Garry Kasparov

"Kasparov" redirects here. For other uses, see Kasparov (disambiguation).
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Kimovich and the family name is Kasparov.

Garry Kasparov
Гарри Каспаров
Kasparov in 2015
Full nameGarry Kimovich Kasparov
Country
  • Soviet Union (before 1992)
  • Russia (after 1992)
Born (1963-04-13) 13 April 1963 (age 61)[1]
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
TitleGrandmaster (1980)
World Champion
  • 1985–1993 (undisputed)
  • 1993–2000 (classical)
Years active
  • 1976–2005
  • 2016–present (speed chess only)
FIDE rating2812 (November 2024)
Peak rating2851 (July 1999)
Peak rankingNo. 1 (January 1984)
Kasparov's voice (in Russian)
from Kasparov's interview for Echo of Moscow, 13 September 2011

Garry Kimovich Kasparov[a] (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein[b] on 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851,[2] achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).

Kasparov became the youngest-ever undisputed world champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov.[3] He defended the title against Karpov three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1990. Kasparov held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association.[4] In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls when he was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicised match. He continued to hold the "Classical" world title until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Despite losing the PCA title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player at the time of his official retirement. Kasparov coached Carlsen in 2009–10, during which time Carlsen rose to world no. 1. Kasparov stood unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014.

Since retiring from chess, Kasparov has devoted his time to writing and politics. His book series My Great Predecessors, first published in 2003, details the history and games of the world champion chess players who preceded him. He formed the United Civil Front movement and was a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration and policies of Vladimir Putin. In 2008, he announced an intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race, but after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew.[5][6][7] Following the Russian mass protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the immediate future out of fear of persecution.[8] Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family.[9][10] In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split.[11][12][13]

Kasparov was chairman of the Human Rights Foundation from 2011 to 2024. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organisation promoting and defending liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as chairman of the group. Kasparov is also a security ambassador for the software company Avast.[14]

  1. ^ Baldwin, Alan (12 April 2020). "On this day: Born April 13, 1963; Russian chess champion Garry Kasparov". Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Who is the Strongest Chess Player?". Bill Wall. Chess.com. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  3. ^ Ruslan Ponomariov won the disputed FIDE title, at the age of 18, when the world title was split
  4. ^ "Garry Kasparov | Biography & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Putin "heir" on course to win Russia election: poll". Reuters. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ^ Gessen, Masha (2012). The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. New York: Riverhead Books. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-1-59448-842-9. Gessen describes some of the obstacles Kasparov encountered during the attempt to build his campaign: his chartered plane was refused airport access; hotels were advised not to house him; event attendees and organisers were threatened; secret police were a constant presence; a "total television blackout" was enforced. These measures, Gessen concludes, kept the Kasparov movement from growing.
  7. ^ Demirjian, Karoun (13 September 2014). "Moscow city elections leave little room for Russian opposition". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014."Independent opposition candidates faced many obstacles. In February, Putin signed a law requiring all independent candidates to collect signatures from 3 percent of their constituents. The city didn't finalize the boundaries of the districts – which expanded from 35 to 45 – until April. Then in May, two of the original 'For Moscow' members were slapped with fraud charges, effectively ending their campaigns.[paragraph break] The remaining would-be candidates had a few weeks in the summer to collect approximately 5,000 signatures. It proved an elusive goal for most coalition members."
  8. ^ "Garry Kasparov not returning to Russia out of fear of prosecution". Financial Times. 6 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Incorrigible was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Boot, Max (25 April 2018). "The political center is fighting back". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Gari Kasparov dobio hrvatsko državljanstvo". Večernji list. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  12. ^ GARI KASPAROV: 'Vladimir Putin ima previše problema da bi nastavio svoje agresivne politike na području Balkana' Archived 22 November 2021 at the Wayback MachineNacional, 22 December 2020, # 1183, p. 51.
  13. ^ "Je li se legendarni šahist Gari Kasparov trajno preselio u Podstranu pokraj Splita? U Dalmaciju se 'sklonio' nakon pandemije koronavirusa". Slobodna Dalmacija. 15 January 2021. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Avast Blog | Garry Kasparov". blog.avast.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.


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