Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparovis a Russian chess Grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for 225 out of 228 months. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive professional tournament victoriesand Chess Oscars...
ProfessionChess Player
Date of Birth13 April 1963
CityBaku, Azerbaijan
The scale of the man to whom we are bidding farewell today in no way corresponds to the paltry scale of today's authorities.
I don't have to run for Presidency in Russia to feel good about myself. I already completed more than many people could have dreamed of.
It's absolutely vital now for Russia to make sure that democratic institutions will be resurrected and will go through the election process.
I organize a chess festival in Hungary. I support chess in schools, and I have my own chess foundation. And I started writing books.
In chess, we have styles - like in any other field. There are also fashions in the kinds of systems that people play. So I'm trying to know my opponent as much as possible.
I think our chances are not looking great today but the only way to fail for me is just not to try.
I think that it's a vital moment now for Russian democracy to convince people that it's only our actions, our joined actions and protests that could force Kremlin to reconsider its plans to abolish presidential elections.
One does not succeed by sticking to convention.
Chess continues to advance over time, so the players of the future will inevitably surpass me in the quality of their play, assuming the rules and regulations allow them to play serious chess. But it will likely be a long time before anyone spends 20 consecutive years as number, one as I did.
If you're already in a fight, you want the first blow to be the last and you had better be the one to throw it.
When I was preparing for one term's work in the Botvinnik school I had to spend a lot of time on king and pawn endings. So when I came to a tricky position in my own games I knew the winning method.
Enormous self-belief, intuition, the ability to take a risk at a critical moment and go in for a very dangerous play with counter-chances for the opponent - it is precisely these qualities that distinguish great players.
It is better to have a bad plan than no plan.
Solving new problems is what keeps us moving forward as individuals and as a society, so don't back down.