Karpov, Anatoly Yevgenyevich

Karpov, Anatoly Yevgenyevich

▪ Russian chess player
born May 23, 1951, Zlatoust, Russia, U.S.S.R.

      Russian chess master who dominated world competition from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.

      Karpov moved to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) with his family early in life. A child prodigy, he learned to play chess at the age of four and was rated a first-category player by the time he was nine. In 1969 he won the world junior championship at Stockholm, and a year later, at age 19, he became the world's youngest grandmaster. An almost uninterrupted series of successes in tournaments during 1971–74 made him the official challenger to Bobby Fischer (Fischer, Bobby) of the United States for the 1975 world chess championship. Karpov became world champion that year when Fischer refused to play a match with him under conditions set by the official world chess organization, the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE (chess)). Karpov narrowly retained his title against the Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi (Korchnoi, Viktor) in 1978 and beat Korchnoi again handily in 1981.

      Karpov defended his title against his countryman Garry Kasparov (Kasparov, Garry) in 1984–85. Karpov gained a commanding lead early in the series, but Kasparov eventually rallied. The match became a grueling endurance contest that stretched to 48 games before it was halted on the grounds that both players were exhausted. In their rematch during 1985, Karpov lost his title to Kasparov after 24 games had been played.

      Karpov regained the FIDE world chess champion title in 1993 after Kasparov left FIDE to form a rival organization. In response, FIDE stripped Kasparov of his title, which Karpov regained by defeating the Dutch player Jan Timman in a FIDE championship match. Karpov defended his FIDE title in 1998, turning back Viswanathan Anand (Anand, Viswanathan) of India. The following year Karpov refused to defend his title in the FIDE world championship knockout tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was won by Alexander Khalifman of Russia.

      Though slim and of small stature, Karpov had notable powers of endurance. His style of play was without noticeable weaknesses; he tended to prefer positional play to tactical play, inexorably building up minute advantages through flawless but colourless maneuvers to achieve eventual victory. His book Anatoly Karpov's Best Games (1996) offers readers an annotated collection of his games and his observations on the world of chess.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Karpov,Anatoly Yevgenyevich — Kar·pov (kärʹpôf ), Anatoly Yevgenyevich. Born 1951. Russian chess master who was world champion from 1975 to 1985. * * * …   Universalium

  • Karpov, Anatoly (Yevgenyevich) — born May 23, 1951, Zlatoust, U.S.S.R. Russian chess master. His first great success was winning the 1969 World Junior (under 20) Championship. Karpov was declared world champion in 1975 when the reigning champion Bobby Fischer and the… …   Universalium

  • Anatoly — (as used in expressions) Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Shcharansky Anatoly Borisovich * * * …   Universalium

  • Anatoly Karpov — Infobox chess player playername = Anatoly Karpov birthname = Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Анатолий Евгеньевич Карпов) country = RUS datebirth = birth date and age|1951|5|23 placebirth = Zlatoust, RSFSR, Soviet Union title = Grandmaster (1970)… …   Wikipedia

  • chess — chess1 /ches/, n. a game played by two persons, each with 16 pieces, on a chessboard. [1150 1200; ME < OF esches, pl. of eschec CHECK1] chess2 /ches/, n., pl. chess, chesses. one of the planks forming the roadway of a floating bridge. [1425 75;… …   Universalium

  • Russia — /rush euh/, n. 1. Also called Russian Empire. Russian, Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Cap.: St. Petersburg (1703 1917). 2. See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 3. See Russian… …   Universalium

  • Fischer, Bobby — orig. Robert James Fischer born March 9, 1943, Chicago, Ill., U.S. U.S. chess master. He became a grandmaster at age 15, then a record. In 1972 Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become the only American to win the world chess championship. An… …   Universalium

  • Kasparov, Garry — born April 13, 1963, Baku, Azerbaijan, U.S.S.R. Russian chess master. He became an international grandmaster following his victory in the 1980 World Junior (under 20) Championship. In 1984–85 Kasparov met world champion Anatoly Karpov in a match… …   Universalium

  • Anand, Viswanathan — ▪ Indian chess player born Dec. 11, 1969, Madras, India       Indian chess master who won the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE (chess); international chess federation) world championship in 2000 and 2007.       Anand learned to play… …   Universalium

  • Korchnoi, Viktor — ▪ Soviet chess player born March 23, 1931, Leningrad, U.S.S.R. [now Saint Petersburg, Russia]       world chess champion contender who was one of the fiercest competitors in the history of chess. During his prime years, he was known as “Viktor… …   Universalium

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