Alexei Shirov vs Anatoly Karpov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexei Shirov | Anatoly Karpov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1972 | 1951 |
| Died | living / not documented | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | Spain | Russia |
| Star sign | Cancer | Gemini |
Who they are
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
Anatoly Karpov
In 1975, Anatoly Karpov became World Chess Champion without playing a match — a circumstance both extraordinary and deeply unsatisfying to a man who had earned the right to the title through years of flawless tournament play. Bobby Fischer, the reigning champion, refused to defend the crown under the agreed match conditions, forfeiting the title by default. Karpov, just twenty-three years old, was handed the championship. What he did with it over the next decade silenced any suggestion that he was a champion by default: he played with a suffocating, systematic brilliance that produced one…
Full biography of Anatoly Karpov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: Spain and Russia.
- 21 years separate their births (1972 and 1951).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexei Shirov or Anatoly Karpov?
- Anatoly Karpov. Alexei Shirov was born in 1972, Anatoly Karpov in 1951.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess). Anatoly Karpov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.