wits. Later on it was coach Gagik Sargsyan that revealed the secrets of the game to Tigran for six straight years. “He laid the foundations of my future chess playing that no other coach in the future could do.”
In 2005, Tigran clinched first-place in international competitions in Iran and Batumi. The list of wins goes on but, as the champion likes to say, the emotions derived from past victories are nothing when compared to what he felt this last time around in Dresden, after winning the 38th International Chess Olympiad.
“I have matured and see things quite differently now. I experienced pride and enthusiasm with this victory especially when I returned back home to Armenia and felt the joy of the people. It was a really big deal for me.” It is very important for Tigran to maintain the honor of his people and nation on a high footing. Thus, taking into account the urgency of a positive result, he flung himself headlong into the struggle and forgets any notions about being creative.
“The artistic side of chess manifests itself in individual play and competing as an individual is much easier since it all depends on you and no one else. In team play, how you do affects the entire squad and thus you feel additionally pressurized to play well. This is why in the Dresden Olympiad the sport aspect of the game took over in me.” Despite the fact that Tigran like to be creative when he plays, when results are important, he exhibits what he terms “less interesting chess”. “When you start to play creatively you must be prepared to lose, but on the other hand, creative play is so much more enjoyable.”
Here is the full article.
Go Petrosian!