GARY KASPAROV

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN Garry Kasparov is a former world chess champion who is considered to be one of the greatest players in history. He held the title from 1985 to 2000 and was ranked No. 1 in the world for 20 consecutive years, from 1986 through his retirement in 2005. After retiring, he became active in Russian politics and an outspoken critic of the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin, then president and later the powerful prime minister. He became the leader of the umbrella opposition group known as The Other Russia and briefly attempted to run for president. Mr. Kasparov was born on April 13, 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was then part of the Soviet Union. His talent for chess was recognized early on and he was tutored for a time by Mikhail Botvinnik, the former world champion. Mr. Kasparov won the World Junior Championship in 1980, when he was 17, and soon after qualified for the world championship cycle. He emerged as the challenger to Anatoly Karpov, the Russian world champion, in 1984. In a match that would be decided by whomever won six games first, Mr. Kasparov quickly fell behind. He fought back, however, and a long series of draws followed. In the 32nd game, Mr. Kasparov finally won, after which there was another series of draws. Mr. Kasparov then won two more games in succession. After five months and 48 games, it seemed that the tide had turned decisively. But then the match was stopped by the president of the World Chess Federation, perhaps acting at the behest of the Kremlin, which was known to favor Mr. Karpov. Mr. Kasparov was outraged, but a new match was scheduled for 1985. This time, Mr. Kasparov won. He defended the title against Mr. Karpov in another match in 1986, and again in 1987. He defeated him once again in 1990. In 1993, Mr. Kasparov and a new challenger for the title, Nigel Short of England, broke with the World Chess Federation over the organization of a championship match. They formed a rival group called the Professional Chess Association and held a match in London, which Mr. Kasparov won. The World Chess Federation retaliated by stripping Mr. Kasparov of the title and holding its own championship, which was won by Mr. Karpov. Though the chess world was split, most people recognized Mr. Kasparov as the legitimate champion. In 1995, he successfully defended his title against Viswanathan Anand of India in a match held at the top of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. Mr. Kasparov, who had long used computers to help him prepare and train, played a match in 1989 against a computer called Deep Thought that had been developed by I.B.M. Mr. Kasparov won handily. In 1996, he played a six-game match against a successor to Deep Thought, called Deep Blue. He again won the match, but he lost one of the games, becoming the first world champion to lose to a computer under match conditions. A year later, Mr. Kasparov played another six-game match against a better version of Deep Blue and this time he lost, succumbing badly in the last game. At the press conference afterwards, Mr. Kasparov was visibly irate and accused the programmers at I.B.M. of cheating, an accusation that was never proven. Mr. Kasparov challenged I.B.M. to another match, but it never occurred as the computer was later dismantled. In 2000, Mr. Kasparov finally lost the world championship to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, his former protégé, in a match in London. Afterwards, Mr. Kasparov challenged Mr. Kramnik to a rematch, but it never took place. For years, Mr. Kasparov accused Mr. Kramnik of ducking him. In 2005, with a new generation of players beginning to emerge, Mr. Kasparov retired from professional chess, still ranked No. 1 in the world. He turned his attention to Russian politics and trying to unseat Mr. Putin as president of Russia. Opposition in Russia coalesced around Mr. Kasparov, but he and his supporters were unable to make much headway. In December 2007, he was forced to abandon an abortive attempt to run for president because the Kremlin successfully blocked his efforts to hold a meeting to endorse his candidacy, a pre-requisite for nomination. Though his political career has waned, his ideas continue to appeal to many people. Time magazine selected him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007. His IQ is reported to be 190, among the highest on earth. He has written a number of chess books, notably a well-regarded series called, “My Great Predecessors.” from new york times