A plant, the first in a series. Armstrong is the latest.

But really, this is vacuous ... how can any of us say that someone we have never met is our favourite Russian? I have met one Russian in my life; that makes him my favourite due to lack of competition.

Touche. Thank you for presenting us with an interesting philosophical question to consider:

 Do we require personal acquaintanceship, or do external resources and our own judgement suffice in determining whether we can come to know an individual or an entity?

I haven't met Karpov, but I am fond of his playing style.

Pardon me, I should have said 'whether or not.'

Steve, do you have a favorite hockey team? Or a favorite tennis player? How about a favorite actor on TV?

Btw, I'm slightly surprised you've only met one Russian in your life. If you play tournament chess, you will find plenty of Russians at most large tournaments.

I will say that I had the chance to chat with Peter Svidler and found him to be one of the nicest and humblest players I've ever met. But man, when we started analysing a position he tore it apart. He's an amazing chess player!

No, no, and no. I played tournament chess in Canada 2-3 decades ago, when Russians weren't as free to roam the world as they are now (just one high-rank chess player in Canada at the time comes to mind, Igor Ivanov, but I didn't meet him personally). The one I know is a mathematician, or I almost certainly would not have met him.

I think Botvinnik was a favorite of writters before 2000. I seen his games in so many books.

If Kasparov is considered Russian, i choose him.  I was about 13 when he became world champ, so he will always leave a good impression on me.

I find it interesting that there are very few russians leaving comments.

i would think that russians play on russian servers.

Karpov.

Interesting, Kasparov is said to be Russian on wikipedia... is this a mistake?

Kosteniuk won the Women's World Chess Championship 2008. Do you mean this does not count as a world championship title?

no im probably wrong i thought he was half armenian and half from azerbaijan but my memory always seems to trick me.

for me it doesnt count, unless there is a biological reason why could be champion without beating the strongest man.

I don't know if he was born russian, but I'm pretty sure he played for russia.

what a weird pic