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Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov was world champion from 1975 to 1985 and then FIDE world champion from 1993 to 1999. He played calmly and slowly squeezed the life out of his opponents' chances, and he is usually counted as the player who has won the most tournaments of all time. He played five title matches against Garry Kasparov.

  • BornMay 23, 1951, Zlatoust, Soviet Union (today Russia)
  • CountrySoviet Union, later Russia
  • World champion1975–1985
    FIDE world champion 1993–1999
  • In the line of championsNo. 12 of 18
  • Highest rating2780 (July 1994)
    FIDE's official lists (from July 1971)

The road to the title

Karpov won the World Junior Championship in Stockholm in 1969 and became a grandmaster the following year. In 1974 he won the Candidates final against Viktor Korchnoi and was due to meet Bobby Fischer in 1975. Fischer set conditions FIDE did not accept, and Karpov became world champion without playing.

The title matches

Karpov's points come first, then wins (+), losses (−) and draws (=) in the classical games. A rapid tiebreak is given separately.
YearAgainstResultWhere
1978Viktor Korchnoi16½–15½ (+6 −5 =21)
Kept the title		Baguio, Philippines
1981Viktor Korchnoi11–7 (+6 −2 =10)
Kept the title		Merano, Italy
1984–1985Garry Kasparov25–23 (+5 −3 =40)
Stopped without a result		Moscow
1985Garry Kasparov11–13 (+3 −5 =16)
Lost the title		Moscow
1986Garry Kasparov11½–12½ (+4 −5 =15)
Lost		London and Leningrad
1987Garry Kasparov12–12 (+4 −4 =16)
Drawn; the champion kept the title		Seville
1990Garry Kasparov11½–12½ (+3 −4 =17)
Lost		New York and Lyon
1993Jan Timman12½–8½ (+6 −2 =13)
Won the title · FIDE's title		the Netherlands and Jakarta
1996Gata Kamsky10½–7½ (+6 −3 =9)
Kept the title · FIDE's title		Elista
1998Viswanathan Anand3–3 (+2 −2 =2), tiebreak 2–0
Kept the title · FIDE's title		Lausanne

How he played

Karpov rarely took risks. He put his pieces on good squares, took away his opponent's options one by one and waited for the smallest mistake. He had an unusual feeling for where the pieces would need to be a few moves later.

Korchnoi and Kasparov

Karpov defended the title twice against Viktor Korchnoi: in Baguio, the Philippines, in 1978 and in Merano, Italy, in 1981. Then came Garry Kasparov.

Their first match, in 1984–1985, was to go to the first player with six wins. After 27 games Karpov led by five wins to none. Then it got harder, and after five months and 48 games the score stood at 5–3. FIDE stopped the match without a result. In the new match of 1985 Karpov lost the title. They met in three more matches, in 1986, 1987 and 1990, and all were close, but Kasparov kept the title each time.

Afterward

When Kasparov broke with FIDE in 1993, Karpov became FIDE world champion again. He beat Jan Timman in 1993 and defended the title against Gata Kamsky in 1996 and Viswanathan Anand in 1998. Between 1978 and 1998 he played ten world championship matches.

Karpov's games here

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Karpov vs. Kasparov, Game 16. After 16…Nd3: the knight lands in the middle of White's position and stays there for eighteen moves.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Anatoly Karpov
  • Store norske leksikon: Anatolij Karpov
  • OlimpBase: the title matches of 1978 and 1981 and FIDE's rating lists
  • PGN Mentor: the title matches' games 1978–1998 and the 1974 Candidates matches

The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given. The match results are also checked against the games themselves.

Updated November 8, 2026