Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov is one of the greatest players in the history of chess, if not the greatest. World Champion from 1985 to 2000 he is, along with Magnus Carlsen and Bobby Fischer, on the short list for being the G.O.A.T of the royal game.
Those who believe Garry is the G.O.A.T. point to some of his records which seem destined to stand for as long as chess is played. Kasparov was the top-rated player in the world for an amazing 21 years and 3 months! He played in eight Olympiads (four for the Soviet Union and four for Russia) and his team took first place every time, in part because Garry scored an outstanding 50 wins against 29 draws and only 3 losses. He defeated Anatoly Karpov, on everyone’s list of the top six players of all time (if not higher) in three matches and drew the other – their first match ended without a result. His long-time record for the highest rating (2851), set in July 1999, has only been eclipsed by Magnus Carlsen. Champions of Kasparov point out that the Elo system has been, until recently, plagued by rating inflation.

The tournament arena is not the only area where Garry has excelled in chess. His writings on the game are treasured for their wisdom. The books he has written about his own games and his My Great Predecessors series belong in the libraries of all serious chess players and will be read as long as people play chess.