The idea of readily surrendering the Queen in order to hound the hostile King with the other pieces isn’t new, but Petrov's sacrifice was one of the earliest examples we have. What’s more, Stockfish suggested no improvements on his play.
Alexander Petrov (1794-1867) was a Russian player, composer and writer. He was born into a noble family and is usually remembered as the first great Russian master. From 1804, he lived in St. Petersburg. He established himself as the best Russian player at the age of 15 and remained so for over half a century.
He was the author of the first chess handbook in Russian. He also analyzed with Carl Jaenisch the opening that later became known as the Petrov Defense.
From 1840. he lived in Warsaw (then in the Russian Empire), where he successfully played against the top Warsaw masters which included Alexander Hoffmann (1798-1855).
During the January Uprising (1863–64), he left Warsaw for Vienna and Paris. He died in Warsaw in 1867, and was buried there.
[Event "Warsaw m"]
[Site "Warsaw POL (Russian Empire)"]
[Date "1844.11.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "F Alexander Hoffmann"]
[Black "Alexander Petrov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C53"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "1844.??.??"]
{C54: Giuoco Piano} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5
Ne4 {This is unsound, but in 1844 such assessments mattered little. Black’s
only good move is 6...d5 which equalizes.} (6... d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 {
is the Main Line which is equal.}) 7. Bd5 {Black has only two options here,
Sacrifice the N or try to defend it with 7...f5} Nxf2 (7... f5 {This move is
almost always met by 8.cxd4 after which white is better, but castling is
actually a bit stronger.} 8. O-O Ne7 9. Bb3 d5 10. exd6 Qxd6 11. cxd4 Bb6 12.
Nc3 {White is better because he is stronger in the center and black's K-side
is a bit loose.}) 8. Kxf2 dxc3+ 9. Kg3 {Surprisingly it matters little where
the K gord. It's perfectly safe on g3.} cxb2 (9... O-O {May look better, but
it's not at all satisfactory either.} 10. Nxc3 d6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Re1 {
with a substantial advantage.}) 10. Bxb2 Ne7 {[%mdl 32] White has a N vs. 3Ps,
but what counys is his space and mobility because they give him a clear
advantage after 11.h3 or 11.Qe2. Instead, in the spirit of the day white
decided on a sacrifice of his own.} (10... O-O 11. h3 {Equally good is 11.Re1}
d6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Qc2 Rb8 14. Nbd2 Be6 15. Rhe1 {White stands well.
Mammadov,A (2409)-Abasov,N (2504) Baku AZE 2011}) 11. Ng5 {Intending to
counter-sacrifice his N on f7.} Nxd5 (11... Nf5+ {also works.} 12. Kf4 O-O 13.
h4 (13. Kxf5 d6+ 14. Kf4 dxe5+ 15. Bxe5 {Black has inly one winning move.} Be3+
16. Kxe3 Qxg5+ 17. Kf2 Qxe5 18. Na3 Be6 {Black wins material.} 19. Bxe6 (19.
Re1 Qxd5) 19... fxe6+ {wins}) 13... d6) 12. Nxf7 {Black would still be much
better after 12.Qe7, but...} O-O {Spectacular! White is lost wheather he takes
the Q or not.} ({Not} 12... Kxf7 13. Qxd5+ Ke8 14. Qxc5 {and white has
equalized.}) 13. Nxd8 {Black has a forced mate.} (13. Qxd5 Rxf7 {White's K
cannot escape the clutches of black's pieces.} 14. h3 Qg5+ 15. Kh2 Qf4+ 16. g3
Qf2+ 17. Qg2 Qxg2+ 18. Kxg2 Rf2+ 19. Kg1 b6 20. Ba3 Bd4 {and wins}) 13... Bf2+
14. Kh3 d6+ {Black mates.} 15. e6 Nf4+ 16. Kg4 Nxe6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6+ 18. Kg5 Rf5+
19. Kg4 h5+ 20. Kh3 Rf3# {Analysis with Stockfish informs us that Petrov's
Accuracy Rating was a perfevt 100%} 0-1
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