Anatoly Karpov 12thclassical world champ (1975-1985)

Anatoly Karpov in 1967 Anatoly Karpov in 1979 Anatoly Karpov in 2018

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov was born 23 May 1951 in Zlatoust, Russia and learned to play at the age of 4. He became the youngest Soviet National Master in history at age fifteen in 1966. In 1969, Karpov became the first Soviet player since Spassky (1955) to win the World Chess Championship, scoring an undefeated 10/11 in the finals at . In 1970, he tied for fourth place at an international tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, and was awarded the title.

Though a world championship match between Karpov and Fischer was highly anticipated, those hopes were never realised. Fischer not only insisted that the match be the first to ten wins (draws not counting), but also that the champion retain the crown if the score was tied 9–9. FIDE, the International Chess Federation, refused to allow this proviso, and after Fischer's resignation of the championship on June 27, 1975, FIDE declared that Fischer forfeited his crown.

Karpov was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by . Karpov played five matches against Kasparov for the title from 1984 to 1990 without ever defeating him in a match, later becoming FIDE World Champion once again after Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. He held the title until 1999, when he resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules.

Trivia His tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes. He had a peak Elo rating of 2780, and his 102 total months at world number one is the third longest of all time, behind and Garry Kasparov, since the inception of the FIDE ranking list in 1970. 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. Karpov himself describes his style as follows: Let us say the game may be continued in two ways: one of them is a beautiful tactical blow that gives rise to variations that don't yield to precise calculations; the other is clear positional pressure that leads to an endgame with microscopic chances of victory.... I would choose [the latter] without thinking twice. If the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of strategy with its ruthless logic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Karpov https://www.google.com/search