Anatoly Karpov

Article compiled by my student Shreyas N

Early Life

Karpov was born on May 23, 1951 at Zlatoust in the Urals region of the former Soviet Union, and learned to play chess at the age of four. His early rise in chess was swift, as he became a Candidate Master by age eleven. At twelve, he was accepted into Mikhail Botvinnik's prestigious chess school, though Botvinnik made the following remark about the young Karpov: "The boy does not have a clue about chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession Karpov improved so quickly under Botvinnik's advise that he became the youngest Soviet National Master in history at fifteen in 1966

Candidate to FIDE Presidency

In March 2010 Karpov announced that he would be a candidate for the presidency of FIDE. The election took place in September 2010 at the 39^th Chess Olympiad In May a fund-raising event took place in New York with the participation of his former rival Garry Kasparov and of Magnus Carlsen, both of whom supported his bid and campaigned for him. Also Nigel Short has announced he supported Karpov's candidacy. However, on September 29, 2010, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was reelected as President of FIDE, winning the election by 95 votes to 55.

Hobbies

Karpov's extensive stamp collection of Belgium philately and Belgian Congo stamps and postal history covering mail from 1742 through 1980 is being disposed of by David Feldman's auction company in December 2011.He is also known to have a large chess stamp and chess book collections. His private chess library consists of over 9000 books & articles.

Honours and awards

·        Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (2001) - for outstanding contribution to the implementation of charitable programmes, the strengthening of peace and friendship between the peoples

·        Order of Friendship (2011) - for his great contribution to strengthening peace and friendship between peoples and productive social activities

·        Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1978)

·        Medal "For outstanding contribution to the Collector business in Russia"

·        Honorary member of the Soviet Philately Society (1979)

·        Order "For outstanding achievements in sport" (Republic of Cuba)

·        International Association of Chess Press, 9 times voted the best chess player of the year and awarded the "Chess Oscar"

·        Order of Saint Nestor the Chronicler, 1st class

Style of play

Karpov's "boa constrictor" playing style is solidly positional, taking no risks but reacting mercilessly to any tiny errors made by his opponents. As a result, he is often compared to his idol, the famous José Raúl Capablanca, the third World Champion.

One of his beautiful games,

With King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067810