Garry Kasparov
Chess grandmaster, writer, political activist
Garry Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster who was World Chess Champion from 1985 to 2000. He later turned to writing and political activism.
1 summary 19 min of listening
Born 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan
About Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1963. In 1985 he defeated Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest undisputed world champion at age 22, and he held the title until 2000. He retired from regular competitive chess in 2005. In 1997 the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue beat him in a match, a first for a world champion playing at standard time controls. His book Deep Thinking is in our catalog. He has written several books, including the My Great Predecessors series, How Life Imitates Chess and Winter is Coming. He has worked in Russian politics and human rights, founded the Renew Democracy Initiative in 2017, and speaks to business audiences on strategy and leadership.