Garry Kasparov

Biography (1963)

Garry Kasparov (born in 1963) was widely thought to be a future champion in his teens, and he lived up to these expectations after winning the Interzonal in Moscow (1982) and crushing Beliavsky (+4-1=4), Korchnoi (+4-1=6), and Smyslov (+4-0=9) in the Candidates matches. His unlimited first-to-win-six-games match with Karpov (Moscow, 1984) became the longest in history. It was terminated without result and stirred up much controversy.The following year, another match was organized, which Kasparov won 13-11 to become the youngest World Champion. In the next five years, Kasparov defended his title in three matches with Karpov: London-Leningrad (1986) (12½–11½), Linares (1987) (12-12), and New York-Lyon (1990) (12½–11½).In 1993, Kasparov and Short (the winner of the Candidates cycle) played the title match outside of FIDE jurisdiction, which Kasparov won 12½–7½. Two years later, he defended his title in the match against the winner of the PCA candidate cycle, Viswanathan Anand, by a score of 10½–7½ (New York, 1995).Despite losing the chess crown in 2000, Kasparov continued to dominate tournaments and was #1 on the FIDE rating list when he retired from professional chess.

Notable game

This was Game 12 of the 1990 New York/Lyon World Championship match, the last of the five matches between Kasparov and Karpov

Play like a champion!

Black to move.

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Want chess advice?

# 1 / 8

If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure.

The attacker always has the advantage.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in a pressure situation is to allow the tension to persist. The temptation is to make a decision, any decision, even if it is an inferior choice.

The biggest problem I see among people who want to excel in chess—and in business and life in general—is that they do not trust their instincts enough.

Losing can persuade you to change what doesn't need to be changed, and winning can convince you everything is fine even if you are on the brink of disaster.

The highest art of the chess player lies in not allowing your opponent to show you what he can do.

The public must come to see that chess is a violent sport. Chess is mental torture.

Mental energy is the ammunition we take into any mental battle. If you don’t have enough of it, your concentration will fade. If you have a surplus, the results will explode.

On Kasparov

After Karpov and Kasparov, there are no longer kings, but only prime ministers.

Kasparov was fortunate that computers emerged during his career, and he swiftly embraced their use. He quickly realized the immense advantage they provided. Today, all chess players utilize this technology, but at that time, Kasparov was ahead of the curve, and it gave him considerable advantages.

Perhaps Kasparov can be compared with Botvinnik in his willpower, but he surpasses his teacher in flexibility. He soaks up changes like a sponge, quickly and successfully incorporating everything he sees into his arsenal. I think this is what distinguishes Kasparov from all other chess players.

In my opinion, Garry Kasparov is the greatest player ever. Garry is a hard worker, with a very special talent for the game from a very early age. He could find ideas that nobody else could.