Garry Kasparov

Russian chess grandmaster and activist · age 63

Garry Kasparov photo

life in chapters

6 milestones from birth to now, with Garry's age at every one.

1960s

  1. Birth

    Born April 13, 1963

1980s

  1. age ~22 Career milestone

    Becomes world chess champion and holds the title for 1985–2000

    World Chess Champion

    Kasparov becomes the youngest undisputed world champion in 1985 and holds the world championship (undisputed/classical) through 2000.

1990s

  1. age ~34 Incident

    Loses historic 1997 match to IBM’s Deep Blue

    Player

    He becomes the first reigning world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls (Deep Blue).

2000s

  1. age ~42 Career milestone

    Retires from regular competitive chess

    Player

    Kasparov retires from regular competitive chess in 2005 while still the world’s highest-rated player.

2010s

  1. age 50 Career milestone

    Receives Croatian citizenship

    Citizen

    Kasparov is granted Croatian citizenship amid increasing pressure on Russian opposition figures.

2020s

  1. age 63 Career milestone

    Writes and speaks prominently on AI and democracy from the U.S.

    Columnist / commentator

    Kasparov continues high-profile commentary and public engagement, including Washington Post opinion writing on AI and transparency.

age 63 now

Still going