Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov (February 12, 1794 in Biserovo, near Pskov

Pskov

Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...

 – April 22, 1867 in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

) was a Russian chess player, chess composer

Chess composer

A chess composer is a person who creates endgame studies or chess problems. He usually specializes in a particular genre, e.g. endgame studies, twomovers, threemovers, moremovers, helpmates, selfmates, fairy problems...

, and chess writer.

Petrov was born into a noble family and is usually remembered as the first great Russian chess master

Chess master

A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....

. From 1804, he lived in Saint Petersburg. In 1809, he defeated Kopev and Baranov, Petersburg’s leading chess players, and became Russian best player at the age of 15. For over half a century Petrov was considered Russia's strongest player.

He is an author of the first chess handbook in Russian (Shakhmatnaya igra (...), St Petersburg 1824). He also analysed with Carl Friedrich von Jänisch

Carl Jaenisch

Carl Friedrich Andreyevich von Jaenisch was a Finnish and Russian chess player and theorist. In the 1840s, he was among the top players in the world.-Life and career:...

 the opening that later became known as the Petrov's Defense or Russian Game (C42).

From 1840 he lived in Warsaw (then Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

), where successfully played against top Warsaw chess masters: Alexander Hoffman, Piotrowski, Szymański, Siewieluński, Hieronim Czarnowski

Hieronim Czarnowski

Hieronim Ignacy Czarnowski was a Polish chess master and activist.He lived in Warsaw where played, among others, with Alexander Petrov and Szymon Winawer. After the failure of the January Uprising , he emigrated to France.In 1867, he took 8th in Paris ,and won at Café de la Régence in Paris...

, Szymon Winawer

Szymon Winawer

Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883...

, etc.

Petrov won matches against D.A. Baranov (4: 2) in 1809, Carl Jaenisch

Carl Jaenisch

Carl Friedrich Andreyevich von Jaenisch was a Finnish and Russian chess player and theorist. In the 1840s, he was among the top players in the world.-Life and career:...

 (2 : 1) at St Petersburg 1844; Prince Sergey Semenovich Urusov (3 : 1) at St Petersburg 1853 and (13,5 : 7,5) at Warsaw 1859; and Ilya Shumov

Ilya Shumov

Ilya Shumov was a Russian chess master.He served as an officer in the Russian Navy until 1847, then worked as a civil servant in Sankt Petersburg. He was invited, along with two other Russian chess masters – Alexander Petrov and Carl Jaenisch, to participate in the London 1851 chess tournament but...

 (4 : 2) at St Petersburg 1862.

During the January Uprising

January Uprising

The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...

 (1863–1864), he left Warsaw for Vienna and Paris. Among others, he played a match with Paul Journoud

Paul Journoud

Paul Journoud was a French chess master and editor.He was a member of the Café de la Régence chess club in Paris, and one of leading French masters in 1850s/1860s...

 at Paris 1863.

Petrov died in 1867, and was buried in the Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw

Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw

, The Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw is a historic Eastern Orthodox cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland.-Details:...

.

His most well-known problem

Chess problem

A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...

 is The Retreat of Napoleon I from Moscow (St Petersburg 1824).

Notable games

• Alexander Hoffman vs Alexander Petrov, Warsaw m 1844, Italian Game, Classical Variation, Center Attack (C53), 0-1 Petrov's Immortal
• Alexander Petrov vs Carl Friedrich von Jaenisch, St Petersburg 1844, Russian Game, Modern Attack, Center Variation (C43), 1-0
• Alexander Petrov vs Prince Dmitri Semenovich Urusov, Paris 1852, Italian Game, Classical Variation, Albin Gambit (C53), 1-0
• Alexander Petrov vs Prince Sergey Semenovich Urusov, St Petersburg 1853, Italian Game, Classical Variation, Albin Gambit (C53), 1-0
• Alexander Petrov vs Szymański, Warsaw 1953, French Defense, Exchange, Monte Carlo Variation (C01), 1-0