Anatoly Karpov

Lore & Background

For 25 consecutive years (1974–1998), Karpov was either the world champion (16 years in total) or a world championship challenger, a record surpassed only by Emanuel Lasker. Karpov's chess tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes. He had a peak Elo rating of 2780, and his 102 total months world number one is the third-longest of all time, behind Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov.

Reader's Guide

Karpov was born into a Russian family on May 23, 1951, in Zlatoust, in the Urals region of the former Soviet Union, and learned to play chess at the age of four. He became a candidate master by age 11. At 12, he was accepted into Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school. He became the youngest Soviet master in history at age 15 in 1966.

He won the World Junior Championship in 1969, earning the International Master title. In 1970, he earned the international grandmaster title. He won the 1971 Alekhine Memorial tournament. He qualified for the 1974 Candidates Matches, defeating Lev Polugaevsky, Boris Spassky, and Victor Korchnoi to become the challenger for the world title.

In 1975, after Bobby Fischer forfeited the title, Karpov became World Champion. He defended his title against Korchnoi in 1978 and 1981. He won numerous tournaments including Milan 1975, Montreal 1979, Las Palmas 1977, Bugojno 1978/1980/1986, Linares 1981/1994, Tilburg 1977/1979/1980/1982/1983, and the Soviet Championship in 1976, 1983, and 1988. He represented the Soviet Union at six Chess Olympiads, winning team gold each time.

Did You Know?

• He was awarded nine Chess Oscars by the International Association of Chess Press (1973–77, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984).
• He is an elected Member of the State Duma in Russia.