Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov in 2018When Anatoly Karpov was 11 years old, he was invited to Botvinnik’s chess school. But the “Patriarch” passed a harsh verdict: “The boy has no clue about chess and therefore absolutely no future as a chess player.” Rarely was a judgement about chess talent more wrong — Karpov went on to become the 12th World Chess Champion. Here is a look at his career and lots of games.

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You are your own enemy

1/5/2023 – Can a unit of our army be a friend or foe depending on the circumstances? From experience, we know that the answer is a resounding yes! GM Sundararajan Kidambi explains the beautiful concept of using your opponent’s piece to your advantage instead of always being bent on automatically going for the recapture.
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Karpov is back home

11/18/2022 – The news from Russia about Karpov's accident and state of health have been confusing and contradictory. In the end, it appears as if everything was far less serious than reported and Karpov was able to send greetings to the Karpov Festival in Cap d'Agde. Now the 12th world champion is back home. A chronicle of the news. | Photo: Susan Polgar
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Frederic's mates - How I met Anatoly Karpov

11/12/2022 – Anatoly Karpov was the sixth of the twelve World Chess Champions whom Frederic met. In our new weekly series he tells us how he met and befriended the top players, and the adventures they experienced together. Frederic has written a new book, together with Professor Christian Hesse, with fascinating chess stories from the last 50 years. It appeared (first in German) in October.

Karpov on the road to recovery

11/8/2022 – At the end of October, former World Champion Anatoly Karpov had a severe accident that caused a traumatic brain injury and a fractured neck of the femur. Moreover, he has been battling pneumonia. But according to current news Karpov is on the road to recovery and was even able to complain about the bad hospital food. | Photo: Anatoly Karpov with his wife Natalia and his daughter Sofia

Gemini and their strategy

6/2/2022 – Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian are two Gemini world champions with outstanding positional and defensive skills. Alireza Firouzja and Hans Moke Niemann are also Gemini but will they be able to follow the path of Karpov and Petrosian and become world champion? Gemini are sometimes the fastest thinkers of all the signs of the zodiac, but they sometimes also have to deal with lapses of concentration. | Photo: Pixabay
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Player types - an interview with Karsten Müller

4/13/2022 – Who am I? Tactician or position player? Attacker or defender? Should I play 1.d4 or 1.e4? Sicilian or French? If you know your strengths and weaknesses you will score more points and you will be more successful. In their "Player Types" ChessBase course Karsten Müller and Luis Engel take a close look at playing styles, and in an extensive interview Karsten Müller reveals a few things they discovered.

"One clear win and already tired of winning?" - An interview with Anatoly Karpov

1/21/2022 – Anatoly Karpov is one of the World Champions who is featured in the ChessBase NFT series. The 12th World Champion is a passionate stamp collector and immediately understood the idea. In an interview Karpov talks about NFTs, the story behind his brilliant win against Viktor Kortschnoi in the Candidates Final 1974, the World Championship match Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi, and Carlsen's statements about defending the title.

MegaBase 2022: Three Epic Matches

1/7/2022 – The MegaBase 2022 is Chess History in Action: It offers 9.210.512 games, the earliest played in 1475 and the most recent played October 2021, many of them annotated. Here our columnist, offers an introduction to three epic matches from the MegaBase with six annotated games. There is a lot more to discover in this treasure trove, grand battles, opening novelties and exemplary endgames.

Mirror mirror on the wall...

6/20/2021 – A comment in the previous column prompted Jon Speelman to share with the readers which players he considers to be the best to have ever lived. He starts with Bobby Fischer, whom he characterizes as having “precise power”; and with Anatoly Karpov — “deft control”. Chime in your thoughts in the comments section and, if you like, characterize your favourite players’ styles in a couple of words! | Artwork: Unknown (via Quora)

Happy Birthday, Anatoly Karpov

5/23/2021 – Today, on 23 May, Anatoly Karpov turns 70! The 12th World Champion is still very active and on 31 May 2021, he will give a simul at the Karpov Children’s Cup, an event supported by FIDE. Which made Alexey Root remember a remarkable Karpov simul in Austin, Texas, back in 1994. | Photo: V. Savostianov, Novosti Press (via D. Griffin)

Magnus Carlsen about Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Polgar, Hou Yifan and himself

5/5/2021 – On Sunday, 2 May, Magnus Carlsen won the New in Chess Classic Online Tournament, the first of the so far five Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournaments the World Champion, who is as spoilt for success as he is hungry for it, could win. But Carlsen did not only entertain and impress at the board (or screen). In short video clips, shown during the live broadcast, he revealed what he thinks about previous World Champions and showed his amazing chess memory. | Image: Screenshot

Fischer, Karpov and Kortschnoi

4/29/2021 – If Bobby Fischer had not retired after becoming World Champion in 1972 we would have seen a decade dominated by Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Kortschnoi. What would have happened, if there had been a match Fischer - Karpov or Fischer - Kortschnoi? And why did Fischer not play against Karpov in 1975? And how would Fischer's decision have turned out if the challenger had not been Karpov, but Kortschnoi? Some thoughts by Stephan Oliver Platz.
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