GK Story about Spassky & Petrosian.Credit to Abhishek Ro

[reflectionofpower]

"When I played Petrosian in the Netherlands in 1981 I was eighteen and Petrosian was fifty-two. I was eager to avenge losing to him earlier in the year in Moscow, where I had developed an impressive attacking position that exploded in my face. At the time I thought it was an accident, but then it happened again. Every time it looked like my offensive was crashing through he would calmly make a little adjustment. All my pieces were swarming around his king and I was sure it was only a matter of time before I would land the decisive blow. But where was it? I started to feel like a bull chasing a toreador around the bullring. Exhausted and frustrated, I made one mistake, then another, and went on to lose the game. …Over the next two years I equalized our career score by twice beating Petrosian with a quiet positional style, almost the style of Petrosian himself. I credit my successful change of approach to advice given to me by the man who took the world title from Petrosian in 1969, Boris Spassky. Before I played Petrosian again, less than a year after the defeats…I spoke with Spassky… He counselled me that the key was to apply pressure, but just a little, steadily. 'Squeeze his balls,' Spassky told me unforgettably, 'but just squeeze one, not both!". Kasparov, how life imitates chess.

[AdminX]