Anatoly Karpov

Anatoli Yevgenyevich Karpov (????????? ??????????? ???????) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He is the most successful tournament player of all time, and as of July 2005 he has 161 first-place finishes to his credit. From 1978 to 1998 he played in every FIDE World Championship match. His overall professional record is 1,118 wins, 287 losses, and 1,480 draws in 3,163 games. His peak ELO rating is 2780.

World champion

Shamed that he had become the twelfth world champion in this manner, and desperately trying to prove he was worthy of the crown, Karpov participated in nearly every major tournament for the next ten years. He created the most phenomenal streak of tournament wins against the strongest players in the world the chess world had ever seen. This tournament success even eclipsed the pre-war tournament record of Alexander Alekhine. He held the record for most consecutive tournament victories (9) until it was shattered by Garry Kasparov (14).

Related Topics:
Alexander Alekhine - Garry Kasparov

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In 1978, Karpov's first title defence was against Viktor Korchnoi, the opponent he defeated in the previous Candidates tournament. The situation was vastly different from the previous match, because in the intervening years Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union. The match was played in Baguio in the Philippines, and a vast array of psychological tricks were used during the match, from Karpov's Dr. Zukhar who attempted to hypnotize Korchnoi during the game, to Korchnoi's mirror glasses to ward off the hypnotic stare, Korchnoi's offering to play under the Jolly Roger flag when he was denied the right to play under Switzerland's, to Karpov's yogurt supposedly being used to send him secret messages, to Korchnoi inviting two local cult members (on trial for attempted murder) into the hall as members of his team.

Related Topics:
Baguio - Philippines - Jolly Roger - Switzerland - Attempted murder

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The off-board antics are better remembered than the actual chess match. Karpov took an early lead, but Korchnoi staged an amazing comeback very late in the match, and came very close to winning. Karpov narrowly won the last game to take the match 6–5, with 21 draws.

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Three years later Korchnoi re-emerged as the Candidates winner against German finalist Dr. Robert Huebner to challenge Karpov in Merano, Italy. This time the psychological trick was the arrest of Korchnoi's son for evading conscription. Again the politics off the board overshadowed the games, but this time Karpov easily won (11–7, +6 -2 =10) in what is remembered to be the "Massacre of Merano".

Related Topics:
German - Robert Huebner - Merano - Italy - Conscription

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Karpov's tournament career also reached a peak at the exceptional Montreal "Super-Grandmaster" tournament in 1979, where he ended joint first with Mikhail Tal ahead of a field of superb grandmasters like Jan Timman, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Boris Spassky, and Lubomir Kavalek. Meanwhile, he had also won the prestigious Linares tournament in 1981 (and again in 1994), the Tilburg tournament in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983, and the Soviet Championship in 1976 and 1983 (and again in 1988).

Related Topics:
Montreal - Mikhail Tal - Jan Timman - Ljubomir Ljubojevic - Boris Spassky - Lubomir Kavalek - Linares tournament - Tilburg - Soviet Championship

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To illustrate Karpov's dominance over his peers as champion, his score was +11 -2 =20 v Spassky, +5 =12 v Robert Hübner, +6 -1 = 16 v Ulf Andersson, +3 -1 =10 v Vasily Smyslov, +1 =16 v Mikhail Tal, +10 -2 =13 v Ljubojevic.

Related Topics:
Robert Hübner - Ulf Andersson - Vasily Smyslov - Mikhail Tal

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Karpov had cemented his position as the world's best player and world champion when Garry Kasparov arrived on the scene. In their first World Championship match in 1984, Karpov quickly built a 4–0 lead, and needed only two more wins to keep his title. Instead, the next 17 games were drawn, and it took Karpov until Game 27 to finally win a game. In Game 31, Karpov had a winning position but failed to take advantage and settled for a draw. He lost the next game, but drew the next 14. In particular, Karpov held a solidly winning position in Game 41, but again blundered terribly and had to settle for a draw. After Kasparov suddenly won Game 47 and 48, Karpov suffered a physical collapse, having lost 10kg (22lbs) over the course of the match. The FIDE President controversially terminated the match, which had lasted an unprecedented four months with five wins for Karpov, three for Kasparov, and a staggering forty draws. A rematch was set for the following year. In a hard fight, Karpov lost his title 11 to 13 in the 1985 match, ending his ten-year reign as champion.

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