Garry Kasparov Net Worth: How Rich is the Chess Grandmaster?

Garry Karparov Net Worth: Garry Karparov is a former World Chess Champion who reached the top in the rankings in 1984. Garry Kasparov is also a writer and political activist. There are roughly 26 books that mention Kasparov’s chess and political achievements. He is most famous for being the greatest chess player of all time. Kasparov was the World Chess Champion, reaching the top spot in 1984. As of 2021, Garry Karparov has a net worth of nearly $5 million.

Garry Kasparov Early Life

Garry Karparov or Garik Kimovich Weinstein was born in Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, as Garik Kimovich Weinstein. Kim Moiseyevich Weinstein, his father, was Jewish, and Klara Shagenovna Gasparian, his mother, was Armenian. Although “extremely indifferent,” Kasparov describes himself as a “self-appointed Christian” who identifies as Russian: “although I’m half-Armenian, half-Jewish, I consider myself Russian since Russian is my native tongue, and I grew up with Russian culture.”

Kasparov began serious chess study after discovering and proposing a solution to a chess issue set up by his parents. Garry’s father died of leukemia when he was seven years old. Garry, at the age of twelve, took his mother Klara’s surname Kasparov, at the request of Klara and with the family’s agreement, in order to avoid any antisemitic tensions, which were widespread in the USSR at the time.

Garry Kasparov Net Worth & Career in Chess

Kasparov competed in the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk in 1978. He was accepted as an exception, but he won and became a chess master. Kasparov has stated several times that this event was a watershed moment in his life, convincing him to pursue chess as a career. “I shall remember the Sokolsky Memorial for the rest of my life,” he wrote. He also stated that following his victory, he believed he had a strong chance of winning the World Championship.

He qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship for the first time at the age of 15 in 1978, making him the youngest player ever at that level. He won the 64-player Swiss system event at Daugavpils on a tiebreak against Igor V. Ivanov, claiming the lone qualifying spot.

Kasparov swiftly ascended the FIDE world rankings. While still unrated, he competed in a grandmaster tournament in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia), in 1979, under the supervision of the Russian Chess Federation (he was a replacement for the Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi, who was originally invited but withdrew due to the threat of a boycott from the Soviets). Kasparov won this high-level event, earning a preliminary rating of 2595, which catapulted him into the top tier of chess players (at the time, number 15 in the world).

In 1981–82, Kasparov tied for first place in the USSR Chess Championship as a teenager. At 1982, he won his first superclass international event in Bugojno, Yugoslavia. He qualified for the Candidates Event by winning the Moscow Interzonal tournament in 1982. He was the youngest Candidate since Bobby Fischer, who was 15 when he qualified in 1958, at the age of 19. At the time, he was the world’s No. 2 rated player, following only World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov on the January 1983 list.

In 1980, Kasparov wins the World Junior Championship in Dortmund.

Kasparov’s first Candidates match (quarter-final) was against Alexander Beliavsky, whom he defeated 6–3. (four wins, one loss). Politics posed a danger to Kasparov’s semi-final match versus Viktor Korchnoi, which was set to take place in Pasadena, California. Korchnoi defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and was the most powerful active non-Soviet player at the time. Various political maneuvers stopped Kasparov from playing Korchnoi, and the match was forfeited. Korchnoi settled this by enabling the match to be replayed in London with the originally planned match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltán Ribli. Raymond Keene arranged the Kasparov-Korchnoi match on short notice. Kasparov won the match 7–4 after losing the first game (four wins, one loss).

With a FIDE rating of 2710, Kasparov became the world’s top ranked player in January 1984. He became the youngest world No. 1 ever, a record that stood for 12 years until it was broken in January 1996 by Vladimir Kramnik; the record is now held by Magnus Carlsen.

After winning the famous Linares tournament for the eighth time, Kasparov announced his retirement from serious professional chess on March 10, 2005. He cited a lack of personal objectives in the chess world as the cause (he stated after winning the Russian championship in 2004 that it was the final major title he had never won uncontested) and voiced dissatisfaction at the failure to reunify the world championship.

In July 1999 and January 2000, he had a high rating of 2851. His current FIDE rating is 2812. Between 1985 and 1993, he was the uncontested World Champion, and between 1993 and 2000, he was the traditional World Champion. On March 10, 2005, he announced his retirement from chess in order to devote his time and energy to politics and literature. He founded the United Civil Front, a coalition that opposes Vladimir Putin’s political actions. He also serves on the board of the Human Rights Foundation. After tied for first place in the USSR Chess Championship in 1981 and 1982, Kasparov began to recognize his chess achievements while he was barely a teenager. For his political activities, he received the Center for Security Policy’s Keeper of the Flame Award in 1991. In terms of chess, he says that Alekhine, Tal, and Fischer had a significant effect on his playing style.

Garry Kasparov Net Worth

As of 2021, Garry Kasparov’s net worth is projected to be approximately $5 million. He amassed his money by being a successful chess player who held the world championship for a long period. He also owns many businesses, including the Kasparov International management, which is handled by his wife. He also entered politics after retiring from chess, which enhanced his financial fortune.