Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov

Alexander D. Petrov

Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov ( Russian Александр Дмитриевич Петров , scientific. Transliteration Aleksandr Dmitrievič Petrov ; February 1 * ^{. Jul} / 12. February  1794 ^greg. In Bisserowo , Circle Opochka, governorship Pskov, † April 10 ^jul. / 22 April  1867 ^{greg .} in Warsaw ) was Russia's first chess master , chess theorist and writer. He was one of the strongest players in the world in the first half of the 19th century . Before moving to Warsaw in 1840, he was a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Saint Petersburg .

Life

Petrov, who was considered a Russian philidor , played chess when he was seven. At the age of 15 he defeated A. Kopiew in Saint Petersburg and was already considered the best chess player in Russia from then on. In 1824 he published one of the first chess books in Russian in St. Petersburg : Schachmatnaja igra, priwjedjennaja w sistematitscheski porjadok, s prisowokuplenjem igor Filidora i primjetschani na onyja - dt .: The game of chess, presented in systematic order and with comments on Philidors' games complements them. (Reprint Moscow 1977). Among the best-known readers of his book were the Russian writers Alexander Pushkin , Ivan Turgenew and Nikolai Gavrilowitsch Tschernyshevsky who were enthusiastic about chess . In 1821 Ivan A. Butrimov published the first ever Russian chess book. In the 1840s he defeated the young Russian master Carl Ferdinand Jänisch in several competitions , to whom he gave a handicap. He won 1854 (3-1) and 1859 (13-7) competitions against Sergei Urusov . In 1862 he beat Ilya Schumow 4-2. In 1851 he was invited by Howard Staunton to the first international tournament in London , but Petrow could not accept the invitation.

From 1840 Petrov lived in Warsaw, where he worked as a high official in the tsarist administration. His house was a popular meeting place for Polish and Russian chess players. In 1863 he went on a trip abroad so as not to be suspected of conspiracy with the Poles, who that year rebelled against the tsarist government. In Vienna and Paris he made the acquaintance of the leading masters of the West, including in Paris with Paul Morphy , but no games were changed.

Petrow's contributions to opening and endgame theory were of great importance for the further development of the game of chess. He thoroughly analyzed the Petrov's defense, which is named after him in the English-speaking countries, Russian defense (1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Ng8 – f6 ). A gambit in the bishop's game is also named after him : 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Bf1 – c4 Bf8 – c5 3. Ng1 – f3 d7 – d6 4. c2 – c3 Qd8 – e7 5. d2 – d4 . Petrov also created a number of widely acclaimed chess compositions .

Chess composition

Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov
1824

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

White wins in 14 moves

His best-known composition is probably Napoleon's Flight from Moscow to Paris .

Solution : 1. Nd2 + Ka2 2. Nc3 + Ka3 3. Ndb1 + Kb4 4. Sa2 + Kb5 5. Nbc3 + Ka6 6. Nb4 + Ka7 7. Nb5 + Kb8 8.Na6 + Kc8 9. Sa7 + Kd7 10. Nb8 + Ke7 11.Nc8 + Kf8 12.Nd7 + Kg8 13. Ne7 + Kh8 14. Kg2 matt .

(Note: the a1 square is Moscow, the h8 square is Paris, the diagonal h1 – a8 is the Bjaresina river , the black king is Napoleon, the white knight is the Russian cavalry.)

literature

• Isaak Linder: AD Petrow - perwy russki schachmatny master . [AD Petrow - The first Russian chess master], Moscow 1952.