Garry Kasparov

## Background Information

The 13th World Chess Champion, Garry Kimovich Kasparov, is regarded as one of the most greatest chess player of all time. He held the number one rating for a period of 21 years from 1985 - 2006 until his retirement from the game. He had a peak rating of 2851 and before his retirement his rating was at 2812. Nicknamed "The Beast of Baku", Kasparov has one of the sharpest minds ever, able to understand the implications of the position on the board. One of his greatest strength was his opening theory which is still used in today's time by modern-day players.

## World Champion Matches:

### **1984 World Chess Championship Match:**

Garry Kasparov at the time was a rising chess star, quickly becoming one of the best players in Soviet Russia. The only player who stood in his way was then world champion Anatoly Karpov. Recognized as the longest chess match in history, as the two played a total of 48 games. Florence Campomanes decided to cancel the match as both players were heavily exhausted due to the long duration. Therefore Karpov retained the title as no victor was declared. It's interesting to note that Kasparov was trailing the match as Karpov won more games but Kasparov prevailed by drawing as many games as he could which exhausted his opponent.

1. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 3]
2. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (0-1) [Game 6]
3. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 7]
4. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 9]
5. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1/2-1/2) [Game 22]
6. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 27]
7. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0) [Game 32]
8. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (0-1) [Game 47]
9. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0) [Game 48]

### **1985 World Chess Championship Match:**

After the first match was aborted by the FIDE president, the two played another match in 1985 consisting of only 24 games. Kasparov became the youngest world champion by defeating Karpov in this match. Many former world champions praised Kasparov and hoped that he stayed on the throne for a long time. Though his victory was great for the chess world as a new world champion had been produced, Karpov gained the rights for another rematch in 1986.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0) [Game 1]
2. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 4]
3. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (0-1) [Game 5]
4. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0) [Game 11]
5. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (0-1) [Game 16]
6. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0) [Game 19]
7. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) [Game 22]
8. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (0-1) [Game 24]

## Greatest Games Collection

* Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov (Hoogevens Group A 1999); "Kasparov's Immortal Game"
* Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1990 World Chess Championship Match)
* Garry Kasparov vs Viswanathan Anand (Interpolis 5th 1991); "When Garry met Vishy"

## Kasparov and Carlsen 2004

In 2004, a rising chess international master named Magnus Carlsen rose to prominence. Only at the age of 13 years, he had winning chances against the former world champion. Kasparov was clearly surprised by the potential of Carlsen and this was the first time they encountered one another. It was because of this encounter that Kasparov began training Magnus Carlsen several years afterwards. At the time no one knew that Carlsen would become world champion later on. Although Carlsen played well, Kasparov managed to outplay him with a score of 1.5 - 0.5. This is also one of the most viewed videos of chess.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Magnus Carlsen (1-0) [Reykjavik Rapid 2004 Game 1]
2. Magnus Carlsen vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2) [Reykjavik Rapid 2004 Game 2]

## Post-Retirement from Chess

After retiring from the game after his Linares 2005 tournament victory, Kasparov decided to retire from the game as he has achieved everything he could; much to the surprise of the chess world. He dedicated his years advocating for democracy in Russia while also representing the human rights foundation. Though this did not stop his passion and love for the game, he still competed in a bunch of exhibition matches against modern players and players of his generation.

In 2006, he participated in the Lichthof Chess Chess Champions Tournament in a field consisting of Anatoly Karpov, Victor Korchnoi and Judit Polgar. He won the tournament alongside Anatoly Karpov with a score of 4.5/6. Winning three games and drawing three games.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Judit Polgar (1-0)
2. Judit Polgar vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
3. Garry Kasparov vs Victor Korchnoi (1-0)
4. Victor Korchnoi vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2)
5. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1/2-1/2)
6. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2)

 In 2009, Garry Kasparov played an exhibition match consisting of rapid and blitz against his eternal rival Anatoly Karpov in Valencia, Spain. The event took place 25 years after their first encounter. Despite being away from the game for three years, he won the match with a devastating score of 9 -3. Winning three rapid games and six blitz games.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (1-0)
2. Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)

In 2011, Kasparov held an exhibition match competing against French Number One Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in Clichy, France which consisted of two blitz games. Kasparov defeated the latter with a score of 1.5 - 0.5. The match proved that Kasparov can still play chess at the highest level.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Maxime-Vachier Lagrave (1-0) ; "Home of Lagrave"
2. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2) ;

In the same year, he also competed against Nigel Short, one of the PCA world championship challenger in an exhibition match consisting of eight blitz games. Kasparov managed to outwit his opponent, winning the match with a score of 4.5 - 3.5.

1. Nigel Short vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
2. Garry Kasparov vs Nigel Short (1-0)

 Four years after their exhibition match, Saint Louis Chess Club owned by billionaire Rex Sinquefield, hosted another match for the two in an event called "Battle of the Legends". Once again the former world champion demonstrated that he can still play at the highest level, dominating the match with a score of 8.5 -1.5.

1. Nigel Short vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
2. Garry Kasparov vs Nigel Short (1/2-1/2)
3. Nigel Short vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
4. Garry Kasparov vs Nigel Short (1-0)

In 2016, Kasparov took on the most challenging exhibition yet as he competed against the three best chess players from the United States of America; Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana. All of whom are some of the highest rated chess players on the planet. This event was again hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club which was titled "The Ultimate Blitz Challenge". Due to many knight blunders, Kasparov settled for third place with a score of (9.5/18) behind Wesley So (10/18) and winner Hikaru Nakamura (11/18) but above Fabiano Caruana (5.5/18). Despite his placements in the ranking, he managed to win two micro matches against both Nakamura and Caruana respectively.

1. Garry Kasparov vs Hikaru Nakamura (1-0)
2. Fabiano Caruana vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
3. Garry Kasparov vs Wesley So (1-0)
4. Wesley So vs Garry Kasparov (1-0) ; "So's Immortal Game"

In 2017, Kasparov announced for the first time in 12 years that he will be returning to competitive chess for the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament which consisted of various highest rated chess players including; Ian Nepomniatchi, Sergey Karjakin, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, David Navara, Le Quang Liem, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Hikaru Nakamura. After a poor performance in the rapid section with a score of 7/18, Kasparov came back in the blitz to finish in a combined score of 16/36 which was 8th in terms of the ranking ahead of his old time rival Viswanathan Anand and tail-ender Navara.

1. Garry Kasparov vs David Navara (0-1)
2. Garry Kasparov vs Ian Nepomniatchi (0-1)
3. Levon Aronian vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2)
4. Garry Kasparov vs Sergey Karjakin (1/2-1/2)
5. Viswanathan Anand vs Garry Kasparov (1/2-1/2)
6. Fabiano Caruana vs Garry Kasparov (1-0)
7. Garry Kasparov vs Le Quang Liem (1-0)
8. Garry Kasparov vs Leinier Dominguez Perez (1-0)
9. Leinier Dominguez Perez vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)
10. Garry Kasparov vs Hikaru Nakamura (1-0)
11. Fabiano Caruana vs Garry Kasparov (0-1)

After the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess Match, Kasparov decided to participate in Chess960 another variation of chess created by former world champion Bobby Fischer. Knowing that Chess960 requires creativity and less theory as compared to normal chess, Kasparov tried playing the variant for the first time. In 2018, he played a match against another rival from the past Veselin Topalov. He lost the match 11.5 - 14.5. In an interview, he stated that he really wanted to win the match as his last professional game against Topalov ended in a lost. The next year he took on an even greater challenge against the world number two Fabiano Caruana. Despite having a good score against Caruana in normal chess after their past encounters, Caruana showed great improvement from before. Caruana dominated the match with a score of 19 - 7. In the post-match interview, Kasparov alluded to the fact that he may not play anymore exhibition matches because of his wife and other factors in his life that don't allow him to only focus on the game.

## Head to Head against Former World Champions & Top Players:

* Garry Kasparov vs Magnus Carlsen (1 to 0 with 1 draw in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Hikaru Nakamura (3 to 1 with 5 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov (39 to 25 with 129 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Viswanathan Anand (26 to 8 with 46 draws in favor Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov (19 to 6 with 17 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Vladimir Kramnik (22 to 21 with 79 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Fabiano Caruana (4 to 3 with two draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Peter Svidler (9 to 2 with 5 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Victor Korchnoi (18 to 1 with 24 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Boris Spassky (2 to 2 with 4 draws tied)
* Garry Kasparov vs Tigran Petrosian (2 to 2 with 1 draw tied)
* Garry Kasparov vs Michael Adams (12 to 2 with 9 draws in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs Levon Aronian (0 to 1 with 2 draws in favor of Aronian)
* Garry Kasparov vs Sergey Karjakin (0 to 1 with 2 draws in favor of Karjakin)
* Garry Kasparov vs Ian Nepomniatchi (0 to 1 with 2 draws in favor of Nepomniatchi)
* Garry Kasparov vs Leinier Dominguez (2 to 0 with 1 draw in favor of Kasparov)
* Garry Kasparov vs David Navara (0 to 1 with 2 draws in favor of Navara)
* Garry Kasparov vs Le Quang Liem (1 to 1 with 1 draw tied)
* Garry Kasparov vs Nigel Short (46 to 10 with 36 draws in favor of Kasparov)