The ease and virtuosity of the game, observed by millions of connoisseurs of this art in matches broadcast on television, made the viewer confidently think that Karpov is a chess player by nature. In fact, grandmasters are not born. It all started, like many Soviet children.
The childhood of the twelfth chess champion
At five, the boy was introduced to chess by his father, after which there was a sports section at the Zlatoust Metallurgical Plant, where dad worked. Of course, an inquiring, tenacious mind, natural inclinations, and a teenager showed an interest in an ancient intellectual game affected. Anatoly became a first-class student at the age of nine, at the age of 11 he fulfilled the norm of a candidate for master. Further success was achieved under the guidance of S. M. Furman, an experienced grandmaster mentor. At the age of fourteen, he became a master of sports; at the age of eighteen (in 1969), chess player Anatoly Karpov excelled at the World Championship among young men. From this stage, the takeoff of our talented compatriot began, to this day no one surpassed in the number of victories in international competitions.
The record milestone - 100 championships won - was passed by him in 1994 at the age of 43 years (for comparison, the great Alekhine achieved an impressive result in only 78 matches and tournaments).
"Ordinary" personal data
Karpov Anatoly Evgenievich was born in the city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region on May 23, 1951. Father - Yevgeny Stepanovich, a worker, later - a plant engineer. Mother - Nina Grigoryevna, a housewife. In the family, Anatoly was the second child, his sister is 5 years older than him.
Since 1965, the Karpov family has been living in Tula. Here Anatoly graduated from the mathematical class of school number 20 with a gold medal. He received further education at Moscow State University (mechmath), subsequently transferred to the Faculty of Economics of Leningrad State University, successfully completing his studies in 1978. Until 1980, he worked there as a research fellow at the Research Institute of Social Research, then at the Department of Political Economy of Moscow State University.
In the first marriage with Irina Kuimova, a son Anatoly was born (1979), from his second marriage with Natalya Bulanova she has a daughter, Sofia (1999).
Social work
In 1989-1991 was a member of the deputy corps of the USSR Armed Forces. Since 2011 - Member of the State Duma from the United Russia faction. Karpov is a chess player, able to count moves not only with pieces on a checkered board. His analytical abilities, creative mindset are highly appreciated by the leaders of the state. Since 2004, in the field of his constant activity, he has been the Presidential Council for Culture, since 2007 he has been a public council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, then he headed the TEKHECO environmental fund. In the State Duma, he oversees issues of economic policy, entrepreneurship and innovative development.
Nevertheless, the first thing that is expected when mentioning the name of Anatoly Karpov is a biography of sports victories. No questionnaire could contain all the results he achieved. Mention the most important.
Championship without a decisive battle
While still a student of the Faculty of Economics, Karpov came close to the chess crown. In 1072-1975, he went through all the qualifying rounds of the World Cup, at the end of winning contender matches with the strongest rivals - Viktor Korchnoi, Lev Polugaevsky, Boris Spassky.
Most likely, analyzing the games of Anatoly Karpov, the current champion Bobby Fisher, wishing to leave “undefeated”, refused to fight. A unique case in history: in the spring of 1975, the applicant was declared FIDE the twelfth world champion, having not played a single game with the previously acting “king” in the final match (as you know, the main match according to the rules should last until 6 victories of one of the participants), nor in other international competitions.
Sports achivments
Fischer, who left the fight, set a precedent when the announced champion had to prove his title in other competitions of a high rank. And Karpov brilliantly dealt with this. The Soviet chess player in the same 1975 won the prestigious tournament in Milan. He defended his champion title in matches with Victor Korchnoi representing Switzerland: in 1978 in Baguio (Philippines) he won the last crucial game with a score of 5: 5 (the result of the match was 16.5: 15.5), then in 1981 he won in Italian Merano. Having lost in only two games with ten draws, Karpov defeated his opponent with a convincing score of 6: 2 (11: 7) within twenty-eight tournament days.
For twelve years, from 1971 to 1981, the athlete received the Chess Oscar nine times as the best grandmaster in the world. Three times, in 1976, 1983 and 1988, he won the USSR title (in 1988, along with Garry Kasparov).
Fights with Kasparov
The most dramatic, memorable throughout the country period of the champion’s sports career is the defense of the title in the confrontation with the talented young compatriot Garry Kasparov.
Karpov’s initial success (score 5-0 for victories, in which it was enough to win a single game) was minimized by the strong-willed effort of the applicant. The match was stopped by FIDE without declaring a winner with a score of 5: 3 and 40 “draws” (a record number of games played for meetings of this rank). A pair of Soviet chess players set another peculiar record - Karpov and Kasparov met in the decisive championship match 5 times (before them they challenged the highest rank counterpart Smyslov and Botvinnik).
The first match, which began on September 9, 1984, lasted until February 15 of the following year. In the same 1985, a new match took place, where the final score was symmetric: 5: 3 in favor of Kasparov. How strong was the chess player Karpov, the fact that, losing to his fateful opponent a rematch in 1986 (with a difference of one victory), he twice acted as the only possible challenger. Moreover, in 1987 in Seville, only an unfortunate mistake in the 11th game caused by tremendous nervous tension, and his missed chance to use Kasparov’s miscalculation in a decisive match (with a score of +1 in his favor) did not allow Anatoly to return the title. According to chess experts, the three-year drawn-out confrontation led both opponents to be creatively and psychologically exhausted.
Anatoly Karpov - chess player and man
In 2002, Anatoly Karpov defeated Kasparov in an unofficial match, having drawn the main part of the tournament in a draw and won an extra in quick chess with a score of 2.5: 1.5. He won the first place in the competition in Linares (1994), the victory over Jan Timman, Gata Kamsky, Vichy Anand: three times after the split in the world of chess championships, he won the highest title according to FIDE (in 1993, 1996, 1998).
Karpov Anatoly Evgenievich, thanks to his upbringing and character, was not a rebel either in terms of organizing chess championships or in civilian life. At the same time, he proved himself to be a man of a wide soul, in 2007 he sought a meeting with his former main rebel rival, who was arrested for participating in the “March of Dissent”.
Karpov in 1982 headed the International Association of Peace Funds. He is the author of several fascinating books about his favorite intellectual game, a philatelist who has assembled one of the richest collections of chess brands. A long-standing passion, according to Anatoly Evgenievich, disciplines thinking, develops memory, which is so necessary for calculating variations of moves.