Kasparov vs. Karpov: Greatest Chess Rivalry In History

"They drew s o m e games" one of the most sugar coated phrases in gothamchess history

Karpov was VERY unlucky for his career to collide with the rise of Kasparov — probably the true GOAT. And Kasparov was VERY lucky to meet Karpov oh his climb to the top. That made his climb hard and bloody, but Karpov was probably the only player who was capable of pushing Kasparov that far on his way to greatness. They were SO CLOSE to each other, almost equally great. Kasparov was just a bit better. It's basically Messi vs Ronaldo but in chess. Short story from Russia: When Kasparov'd been arrested in Moscow in 2007, Karpov met with him and publicly supported him, asked for a release in an unprecedented act of public defiance of the regime. This was his I-want-to-break-free moment. It changed both their relationship and Kasparov's perspective on him. They live in different worlds (Karpov as a soviet-style bureaucrat and a member of a Russian Senate in Moscow, Kasparov as an independent freedom-fighter living in NYC), but this was the brief moment where their worlds merged and it made them comfortable with each other. They've never been and never will be friends, but they both acknowledge how uniquely great of a player was their opponent.

Chess grandmasters back then: Huge rivalry, politics, drama Chess grandmasters now: Double bongcloud go brrrr

The single most genius move Kasparov made in all of this was NOT to analyse the four pawns versus three pawns position overnight, but instead to allow Karpov to do that and then to read his face the next morning! :)

I thought the greatest rivalry was Karpov vs Misha

“Don’t touch it though. It’s the most complicated tool in the kitchen and you can barely make toast” That’s just an amazing quote that I might steal.

guesses pawn to f5 "I am a god. Carlsen should fear me."

Kasparov going 32 games without winning and not dying of tilt is the reason he's the GOAT and I'm constantly an exchange down

Chess History is genuinely fascinating, I never knew Chess was one aspect that got effected by the cold war, seeing how politics shape an ancient game is fascinating

“You can barely make toast” flashback to all the missed mate in 1s, 2s, and 3s I’ve had

19:28 wow, that was so natural. As a Russian native speaker I didn't even notice the change right away. After a couple of moments "Wait, now he's speaking Russian??"

Imagine writing a whole autobiography where you demonize your rival just before the game xD such savagery between two awesome players

Gotham Chess without a hoodie is like pizza without toppings

The greatest rivalry is my reaction speed and my wifi.

When there were only 2 players above 2700. Karpov: an engineer of chess, very positional mechanical chess. Kasparov: an artist of chess, out for blood and ready to create the next groundbreaking painting on the board. Music starting to play: MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAAAAAT

It is hard to convey quite how brave Kasparov was in openly denouncing the authorities back in 1985, when Chernenko was still the General Secretary of the CPSU, the old guard of the Brezhnev era, before glasnost and Gorbachev.

last time I saw LEVY in a shirt,TAL still had his queen on the board.

Me guessing f5 while being a 1200 rapid has to be my biggest ego boost yet

Well done. I was following these games back in the day. I was a 2000ish player but didn't understand half of what was going on even with what ever sparse analysis I could find. It was hard to learn and find opponents that would not argue about the rules. Now we have top players analyzing in real time and your recaps. Fantastic time for chess.

Bro, your enthusiasm and passion for the game is contagious. I always feel inspired to play and learn after watching.