Karpov on Karpov: Memoirs of a Chess World Champion

by Anatoly Karpov, Todd Bludeau

One of the chess world's greatest champions describes his early start in the game, his winning of the world championship at age twenty-four, his bitter rivalry with Gary Kasparov, and his encounters with Bobby Fischer

Genres: Chess, Biography, Nonfiction

8 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Russian chess master Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ranked from 1975 as world champion to 1985.

Garry Kasparov defeated this official grand doctor. From 1986, he played three matches against Kasparov for the title to 1990. After Kasparove broke away from Fédération Internationale des Échecs in 1993, he then held its title once again. He held the title but in protest against new rules resigned in 1999. Many consider Karpov of the greatest players of all time for his decades-long standing among the elite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly...

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd call this the worst memoirs I've ever read if I accepted that this sloppily written, turgid, disjointed tome deserves to be called a memoir. It is a bunch of claptrap, hastily written and produced to cash in on the publicity generated by the author's (fifth and last) match against Kasparov in 1990.

I learned two things here about Karpov, apart from the fact that he's a horrible writer.

One, that he is a vindictive fellow. He pours vitriol on Kortchnoi and Kasparov, based on highly doubtful anecdotes and contradictory or just plain childish arguments.

Two, that he still believes his decisive loss in a previous match against Kasparov is due to the mysterious influence of Dadashev, a "parapsychologist" sitting in the audience. So you can have a lightning fast mind and be the best chess player in the world for a decade and still be a delusional moron.

[Michael Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This splendid read reveals much of the attitude and approach that Karpov brought to chess. His childhood beginnings add a rich quality to the book. Karpov's journeys and battles from his perspective are compelling and engaging. Taking all with a grain of salt, fans of chess before Fischer, during Karpov and through Kasparov should read this book. The only disappointment in the book was how little he devoted to Kasparov. It was written mostly just before their final match in New York and London, but beyond the little that was written, it is very disrespectful and degrading toward this arch rival.

[IWB · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is some question as to how much, if any, Karpov's memoir was written by himself. Whether or not Karpov is the actual writer of this memoir or not makes little difference to me--the facts of his life are accurate as far as I can determine from what is common knowledge about him. If this were a chess book proper, an instructional book, then it matters whether Karpov wrote it or not.(For instance, the book, Find The Right Plan, written by Matsukevich and Karpov, is a bad chess book and likely not written by Karpov at all. His contribution was probably literally nominal, in a similar way that Fischer's name is literally a nominal contribution to Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, by Mosenfelder and Margulies.) Here it is strictly a run-down of Karpov's life in a mundane, bland, meandering fashion. There are far more interesting chess memoirs than this.

(These chess books that are written by Soviets and former Soviets, and then translated into English [often decades after the fact] are really hit or miss with respect to language usage and quality of style--they are more of the miss than the hit.)

You won't glean much of interest from Karpov's childhood introduction into chess and his adolescent development. Sure, they mention certain things such as going to a government subsidized training club (no wonder the Soviet Union, Russia and former Soviet states have dominated world chess since the 1940's up to the early 21st century) various coaches and players, places, ect., but still, I found it less than substantive. He does state that Furman was terrible with black, if that piques your interest.

If you were looking for inspiration as a chess player, go elsewhere--it's not here. There is one anecdote from when he was a young teenager, maybe closer to 12-13, when he was suffering many losses and a string of overall poor tournament performances, in which a ray of "thatta boys" and "don't give up hope" remarks briefly light the pages, but only dimly. He essentially says that when you are consistently having poor performances you just have to hope and to believe (in yourself and your trainers presumably) that you will overcome the losses and begin winning. I know people who have followed this advice: they are called career C-players. Without qualification, and without being in similar circumstances as Karpov at the time, this advice is not particularly helpful.

Later on in the book, Karpov's sour grapes and passing of the buck are manifest markedly. Suffice it to say that being, in my opinion, one of the greatest players ever, did not add an iota of moral or intellectual virtue to Karpov's life. (Were you deluded enough to think that genius chess grandmasters were somehow better people than you?) He shows no integrity and fallacious argumentation with respect to his rivals Korchnoi and Kasparov, is incapable of taking responsibility for his losses and failures at the highest level, and actually believes that a parapsychologist was able to influence his mind. (No comment on the fact that he even thinks this is a real force in the world because I might as well be commenting on "The Force" being a real thing in the world.)

Instead of reading this, read one of his best games collections, which would be a far better use of your time than reading this memoir.

[Dave Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting auto-bio on former World Champion Karpov. He was definitely the best player in the post-Fischer era. It was a HUGE disappointment that there was never a Fischer vs. Karpov match. This is the only book I've read that does not contain any game commentary by a chess-playing author. The book needs a lot more pictures.
One thing that struck me is his animosity against Kasparov. His phrasing isn't strident but Karpov has a hard time taking responsibility for losing against Kasparov. Karpov only needed one more win to retain his crown and Kasparov staged the most dramatic comeback ever. Kasparov did not play fair (I forget the specific allegations Karpov submits.). Anatoly, how about this explanation: You choked!

[Cody Oldham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karpov comes off a bit petty on the Kasparov matches but a great, enthralling memoir.

[maarten mellegers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bijzonder boek van een wereldkampioen. Vanuit persoonlijk oogpunt zijn leven en wk matches beschreven. Niet bijzonder goed geschreven maar dat kan ook aan de vertaling liggen. In acht hoofdstukken wordt men meegenomen in het gedachtegoed van Karpov. Het is veel rechttoe rechtaan waardoor je er snel doorheen bent. Wat vooral opvalt is de enorme apathie jegens Kasparov.