Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 to 1985, a three-time FIDE World Champion, twice World Chess champion as a member of the USSR team, and a six-time winner of Chess Olympiads as a member of the USSR team. The International Association of Chess Press awarded him nine Chess Oscars.
Karpov in 2017
Karpov in 1967
Karpov with FIDE president Max Euwe and wife in 1976
Karpov, with Kasparov (left) and Dutch Grandmaster Jan Timman (right) in Amsterdam, 1987
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Ding Liren, who defeated his opponent Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 World Chess Championship. Magnus Carlsen, the previous world champion, had declined to defend his title.
Ding Liren of China, the current world champion (2023)
A depiction of the chess match between Howard Staunton and Pierre Saint-Amant, on 16 December 1843.
Louis de la Bourdonnais, the world's strongest player from 1821 to his death in 1840
Howard Staunton, generally reckoned the world's leading player of the 1840s