Garry Kasparov

Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963 in Baku, then part of the Soviet Union. A Russian chess grandmaster, political activist, and writer, he held the title of World Chess Champion from 1985 until 2000. His highest FIDE rating, 2851, came in 1999 and stood as the all-time record until Magnus Carlsen topped it in 2013. From 1984 through his retirement from regular competitive play in 2005, Kasparov occupied the world’s number-one ranking for a total of 255 months, a record. He also set marks for the most consecutive professional tournament wins (15) and the most Chess Oscars (11).

Kasparov became the youngest undisputed world champion at age 22 in 1985, beating the reigning champion Anatoly Karpov—a record that held until 2024. He successfully defended the title against Karpov three more times, in 1986, 1987, and 1990. He kept the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a falling-out with the organization led him to create a rival body, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997, he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, defeated by IBM’s Deep Blue in a widely covered event. He retained the “Classical” world title until losing it to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Even after losing the PCA title, he kept winning tournaments and was the highest-rated player in the world when he officially retired. From 2009 to 2010, he coached Magnus Carlsen, who rose to world number one during that period. Kasparov ran unsuccessfully for FIDE president in 2013–2014.

After retiring from chess, Kasparov focused on writing and politics. His book series *My Great Predecessors*, first released in 2003, covers the history and games of earlier world champions. He founded the United Civil Front movement and joined The Other Russia, a coalition opposing Vladimir Putin’s administration and policies. In 2008, he announced his candidacy for that year’s Russian presidential race, but withdrew after facing logistical problems he blamed on official obstruction. Following widespread Russian protests that began in 2011, he announced in June 2013 that he had left Russia for the foreseeable future out of fear of persecution. After leaving, he settled in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and kept a residence in Podstrana, near Split. Russia designated him a “foreign agent” in 2022.

Kasparov served as chairman of the Human Rights Foundation from 2011 to 2024. In 2017, he founded the Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI), an American political organization that promotes and defends liberal democracy in the United States and abroad. He remains chairman of the group.

**Early life**

Kasparov was born Garik Kimovich Weinstein in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR (now Azerbaijan), Soviet Union. His father, Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, was Jewish; his mother, Klara Shagenovna Kasparova, was Armenian. Both of his mother’s parents were Armenians from Karabakh. According to Kasparov, he was named after U.S. President Harry S. Truman, “whom my father admired for taking a strong stand against communism. It was a rare name in Russia, until Harry Potter came along.” He has described himself as a “self-appointed Christian,” though “very indifferent,” and identifies as Russian: “[A]lthough I’m half-Armenian, half-Jewish, I consider myself Russian because Russian is my native tongue, and I grew up with Russian culture.”

When he was seven, his father died of leukemia. At age twelve, at his mother Klara’s request and with family consent, he adopted her surname, Kasparov. In January 1990, Kasparov and his family fled anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku.

**Introduction to chess**

Kasparov began studying chess seriously after encountering a problem his parents had set up and proposing a solution. From age seven, he attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku; at ten, he started training at Mikhail Botvinnik’s chess school under coach Vladimir Makogonov. When Kasparov was 11, Botvinnik wrote, “The future of chess lies in the hands of this young man.” Makogonov helped develop Kasparov’s positional skills and taught him the Caro–Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. At age 13, Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship in Tbilisi in 1976, scoring 7/9 points. He repeated the feat the next year with a score of 8.5/9. During this period, he was coached by Alexander Shakarov.

**Chess career**

**Rising up the ranks**

In early 1978, Kasparov received a special invitation to the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk, normally limited to established masters and local players, and took first place. After that victory, he said he believed he had a “very good shot” at the world championship. At age 15 in 1978, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the USSR Chess Championship, doing so by winning a 64-player Swiss system tournament at Daugavpils. He scored 8.5/17 in that Soviet championship.

Kasparov’s first international tournament was in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia, in April 1979, while he was still unrated. He won the high-class event by two points, earning a provisional rating of 2545, which placed him equal 40th in the world. The following year, 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany. Later that year, he made his debut as the second reserve for the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad in Valletta, Malta, and became a Grandmaster. He climbed the world rankings quickly: equal 15th in January 1980, sixth in January 1981, equal fourth in July 1981, fourth in January 1982, and second behind Karpov in July 1982. As a teenager, he shared the USSR Chess Championship in 1981 with Lev Psakhis, scoring 12.5/17.