Tigran Petrosian vs Alexei Shirov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Tigran Petrosian | Alexei Shirov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1929 | 1972 |
| Died | 1984 | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | Russia | Spain |
| Star sign | Taurus | Cancer |
Who they are
Tigran Petrosian
Among the nine World Chess Champions who preceded Bobby Fischer, none was more mysterious or more misunderstood than Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian. Called "Iron Tigran" by his contemporaries, he held the world championship from 1963 to 1969 by mastering a form of chess so different from anything that had come before that even grandmasters who studied his games found them difficult to fully understand. He did not win by attacking, by brilliant sacrifices, or by tactical fireworks. He won by ensuring, with a near-supernatural foresight, that his opponents could never do anything to him at all.
Full biography of Tigran Petrosian →
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Russia and Spain.
- 43 years separate their births (1929 and 1972).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Tigran Petrosian or Alexei Shirov?
- Tigran Petrosian. Tigran Petrosian was born in 1929, Alexei Shirov in 1972.
- What field is each of them in?
- Tigran Petrosian is filed under Sports (Chess). Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.