Garry Kasparov - Undisputed Monarch

by Dileepkumar
(Kerala, India)

Chess, at the top level is a game played among those guys who have approximately 300,000 position patterns stored in their memory. Since it is a mental war the ego of a person gets hurt badly when he fails in a match. There were a few occasions in which Garry Kasparov's ego got hurt but more than usual he was on the winning side.

Garry Kasparov, without a shadow of doubt, is the greatest chess player who ever walked on this planet. His phenomenal positional understanding of the game separated him from the rest. The mental toughness of Kasparov was an impossible thing for others to emulate. He showed the world how to play the game of chess with immaculate precision and consistency over a long period of time.

A great number of people argue that it is a futile attempt to compare great players from different eras. It cannot be applicable to this great man because he surpassed everyone in terms of achievements and natural brilliance. The method of domination was second to none. His memory was very sharp and often described as photographic. His reading of the game in various situations fetched him the title "Ten eyed monster". His showy nature and exuberance always gave him an upper hand mentally over his opponents.

Capablanca and Karpov are the other two players who come close to Kasparov in terms of greatness. His tactical ability embedded with vision and the deepest knowledge about various openings separated him from any other players in history of chess.

In 1985 he became the world champion and he remained the number one player in the world until his retirement in 2005. That speaks volumes about his dominance in the world of chess and the way in which he dominated was even better. He was systematically aggressive and is the world record holder for the highest ELO rating in the history of chess. The achievement of 15 consecutive tournament victories still stands as a world record.

These commendable achievements in the world of chess which other players can only dream of, place Kasparov as the undisputed monarch in the history of the game. Lack of personal goals was the reason for his retirement at the age of 42. Even after his retirement he imparted some of his tactical vision to the younger generation of players.

What is the best synonym for chess? There is no room for doubt because when thinking of chess Kasparov is the first name that will be coming to the minds of all chess lovers. He made the game of chess more popular than any other player in the history of chess. That is the greatest contribution of this great master.