Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the 12th world chess champion. He is known for his positional, agressive, intuitive, and calm playing styles. Karpov started playing chess at the age of four and became a grandmaster by the time he was 15. He went on to become the youngest Soviet National Master in history. During his decade as world champion, Karpov was a constant and dominant presence on the international tournament scene. He won the European Junior Championship in 1967 and the 1969 World Junior Championship. He was awarded grandmaster status in 1970 and the World Championship in 1975. He has a peak Elo rating of 2780 and 90 total months as the world's top-ranked player. Karpov resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules. In recent years, he has become involved in several political and humanitarian causes, both internationally and in his native Russia.