48 Fun Facts About Garry Kasparov

In which city was Garry Kasparov born in 1963?

Baku stayed his home until January 1990, when anti-Armenian violence there forced his family to flee.

What was Kasparov's surname at birth?

Weinstein was his Jewish father's surname; at twelve he took his Armenian mother's surname instead, Kasparov.

According to Kasparov, which US president was he named after?

Truman, whom Kasparov's father admired for standing up to communism; in Russian, Harry and Garry are pronounced the same way.

Which former world champion ran the chess school Kasparov joined at ten?

Mikhail Botvinnik's school went on to produce three world champions, and he was also a pioneer of computer chess.

Which defence did Kasparov use to win the 1985 title decider?

The Sicilian let Kasparov sacrifice two pawns for counterplay, and Karpov, needing a win to keep his title, blundered and resigned.

Who broke Kasparov's record as the youngest undisputed world champion in 2024?

Gukesh Dommaraju beat Ding Liren by winning the 14th and final game in Singapore, when a draw would have sent the match to tiebreaks.

Which online course platform invited Kasparov to teach chess in 2017?

MasterClass hosted that course, and four years later Kasparov and Vivendi launched Kasparov Chess, which offers his own masterclass.

Which variant did Kasparov play against elite players at an online Saint Louis event in 2020?

Chess960 shuffles the back-row pieces before each game, making opening preparation, a famous Kasparov strength, impossible.

Down 4–0 after nine games of a first-to-six-wins match in 1984, how did Kasparov respond?

He dug in for draws: 17 in a row followed, and he went unbeaten through the match's last 21 games.

Which FIDE president halted the 1984–85 Kasparov–Karpov title match without a result?

Florencio Campomanes cited the players' exhaustion, though both men protested, and Kasparov declared war on him.

Which piece was the 'octopus' that dominated Karpov's position in Kasparov's celebrated 1985 win with Black?

A knight planted on d3 set up the win once Karpov passed up a more active reply, and he resigned on move 40.

Kasparov's 1986 title rematch was split between which two cities?

London and Leningrad hosted 12 games each, and after three straight losses Kasparov sacked his second Evgeny Vladimirov, accusing him of leaking preparation to Karpov.

Kasparov saved his title in 1987 by winning the must-win final game of a match held in which Spanish city?

The Seville match ended 12–12, and a drawn match let the champion keep his title.

In 1993 Kasparov broke with FIDE and played Nigel Short under which new organisation?

The Professional Chess Association's split left two rival world champions for 13 years, a break Kasparov later called the worst mistake of his career.

Whom did Kasparov defend his world title against at the World Trade Center in 1995?

Viswanathan Anand won game 9 to take the lead, then scored just half a point over the next five games and lost 10½–7½.

Which former pupil took Kasparov's classical world title in 2000?

Vladimir Kramnik had helped Kasparov prepare for his 1995 title defence; after losing to him, Kasparov never played another title match despite repeated attempts.

In the 2000 title match, which defence did the challenger use to blunt Kasparov's attacks as White?

The Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez held Kasparov's White, and Kasparov, who lost two games with Black, never won a game in the match.

Which IBM computer beat Kasparov in 1997, the first machine to defeat a reigning champion in a match?

Deep Blue won the deciding sixth game, and Kasparov resigned after just 19 moves.

Which flag did Kasparov want at his table during his 1990 title match against Karpov?

The Russian tricolour: although still a Soviet citizen, Kasparov refused to play the match under the Soviet flag.

What did Kasparov accuse IBM of after the 1997 match?

Cheating with human intervention in a game was his charge after game two, when IBM's program passed up material that most engines would have grabbed.

How many positions per second could IBM's 1997 chess machine evaluate?

About 200 million positions a second, twice the 1996 version's speed, after IBM upgraded its hardware for the rematch.

What was the title of the 2003 documentary about Kasparov's 1997 rematch with IBM's computer?

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine takes Kasparov's side and suggests IBM wanted the win to serve its corporate interests.

On 22 October 1989 Kasparov beat which computer 2–0, eight years before his famous defeat?

Deep Thought's creators, Feng-hsiung Hsu and Murray Campbell, joined IBM that year to build a machine that could beat a world champion.

Kasparov drew a four-game match in New York in November 2003 against which program?

X3D Fritz played Kasparov on a virtual board he saw through 3D glasses, so instead of moving pieces he spoke his moves aloud.

Which company's online gaming service hosted 'Kasparov versus the World' in 1999, with voters choosing the World's moves?

Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone ran the event, and charges of vote-stuffing flared before Kasparov won in 62 moves.

Which American teenage girl was among the four young players advising the World team in 1999?

Irina Krush became the World team's favourite adviser, and voters followed her suggestion for virtually every move.

Kasparov's 'Immortal' game of 1999 was played against whom?

Veselin Topalov accepted a rook sacrifice, and Kasparov chased his king across the board; Chess.com's panel later ranked it the best game ever.

In January 1990 Kasparov passed 2800, breaking which champion's record rating of 2785?

Fischer's old record fell; he had refused to defend his world title in 1975, handing it to Karpov by default.

How did Kasparov's 2008 presidential bid end?

He missed the ballot, blaming official obstruction, and in 2013 he left Russia for exile.

Kasparov founded which anti-Putin group in 2005?

The United Civil Front was his base in opposition, and in 2007 he was arrested during an opposition march in Moscow.

Who ended Kasparov's streak of 15 straight tournament wins in 1991?

Vasyl Ivanchuk beat Kasparov in their individual game and won the event outright, half a point ahead of him.

After winning which tournament for the ninth time did Kasparov announce his retirement in March 2005?

Linares was his last official event, and he quit at 41 while still the world's top-rated player.

Which future world champion did Kasparov coach for about a year from February 2009?

Magnus Carlsen reached world No. 1 under Kasparov's guidance, then ended their regular training sessions in March 2010.

In 2009, 25 years after their first title match, Kasparov and Karpov played a rematch in which Spanish city?

Valencia's 12-game exhibition ended 9–3 to Kasparov, four years after he had retired from competitive chess.

What is the title of Kasparov's multi-volume history of the world champions before him, begun in 2003?

My Great Predecessors ran on after Kasparov quit competitive chess in 2005, when he said he would spend more time writing about the game.

Kasparov's 2015 book on Vladimir Putin borrows its title from which TV series?

Game of Thrones supplied the title for a book charging that America and other world powers kept appeasing Putin as he became a dictator.

Which opposition coalition against Putin's administration was Kasparov a member of?

The Other Russia was so broad it joined liberals with far-left and far-right radicals, whose one shared aim was ousting Putin.

Which country granted Kasparov citizenship in 2014?

Croatia granted it after he said life in Russia had become too hard, and Croatians credited his support during their war of independence.

Which New York-based advocacy group did Kasparov chair for more than a decade?

The Human Rights Foundation had him as chairman, and Russia's 2022 'foreign agent' listing cited his ties to the group.

Kasparov has controversially written in support of whose pseudohistorical 'New Chronology'?

Anatoly Fomenko's theory moves much of ancient history into the Middle Ages, though Kasparov later said he did not advocate it.

Which defector did Kasparov beat 7–4 in their 1983 Candidates semi-final?

Viktor Korchnoi won the first game, but Kasparov then won four without losing again and went on to challenge for the world title.

Kasparov won the World Junior Championship in 1980 in which city?

Dortmund's World Junior crown went to a 17-year-old who became world champion just five years later.

Which incumbent beat Kasparov 110–61 in the 2014 election to lead world chess's governing body?

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov won, but US sanctions in 2015 for aiding Syria's government made him withdraw from FIDE's business operations.

Kasparov became a Grandmaster in 1980 after debuting for the USSR at the Chess Olympiad held where?

Valletta, Malta saw the USSR take back the team gold from defending champions Hungary on tiebreak, with 17-year-old Kasparov as second reserve.

Whose record as youngest world champion did Kasparov break in 1985?

Mikhail Tal had taken the title in 1960, yet with his health failing he lost the rematch just a year later.

With whom did the teenage Kasparov share the 1981 USSR Chess Championship title?

Lev Psakhis beat Kasparov in their individual game, yet the two still tied for first in Frunze on 12½ points.

As of 2026, which US political organisation does Kasparov chair?

Renew Democracy Initiative was set up to unite centre-left and centre-right figures in defence of democracy.

Which company released the 1993 PC game Kasparov's Gambit?

Electronic Arts published it, and Kasparov filmed video clips so his on-screen self could kibitz and advise players mid-game.