Garry Kasparov

Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. He is a Russian chess grandmaster, political activist, and writer. Kasparov held the World Chess Championship title from 1985 until 2000. His peak FIDE rating of 2851, set in 1999, stood as the highest ever until Magnus Carlsen surpassed it in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, he occupied the world No. 1 spot for a record total of 255 months. He also holds the records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and the most Chess Oscars (11).

At age 22, Kasparov became the youngest undisputed world champion by defeating Anatoly Karpov in 1985, a record that lasted until 2024. He successfully defended the title against Karpov in 1986, 1987, and 1990. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute led him to form the rival Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, falling to IBM’s Deep Blue in a widely publicized event. He retained the "Classical" world title until Vladimir Kramnik defeated him in 2000. Even after losing the PCA title, Kasparov continued winning tournaments and remained the world’s highest-rated player at his official retirement. He coached Magnus Carlsen in 2009–2010, during which Carlsen rose to world No. 1. Kasparov ran unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014.

After retiring from chess, Kasparov focused on writing and politics. His book series *My Great Predecessors*, first published in 2003, covers the history and games of earlier world champions. He founded the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing Vladimir Putin’s administration. In 2008, he announced his candidacy for the Russian presidency but withdrew after logistical problems he blamed on official obstruction. Following the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he left Russia in June 2013, citing fear of persecution. He then lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and maintains a residence in Podstrana near Split. Russia designated him a "foreign agent" in 2022.

Kasparov served as chairman of the Human Rights Foundation from 2011 to 2024. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organization promoting liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad, and serves as its chairman.

**Early life**

Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. His father, Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, was Jewish; his mother, Klara Shagenovna Kasparova, was Armenian. Both of his maternal grandparents were Armenians from Karabakh. Kasparov has said he was named after U.S. President Harry S. Truman, whom his father admired for opposing communism. He describes himself as a "self-appointed Christian" who is "very indifferent" and identifies as Russian, stating, "Although I'm half-Armenian, half-Jewish, I consider myself Russian because Russian is my native tongue, and I grew up with Russian culture." His father died of leukemia when Kasparov was seven. At age twelve, at his mother’s request and with family consent, he adopted her surname, Kasparov. In January 1990, Kasparov and his family fled anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku.

**Introduction to chess**

Kasparov began studying chess seriously after encountering a problem his parents had set and proposing a solution. From age seven, he attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku. At ten, he started training at Mikhail Botvinnik’s chess school under coach Vladimir Makogonov. When Kasparov was 11, Botvinnik wrote, "The future of chess lies in the hands of this young man." Makogonov developed Kasparov’s positional skills and taught him the Caro–Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. At age 13, Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship in Tbilisi with a score of 7/9. He repeated this victory the following year, scoring 8.5/9. During this period, he was coached by Alexander Shakarov.

**Chess career**

**Rising up the ranks**

In early 1978, Kasparov received a special invitation to the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk, normally restricted to established masters and local players, and took first place. He later said this victory made him believe he had a "very good shot" at the world championship. At age 15 in 1978, he became the youngest-ever player to qualify for the USSR Chess Championship, doing so by winning a 64-player Swiss system tournament in Daugavpils. He scored 8.5/17 in that championship. His first international tournament was in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia, in April 1979, while he was still unrated. He won the high-class event by 2 points, earning a provisional rating of 2545, which ranked him equal 40th in the world. In 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany. Later that year, he debuted as the second reserve for the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad in Valletta, Malta, and became a Grandmaster. His world ranking rose quickly: equal 15th in January 1980, sixth in January 1981, equal fourth in July 1981, fourth in January 1982, and second behind Karpov in July 1982. As a teenager, Kasparov shared the USSR Chess Championship in 1981 with Lev Polugaevsky.