Q 01/05

In which city was Garry Kasparov born in 1963?

A) Baku

B) Yerevan

C) Tbilisi

D) Moscow

Answer · why

A) Baku

Then in the Azerbaijan SSR; his family fled anti-Armenian pogroms there in January 1990.

Q 02/05

What was Kasparov's surname at birth?

A) Karpov

B) Weinstein

C) Vainberg

D) Kasparyan

Answer · why

B) Weinstein

At twelve he adopted his Armenian mother's surname, Kasparov, after his Jewish father died of leukaemia.

Q 03/05

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

A) Franklin Roosevelt

B) Dwight Eisenhower

C) John F. Kennedy

D) Harry S. Truman

Answer · why

D) Harry S. Truman

His father admired Truman's stand against communism; the name was rare in Russia 'until Harry Potter came along'.

Q 04/05

Which former world champion ran the chess school Kasparov joined at ten and hailed him as the future of chess?

A) Mikhail Botvinnik

B) Boris Spassky

C) Mikhail Tal

D) Tigran Petrosian

Answer · why

A) Mikhail Botvinnik

Kasparov's coach there, Vladimir Makogonov, taught him the Caro-Kann and the Tartakower Queen's Gambit.

Q 05/05

In which year did Kasparov become world champion?

A) 1979

B) 1981

C) 1975

D) 1985

Answer · why

D) 1985

He beat Anatoly Karpov 13–11 in Moscow on 9 November, winning the final game with the Sicilian Defence.