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Garry Kasparov

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Garry Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, political activist, and writer.

Kasparov-1
Kasparov-1

He served as the World Chess Champion from 1985 to 2000. Kasparov reached a peak FIDE chess rating of 2851 in 1999. This was the highest rating ever recorded until Magnus Carlsen surpassed it in 2013. For a record 255 months, Kasparov held the rank of the world's number one player.

Kasparov-11
Kasparov-11

His career is defined by many records, including 15 consecutive professional tournament victories. He also earned 11 Chess Oscars, which are awards for excellence in the game. Kasparov's life demonstrates how a master of strategy can apply his skills to global politics.

Kasparov's journey began in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the Soviet Union.

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Kasparov-2

He was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein to a Jewish father and an Armenian mother. His father, Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, died of leukemia when Kasparov was seven. At age twelve, Kasparov adopted his mother's surname, Kasparov. He began serious chess study after solving a problem set by his parents. By age ten, he trained at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school. His coach, Vladimir Makogonov, helped him master positional skills. He specifically learned the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

His rise through the competitive ranks was rapid and impressive. In 1976, he won the Soviet Junior Championship at age 13. He repeated this victory in 1977 with an even higher score. In 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany.

Garry Kasparov 1980 Dortmund
Garry Kasparov 1980 Dortmund

Shortly after, he became a Grandmaster. By January 1984, he became the youngest-ever world number one player. This record stood for 12 years until Vladimir Kramnik broke it in 1996. Kasparov's dominance was fueled by intense training and a deep understanding of the game's history.

Kasparov's path to the world title involved intense rivalry and controversy. In 1984, he began a match against Anatoly Karpov. This match was incredibly long and reached 46 games. It ended without a result because FIDE President Florencio Campomanes stopped it. The president cited the players' health, but the decision was highly controversial. In 1985, Kasparov defeated Karpov to become the undisputed world champion at age 22. He held this title until 2000.

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Kasparov-1

This period of dominance established him as one of the greatest players in history.

A major turning point occurred in 1997 during a match against artificial intelligence.

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Kasparov-18

Kasparov played against the IBM supercomputer, Deep Blue, under standard time controls. This was a highly publicized event that captured global attention. Deep Blue defeated Kasparov, making him the first world champion to lose to a computer in such a match. This event changed how people viewed the relationship between human intelligence and computer processing. Despite this loss, Kasparov remained a top-tier player and continued winning major tournaments.

After retiring from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov moved into political activism.

Garry Kasparov (23954609358)
Garry Kasparov (23954609358)

He became a member of The Other Russia, a coalition that opposed Vladimir Putin. He also formed the United Civil Front movement. Kasparov faced many obstacles while attempting to build a political campaign in Russia. These included being denied airport access for his plane and facing a television blackout. Because of fears of persecution, he left Russia in 2013 and moved to New York City. He later obtained Croatian citizenship and lives in Podstrana.

Kasparov has used his platform to defend democratic values worldwide. He served as the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation from 2011 to 2024. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) in the United States.

Garry Kasparov (23954609358)
Garry Kasparov (23954609358)

As chairman of the RDI, he promotes and defends liberal democracy both in the U.S. and abroad. He also remains a significant figure in chess history through his writing. His book series, My Great Predecessors, details the lives and games of past world champions. His life connects the precision of chess strategy to the complex movements of global human rights.

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