Anatoly Karpov (b. 1951): playing style, games and openings

12th World Champion, 1975–1985. The boa constrictor: small, lasting advantages, restricted counterplay and a slow squeeze until the position collapses.

b. 1951 · Known for: Positional squeeze · 3,517 games in the collection

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Playing style: Solid / prophylactic

Keeps the king safe, avoids early adventures and is hard to beat, at the cost of more draws.

These scores come from the 2,685 games used for the style profile (classical-length games), measured the same way the analyzer measures your own games.

Results

Anatoly Karpov scored 1013 wins, 1366 draws and 306 losses (63% score) in 2685 games.

• With White: 664 wins, 635 draws and 108 losses (70% score) in 1407 games.
• With Black: 349 wins, 731 draws and 198 losses (56% score) in 1278 games.

Favourite openings

As White

• Sicilian Defense: 181 games, 72% score
• Queen's Gambit Declined: 145 games, 73% score
• Queen's Indian Defense: 120 games, 70% score
• English Opening: 117 games, 70% score
• King's Indian Defense: 111 games, 70% score
• Grünfeld Defense: 97 games, 70% score

As Black

• Queen's Indian Defense: 201 games, 55% score
• Caro-Kann Defense: 188 games, 54% score
• English Opening: 149 games, 61% score
• Ruy Lopez: 136 games, 56% score
• Nimzo-Indian Defense: 130 games, 57% score
• Queen's Gambit Declined: 117 games, 49% score

Practise related lines: Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Ruy Lopez: Closed, Scotch Game, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox, Sicilian Najdorf: English Attack, Caro-Kann: Classical, French Defence: Advance, Scandinavian Defence, King's Indian: Classical, Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower.

A famous game

• Nice Olympiad 1974 squeeze (Karpov, Anatoly vs Unzicker, Wolfgang, 1-0, 1974) — replay it move by move and see Stockfish's verdict.

Other legends

• Paul Morphy
  Rapid development & open lines
• Wilhelm Steinitz
  Positional theory & tenacious defense
• Emanuel Lasker
  Pragmatic fighting chess
• José Raúl Capablanca
  Simplicity & endgame technique
• Alexander Alekhine
  Combinational attacks
• Mikhail Botvinnik
  Scientific preparation
• Mikhail Tal
  Sacrificial attacks
• Tigran Petrosian
  Prophylaxis
• Bobby Fischer
  Clarity & precision
• Garry Kasparov
  Dynamic initiative
• Magnus Carlsen
  Universal endgame grinding