The Cutthroat Petrov quos

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The Cutthroat Petrov quos
Compiled by fredthebear

Compiled by Nasruddin Hodja

Yes, you read right. If you think the Petrov Defense is a boring way to start a chess game, that's only because you don't play it correctly. All you need to do is to be on the tactical alert and fireworks result even in this supposedly sleep-inducing opening. Don't believe it? Play over the following games, then decide.

"Chess first of all teaches you to be objective." — Alexander Alekhine

"Among a great many other things that chess teaches you is to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good. It trains you to think before grabbing and to think just as objectively when you're in trouble." — Stanley Kubrick

"Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules, take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment." — Garry Kasparov

"For me, Chess is life and every game is like a new life. Every chess player gets to live many lives in one lifetime." — Eduard Gufeld

"If you wanted to be the best then you had to swallow your pride and become a student of the game first." — Jon Osborne

"Prereading is a game changer. It changed my life. Everyone is smarter when they have seen the material before. You will be too." — Peter Rogers

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game." — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game." — Savielly Tartakower

Sometime rhetoric was just
another way to lie and impress persons,
and he knew this — Haidji

* Here's a link to Morphy Miniatures:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Here's a link to a simple tactics course using miniatures: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/x/FTP...

* Aggressive Gambits: https://thechessworld.com/articles/...

* Concepts in action: Game Collection: Classical Games

* Deadly Battery: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Adolf Anderssen miniatures: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Game Collection: Alekhine vs Bogolubov
search "Alekhine vs Bogolubov"

* Comprehensive 1929: Game Collection: Alekhine-Bogoljubov 1929 ARCHIVE

* Alekhine's Defense, Krejcik Variation: Opening Explorer

* Wonders and Curiosities: Game Collection: Wonders and Curiosities of Chess (Chernev)

* Walter Browne, American Champ: Game Collection: Six by Mr. Six Time

* Here's a link to Bobby Fischer playing White against the Sicilian: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Freaky Fridays: https://allchessopenings.blogspot.c...

* Reasonable book choices: https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell...

* Chess in old newspapers: https://www.schach-chess.com/chess-...

"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." — Aristotle

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." — Lao Tzu

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." — Albert Einstein

"You have enemies? Good; that means you have stood up for something, sometime in your life." — Winston Churchill

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." — Plato

"Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and sits softly on your shoulder." — Henry David Thoreau

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." — Ellen Goodman

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." — Ancient Chinese Proverb

Page 166 of The Personality of Chess by I.A. Horowitz and P.L. Rothenberg (New York, 1963) gave ‘a hitherto unpublished limerick-acrostic:

Caissa, the goddess of Chess,
Has this task, no more and no less;
Every game, match and damn bit,
Sicilian and gambit
She must ever be ready to bless.

The Monkey and the Dolphin

It was the custom of the Greeks
For passengers over sea to carry
Both monkeys full of tricks
And funny dogs to make them merry.
A ship, that had such things on deck,
Not far from Athens, went to wreck.
But for the dolphins, all had drowned.
They are a philanthropic fish,
Which fact in Pliny may be found; –
A better voucher who could wish?
They did their best on this occasion.
A monkey even, on their plan
Well nigh attained his own salvation;
A dolphin took him for a man,
And on his dorsal gave him place.
So grave the silly creature's face,
That one might well have set him down
That old musician of renown.10
The fish had almost reached the land,
When, as it happened, – what a pity! –
He asked, "Are you from Athens grand?"
"Yes; well they know me in that city.
If ever you have business there,
I'll help you do it, for my kin
The highest offices are in.
My cousin, sir, is now lord mayor."
The dolphin thanked him, with good grace,
Both for himself and all his race,
And asked, "You doubtless know Piraeus,
Where, should we come to town, you'll see us."
"Piraeus? yes, indeed I know;
He was my crony long ago."
The dunce knew not the harbour's name,
And for a man's mistook the same.
The people are by no means few,
Who never went ten miles from home,
Nor know their market-town from Rome,
Yet cackle just as if they knew.
The dolphin laughed, and then began
His rider's form and face to scan,
And found himself about to save
From fishy feasts, beneath the wave,
A mere resemblance of a man.
So, plunging down, he turned to find
Some drowning wight of human kind.

"Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:

- I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
- I shall fear only God.
- I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
- I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
- I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering." ― Mahatma Gandhi

Russian Game: Urusov Gambit (C42) 1-0 Not a long Tg of war!
Tg Zulkifli vs W Lai, 1992
(C42) Petrov Defense, 8 moves, 1-0
Russian Game: Urusov Gambit (C42) 0-1 Mighty, Mighty Q#
S Boden vs NN, 1851
(C42) Petrov Defense, 20 moves, 0-1
Good play by the Hungarians.
Budapest vs Paris, 1842
(C42) Petrov Defense, 46 moves, 1-0
Petrov beats the opening named after him.
A Petrov vs C Jaenisch, 1844
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 26 moves, 1-0
Staunton knew how to poison his pawns.
E Williams vs Staunton, 1851
(C42) Petrov Defense, 30 moves, 0-1
3. Bc4--Morphy's pet line for the Petrov.
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1857
(C27) Vienna Game, 29 moves
And check this one out.
Morphy vs T Barnes, 1858
(C27) Vienna Game, 38 moves
"Boden shmoden. Pass me a scotch..."
J Robertson vs Blackburne, 1867
(C27) Vienna Game, 29 moves, 0-1
An American plays the Russian Game.
Lasker vs Pillsbury, 1895
(C42) Petrov Defense, 33 moves, 0-1
Let wimps worry about king safety, says Steinitz.
Steinitz vs Pillsbury, 1895
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 60 moves, 1-0
The Chess Doctor.
Tarrasch vs G Marco, 1898
(C42) Petrov Defense, 34 moves, 1-0
He didn't play like the Drawing Master in this game, did he?
Janowski vs Schlechter, 1902
(C42) Petrov Defense, 23 moves, 0-1
Steady defense by Maroczy.
Tarrasch vs Maroczy, 1905
(C42) Petrov Defense, 51 moves, 0-1
And this was Marshall's pet line.
Spielmann vs Marshall, 1910
(C42) Petrov Defense, 31 moves, 0-1
A Queen sac in the Petrov?! Get real!
Janowski vs Marshall, 1912
(C42) Petrov Defense, 22 moves, 0-1
Marshall's famous upset.
Capablanca vs Marshall, 1913
(C42) Petrov Defense, 53 moves, 0-1
How to dismantle passive play by black.
Alekhine vs S Levitsky, 1914
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 17 moves, 1-0
Complications against Lasker? Forget it.
Lasker vs Marshall, 1914
(C42) Petrov Defense, 29 moves, 1-0
Alekhine could lob bombs even in "boring" openings.
Alekhine vs A Rabinovich, 1918
(C42) Petrov Defense, 29 moves, 1-0
The KGB variation, part I.
M Chodera vs J Dobias, 1924
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 30 moves, 0-1
A Marshall K.O.
Yates vs Marshall, 1925
(C42) Petrov Defense, 23 moves, 0-1
Move 29: Alekhine blows a rook just for kicks.
C Bauer vs Alekhine, 1926
(C42) Petrov Defense, 32 moves, 0-1
Alekhine's last game is a Russian Game. Poetic irony...
F Lupi vs Alekhine, 1946
(C42) Petrov Defense, 22 moves, 0-1
A Keres Gem.
Keres vs C H Alexander, 1954
(C42) Petrov Defense, 22 moves, 1-0
There are no easy draws against Bronstein.
P Trifunovic vs Bronstein, 1957
(C42) Petrov Defense, 34 moves, 0-1
The KGB variation, part II.
Simagin vs A Khachaturov, 1959
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 33 moves, 1-0
The start of a long rivalry.
Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1974
(C42) Petrov Defense, 31 moves, 1-0
Attack as Black! Makarichev uncorks 11. ... Nxf2!
Ljubojevic vs S Makarichev, 1975
(C42) Petrov Defense, 28 moves, 0-1
Even Tal gets outcombined in this opening.
Tal vs Suetin, 1977
(C42) Petrov Defense, 38 moves, 0-1
A Petrov specialist at work.
R Korsunsky vs Yusupov, 1979
(C42) Petrov Defense, 33 moves, 0-1
Larsen discovers the 5. ... Nd7 main line. And what a victory!
Karpov vs Larsen, 1980
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 66 moves, 0-1
Two hard fighters = a hard fight.
Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1981
(C42) Petrov Defense, 53 moves, 1-0
A theoretical dispute: 8. ... Bf5 vs. 8. ... Bg4.
Karpov vs Portisch, 1982
(C42) Petrov Defense, 38 moves, 1-0
How to defend against the Cochrane.
A Vitolinsh vs Khalifman, 1984
(C42) Petrov Defense, 30 moves, 0-1
Should it be called the Vitolinsh Gambit instead?
A Vitolinsh vs I Viksni, 1985
(C42) Petrov Defense, 24 moves, 1-0
How to blast open a closed position and checkmate.
de Firmian vs B M Kogan, 1986
(C42) Petrov Defense, 32 moves, 0-1
The will to attack.
Kupreichik vs Yusupov, 1987
(C42) Petrov Defense, 33 moves, 1-0
Khalifman gives up his queen right out of the opening.
Khalifman vs Rozentalis, 1988
(C42) Petrov Defense, 43 moves, 1-0
The Kaufmann variation isn't dull either.
Kholmov vs A Raetsky, 1988
(C42) Petrov Defense, 41 moves, 1-0
Stay humble now that you're World Champ, Vishy.
A Zapata vs Anand, 1988
(C42) Petrov Defense, 6 moves, 1-0
When computers were patzers.
Kasparov vs Fritz, 1992
(C42) Petrov Defense, 33 moves, 1-0
A nasty fork by Kasparov.
Kasparov vs Timman, 1994
(C42) Petrov Defense, 30 moves, 1-0
A Petrov king hunt.
Smirin vs B Alterman, 1995
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 25 moves, 1-0
The unconventional Karpov: 11. ... Kd8!?
Kamsky vs Karpov, 1996
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 29 moves, 0-1
"My king likes to go for a walk." (Steinitz)
Shirov vs Yusupov, 1997
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 36 moves, 1-0
Chucky's nerves get better with age.
Ivanchuk vs Shirov, 1998
(C42) Petrov Defense, 48 moves, 1-0
Rozen TAL is.
Macieja vs Rozentalis, 1999
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 34 moves, 0-1
Sac pieces in the endgame. Shirov does it frequently...
Anand vs Shirov, 2000
(C42) Petrov Defense, 41 moves, 0-1
A slugfest.
Anand vs Shirov, 2001
(C42) Petrov Defense, 44 moves, 1-0
Shirov takes black's position apart (ho hum?).
Shirov vs Piket, 2001
(C42) Petrov Defense, 43 moves, 1-0
Shove that rook in e4 and let white choke on it...
Svidler vs Ponomariov, 2001
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 44 moves, 0-1
Leko, not Drawko.
Leko vs Grischuk, 2002
(C42) Petrov Defense, 47 moves, 1-0
No grandmaster draw, this.
Grischuk vs Gelfand, 2002
(C42) Petrov Defense, 28 moves, 1/2-1/2
Nimzo's 5. Nc3: opposite side castling and cutthroat attacks.
Khalifman vs S Atalik, 2002
(C42) Petrov Defense, 30 moves, 1-0
Karpov gets the last laugh.
Kasparov vs Karpov, 2002
(C42) Petrov Defense, 47 moves, 0-1
Anand foils the sacrifice.
Topalov vs Anand, 2003
(C42) Petrov Defense, 61 moves, 0-1
Stay alert against this lady, oh grandmasters.
Polgar vs Karpov, 2003
(C42) Petrov Defense, 26 moves, 1-0
A speculative sacrifice from Kramnik, of all people.
Leko vs Kramnik, 2004
(C42) Petrov Defense, 65 moves, 0-1
Shirov takes the bait, and gets fed his own medicine.
Shirov vs M Bluvshtein, 2005
(C42) Petrov Defense, 23 moves, 0-1
Kramnik goes bust in his own opening.
Anand vs Kramnik, 2005
(C42) Petrov Defense, 20 moves, 1-0
Humpy gets zapped with 17. Qh6!
Motylev vs Koneru, 2006
(C42) Petrov Defense, 25 moves, 1-0
Who's scared of 5. Nc3?
Rublevsky vs Shirov, 2006
(C42) Petrov Defense, 27 moves, 0-1
A hard struggle. Winning in the endgame is also good.
Grischuk vs Gelfand, 2006
(C42) Petrov Defense, 65 moves, 0-1
Emre gets canned (sorry...).
E Can vs Yusupov, 2007
(C43) Petrov, Modern Attack, 21 moves, 0-1
Not Nigel's best tournament.
Short vs Harikrishna, 2007
(C01) French, Exchange, 19 moves, 0-1
Artur's tragicomedy. Watch those triplets.
I Cheparinov vs Yusupov, 2007
(C42) Petrov Defense, 36 moves, 1-0
The best Petrov of the tournament, in spite of the draw.
Morozevich vs Gelfand, 2007
(C42) Petrov Defense, 45 moves, 1/2-1/2
To beat the Petrov with white, you have to play like this!
V Gashimov vs B Lalic, 2007
(C42) Petrov Defense, 25 moves, 1-0
"A La Kasim..."
Kasimdzhanov vs R D Miedema, 2007
(C42) Petrov Defense, 42 moves, 1-0
For a kingside attack with black, play the KID...or the Petrov.
S Milliet vs T Mamedjarova, 2007
(C42) Petrov Defense, 24 moves, 0-1
Gelf's queen dies of embarrassment.
Topalov vs Gelfand, 2008
(C42) Petrov Defense, 28 moves, 1-0
Marshall? Tal? Bronstein? No, just Kramnik...
Naiditsch vs Kramnik, 2009
(C42) Petrov Defense, 27 moves, 0-1
Russian Game: Damiano Variation. Kholmov Gambit (C42) 1/2-video
Caruana vs A Liang, 2022
(C42) Petrov Defense, 77 moves, 1/2-1/2
73 games

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