Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov’s first marriage was to Irina Kuimova with whom he has a son. The marriage did not last long as his wife was unable to cope with the pressures of Karpov’s career as a chess player of international acclaim.

He tied the knot for the second time with Natalia Bulanova. The couple has one daughter.

Anatoly Karpov was born to Yevgeniy Karpov and Nina Karpova on May 23, 1951, in the former Soviet Union.

He started displaying his skills in chess when he was just four. His parents arranged training for him which greatly helped in developing the young boy’s playing technique. He became a Candidate Master by the age of 11 and was soon accepted into Mikhail Botvinnik's prestigious chess school.

Initially Botvinnik did not have a good impression of the youngster though Karpov worked hard to prove his mettle. He made significant improvement under the guidance of his coach to emerge as the youngest Soviet National Master in history, at the age of 15.

He won the annual European Junior Championship at Groningen in 1967. A teenager at that time, he was also attending high school where he excelled in academics. Following his graduation, he entered Moscow State University in 1968 to study mathematics.

He then moved to Leningrad State University from where he graduated in economics. During this time he was being coached in chess by grandmaster Semyon Furman who greatly aided the young Karpov in developing his game.

In 1969, Karpov won the world junior championship at Stockholm. The next year, he became the grandmaster, at the age of 19. Over the ensuing years he won several tournaments which made him the official challenger to Bobby Fischer of the United States for the 1975 world chess championship.

There was much anticipation in the chess fraternity surrounding the world championship match between Karpov and Fischer. However, the match never took place as Fischer refused to play against Karpov under conditions set by the official world chess organization, the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE).

FIDE declared that Fischer forfeited his crown by refusing to play, and named Karpov the new world champion in 1975. Being crowned the world champion without playing the match was very disappointing for Karpov and he participated in nearly every major tournament over the following years in order to prove his worth.

He won the Milan tournament in 1975, and proceeded to win several other tournaments against the strongest players in the world, creating a record for most consecutive tournament victories (nine) that was later broken by Garry Kasparov. In 1978, he defended his world title against Viktor Korchnoi and beat Korchnoi again in 1981.

He was considered the world's best player and world champion in the mid-1980s when a promising young player, Garry Kasparov, emerged on the scene. The two men met for the first time in the World Chess Championship 1984. The championship was, however, abandoned under controversial circumstances after five months and several wins for both the players.

Karpov has been actively engaged with humanitarian work from the past many years. He has served as the President of the International Associations of Peace Foundations, President of the Chernobyl Help Organization, and UNICEF’s Regional Ambassador for Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic states.