Anatoly Karpov

Karpov, Anatoly (1951– ), a Russian chess prodigy who became the Soviet champion in his early twenties. He was awarded the world chess championship in 1975, after reigning champion Bobby Fischer of the United States had repeatedly refused to defend his title. In 1981 Karpov defeated his principal challenger, Viktor Korchnoi, for the second time. In 1985 he lost his title to Gary Kasparov in a second match for the world title. Karpov's most recent attempt to regain his championship ended unsuccessfully when he was beaten again by Gary Kasparov in a 24-game match in Dec. 1990. In 1993 and 1996 Karpov became world champion in the FIDE version.

See also: Chess.