Welcome to Tiger’s Den! Tigran Petrosian, the ninth world chess champion, was one of the deepest thinkers the chess world has ever seen. His handling of complex strategic positions was legendary. Now, for the first time, Russian international master Igor Yanvarjov has put together a superb collection of virtually all the known games played by Petrosian – with both colors – in the King’s Indian Defense and other closely related Indian structures. The author’s objective was, first of all, to reveal the richness of Petrosian’s chess world and to follow the strategic development of the King’s Indian Defense through the prism of Petrosian’s creative work. He does this with the presentation of almost 300 deeply annotated, complete games. Contents include: Preface by Levon Aronian; Foreword by Igor Zaitsev; The Classical Variation; The Sämisch System ; The Fianchetto Variation; The Benoni; Other Systems; Portrait of a Chess Player; Lessons from Petrosian; The Problem of the Exchange; “Furman’s Bishop”; “Pawns are the soul of chess”; Playing by Analogy; Maneuvering Battle; Experiments; Realist or Romantic?; The King’s Indian with Colors – and Flanks – Reversed; Appendix; Index of Tabiyas; ECO/Opening/Tabiya Indexes. This splendid collection of annotated games will not only have enormous appeal to King’s Indian aficionados, but to all chessplayers who wish to expand their understanding of the strategic concepts underpinning the royal game as a whole.

Master the King's Indian with this book which puts emphasis on understanding the typical moves, maoeuvres and the overall spirit of the defence.

Tigran Petrosian is a titan of chess history. All agree he was a genius of strategy, defense and sacrifice, but didn t he take too many draws? Possibly so, but when Petrosian selected and annotated his best games, that flaw disappeared, leaving only brilliance and profound chess understanding. As Garry Kasparov said: "My games with the 9th World Champion broadened my understanding of chess. Had it not been for these two defeats, I would possibly not have reached the top in chess." This book is an English translation of a Russian classic that is a favorite of many grandmasters, including Mihail Marin and Levon Aronian. A literal translation of the Russian title might be 'The Strategy of Soundness' but Python Strategy is a better fit for Petrosian s more ambitious games. As another World Champion, Max Euwe, once wrote: "Petrosian is not a tiger that pounces on its prey, but rather a python that smothers its victim."

Only the very best dared to play for a win against Tigran Petrosian. The 9th World Champion was extremely difficult to beat because his defensive techniques were virtually unmatched. In the rare case that someone managed to bring him into difficulties they ran a serious risk of having to face a vicious counterattack. Former Russian Champion Alexei Bezgodov explains to a wide range of players how they can employ the skills of ‘the Tiger'. How to deal with pressure, how to anticipate threats or march you King out of danger even if it feels you are entering a minefield. That you should not hesitate to give up an exchange or spoil your own pawn structure if the position calls for it. How to find unlikely decoys and start a counterattack. This book aims to help amateur players improve the standard of their defensive play. In many training programs a serious analysis of the art of defense is lacking. That explains why most club players are much better at attacking than at coping with adversity and difficult positions. ‘Defend Like Petrosian' points the way to creative solutions and will help you save lots of points.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Averbakh variation against the King's Indian Defense (KID). Who would not want to have a variation against the KID that keeps White's position completely under control, that is positional in nature and that stays away from dark and murky waters or messy tactical situations? Many players like to play a variation against the KID that bears the hallmark of strong grandmasters and has stood the test of time. This book examines such variation with a repertoire for White and an in-depth analysis of all of Black's responses. The Averbakh variation represents a shift in White's approach to the fight against the KID. Rather than focusing solely on the queenside while accepting a certain danger of being checkmated on the other side of the board, as it happens in the KID in many lines, White uses a strategy of positional control, in which he uses the KID in a calm, positional way. Initially, the character of the battle is indeed relatively calm and positional, but not too calm to land in near-equal positions immediately. White's development schedules follow strategic logic. In the following parts of the game, White generally retains his first mover advantage, in positions where he retains control. Repertoire books on the KID start from Black's point of view, overestimating Black's chances and downplaying White's options and plans. In my opinion, that requires an analytical response from White's point of view. In this book, I will show that, using recent theoretical developments and my own novelties and analyses, White has a serious chance to come out of the opening with a long-term plus.

This work examines the defence in the game of chess known as the King's Indian, a speciality of Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer that is popular at club and tournament level.