Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov,
PhD (,
Anatolij Evgen'evic Karpov; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian
chess grandmaster and former
World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by
Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming
FIDE World Champion once again after Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. He held the title until 1999, when he resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules. For his decades-long standing among the world's elite, Karpov is considered by many to be one of the
greatest players of all time.