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Garry Kasparov – by Gage Skidmore – 

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov, Garry Kimovich Kasparov in full, is a Russian chess grandmaster, political activist, writer, and former World Chess Champion. Garry was born on April 13, 1963, in Baku Azerbaijan (U.S.S.R. back then). His original name by birth was Garik Kimovich Weinstein.

Kasparov was an international chess grandmaster, with several accolades. These include being the youngest world chess champion and the most consecutive chess victories.

Garry Kasparov鈥檚 name is always mentioned when anyone is discussing the best chess players. Such was his prowess that he only entered the strongest of competitions and won them almost effortlessly. He is considered the best chess player of all time.

Below is a list of interesting facts about Garry Kasparov.

1. Garry Kasparov鈥檚 Chess Journey Began as A Child

Garry Kasparov, Junior World Championship 1980 in Germany – by GFHund –

Garry began learning and playing chess at 6 years of age. His parents saw he loved and was interested in the game after he solved a chess problem. They, therefore, decided to nature his interest and by age 13 he was the Soviet Youth Chess Champion.

At 17, Germany held the World Junior Chess Championship tournament. Garry tied for first place at the tournament and shared the honors. At age 19 Kasparov was already the second-rated player in world chess rankings.

2. Garry Kasparov Had the Highest ELO Rating

In 1980, Garry was promoted to Grandmaster. Garry was 17 years old at the time, and he eventually won the candidates to qualify for the World Chess Champion title match in 1984.

With a FIDE rating of 2851, Garry holds the record for the highest FIDE rating of all time. Before Magnus Carlsen shattered the record, this was the highest ELO rating.

3. Garry Kasparov Was the Youngest World Champion

In 1984, Kasparov met Anatoly Karpov, the then World Champion. This was Garry Kasparov鈥檚 first shot at the World Championship. However, it was not meant to be as the match was ended without a result.

According to the FIDE President, the match was ended due to health concerns for the players. The players did not agree but the game was called off and another match set for months later.

The second match took place on 9th November 1985 where there would be 24 games and the first to 12.5 points won. If a draw was the result the title would remain with Anatoly. Karpov secured the title in a closely contested match with 13-11.

Karpov was 22 at the time and this made him the youngest ever World Champion. Karpov broke a 20-year record that was held by Mikhail Tal.

4. Garry Kasparov Played a Chess Game Against the World

The game known as Kasparov versus the World was played in 1999 through the internet. A world team of thousands discussed and voted on moves while Kasparov played by himself. There were participants from over 75 countries. The total tally was over 50000 people.

The game took over 4 months to complete. After a total of 62 moves, Kasparov who was playing the white pieces won. Kasparov later described the game as the greatest game in the history of chess.

5. Garry Kasparov Was and Is Politically Active in Russia

In 1984, Garry became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He was also interested in politics and was later elected to the Komsomol central committee. This committee was a communist party youth political youth group. Later in 1990, Garry abandoned the communist party.

Garry returned to politics after 16 years and created the United Civil Front. This was done in order to keep Russia’s electoral democracy alive. In 2005, he and a group of others founded the ‘Other Russia’ movement.

Kasparov has also spoken out vocally on several issues in Russia. Including opposing Putin鈥檚 Regime.

6. Garry Kasparov Left the FIDE and Founded the Professional Chess Association (PCA)

Garry Kasparov – by Fryta 73 –

The FIDE called off the World Championship match in 1984 with Kasparov ahead. This brought tension between Kasparov and the FIDE which only increased over the years. In 1986, Kasparov started the Grand Masters association to represent the world鈥檚 top chess players. This only increased tension between the FIDE and Kasparov.

In 1993, the feud finally came to a head when Kasparov and Nigel Shorts broke away. Kasparov created the Professional Chess Association (PCA) to rival the FIDE. This caused the FIDE to remove both of them from their listing.

This brought duality to the world of Chess since there were two recognized organizations. This meant that there were now two World Champions. The PCA champion, Garry Kasparov, and the FIDE champion Anatoly Karpov.

7. Garry Kasparov Is the Longest Running World Champion

From 1984 to 2000, Kasparov was the world’s No. 1 rated player. This era lasted for 15 years which made him the longest-running World Champion. A record that stands to date.

However, there are a few dents to this record. In the January 1996 FIDE rating list, Vladimir Kramnik and Kasparov shared the No. 1 ranking. Following his separation from FIDE in 1993, he was briefly removed from the list, but during that time he led the rival PCA’s rating list.

Kasparov lost his title to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000 at the Braingames World Chess Championship. He was still ranked No. 1 in the world at the time of his retirement, with a rating of 2812. Since the January 2006 rating list, his rating has been dormant.

8. Kasparov Retired from Professional Chess in 2005

Garry Kasparov after winning at Linares in 2005 – by Owen Williams, The Kasparov Agency –

On March 10, 2005, Kasparov announced his retirement from serious professional chess. This was after winning the famous Linares tournament for the ninth time. He cited a lack of personal ambitions in the chess world as the reason.

Kasparov also voiced his disappointment over the failure to reunify the world championship. Kasparov added he planned to participate in certain quick chess competitions for enjoyment. He said that he wanted to focus more on his books. He also pledged to continue his involvement in Russian politics.

9. Kasparov Published Several Books After Retirement

After retirement from professional chess, Kasparov put his focus on Publishing. Kasparov was an author even before his retirement. One of his most popular books is titled; 鈥榃inter Is Coming,鈥� where he compares Putin to Hitler.

Some of his other works include; Checkmate, How Life Imitates Chess and Kasparov Vs. Karpov among others.

10. Garry Kasparov Has Been Arrested and Beaten While Supporting His Causes

In 2005, Kasparov was detained by the police for organizing a pro-democracy march in Moscow He was merely detained for 20 hours before being released with a fine. The FSB later called him in for breaking Russian anti-extremism legislation.

Kasparov was arrested and assaulted outside the Moscow Court on August 17, 2012. He was attending the sentencing in the case involving the all-female punk band Pussy Riot. He was charged with participating in an unofficial demonstration against the conviction of three Pussy Riot members. The charges were later dropped on august 24th.