Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov.
Karpov 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. Karpov improved so quickly under Botvinnik’s tutelage that he became the youngest Soviet National Master in history at fifteen in 1966. In 1970, he tied for fourth place at an international tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, and was awarded the grandmaster title. His Elo rating shot from 2540 in 1971 to 2660 in 1973, when he shared second in the USSR Chess Championship, and finished equal first with Viktor Korchnoi in the Leningrad Interzonal Tournament, with the latter success qualifying him for the 1974 Candidates Matches, which would determine the challenger of the reigning world champion, Bobby Fischer.
Though a world championship match between Karpov and Fischer was highly anticipated, those hopes were never realised. Fischer insisted that the match be the first to ten wins (draws not counting), but that the champion would 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, 1974, FIDE declared that Fischer forfeited his crown. Karpov later attempted to set up another match with Fischer, but all the negotiations fell through. This thrust the young Karpov into the role of World Champion without having faced the reigning champion.
Determined to prove himself a legitimate champion, Karpov participated in nearly every major tournament for the next ten years. He lost the title to Kasparov in 1985.
In 1993, the chess world split, and there were parallel champion titles for FIDE and for the group around Kasparov. Karpov regained the FIDE title between 1993 and 1999. He remains an active tournament player until today.
Karpov is the father of two children, a son born 1979 and a daughter born 1999, and has married twice.
Link to Wikipedia biography