Where is Garry Kasparov. The origin and childhood of the grandmaster

Good day, dear friend!

Garry Kasparov was taken to the chess circle of the Palace of Pioneers in the city of Baku by a neighbor in the yard, seventh grader Rostik Korsunsky. Then Garik was 7 years old.

The coach was amazed by the boy's talent and after a couple of sessions he said:

“I don’t know if there were such beginners in other cities, but this has never happened in Baku!”

The teacher was surprised that the first-grader, who practically did not yet know how to play, quickly solved complex problems.

Rapid start

AT 1972 the year of Harry, already has the first category and goes to the final of the city championship in.

A year later, Baku hosted a tournament of youth sports school coaches against first-class athletes. In this tournament, the boy fulfilled the standard of a candidate master.

Moscow master Alexander Nikitin drew attention to Kasparov. And a month later, Garik, on his recommendation, was invited to a session of the school. Since then, his athletic growth has been under the constant attention of the ex-world champion.

Three times a year, at his sessions, Botvinnik analyzed all the games of the young student, giving him instructions for further work under the guidance of A. Nikitin and A. Shakarov.

Botvinnik then wrote about Kasparov:

“The main pride of our correspondence school is G. Kasparov. He studied at school for 6 years, grew in all respects. Suffice it to say that during the February session of 1978, when I was left without an assistant, Garik helped me (in the middlegame and endgame, I can handle it myself, but in the opening and partly in analysis, he will outsmart anyone, and very successfully!)

Formation

In February 1978 of the year Garry Kimovich came to Minsk for the tournament of memory A. Sokolsky. At first, the organizers did not want to include him in the number of participants, since he did not yet have the title of master. But they still made an exception.

As a result, Garik won the first prize, exceeding the master's norm by 3,5 point! It was the highest score ever achieved by a young chess player in Soviet Union!

A similar success awaited Kasparov in March 1979 in the Yugoslav Banja Luka, where a major international tournament was held.

This competition was attended by 15 grandmasters and one master - Kasparov

He became the undisputed leader of this tournament, ahead of the closest pursuers and Jan Smeikal by 2,5 point! Garry "jumped" the grandmaster's norm by 3,5 point!

AT 1980 In 1991 he won three gold medals: in the European team championship and at the World Chess Olympiad as part of the USSR national team, and he also became the world champion among youths in Dortmund.

Despite the serious workload in the sports arena, Harry manages to graduate from school with a gold medal the same year!

title contender

After such stunning results, they started talking about him as a future contender for the chess crown.

But here he had to overcome the test associated with the first "dizzying" successes. At a major international tournament in Tilburg in 1981 year he shows an average result, taking 6-8 place.

Harry took this outcome of the tournament as a serious setback. He and his coaches analyzed the shortcomings in his game. He learned the importance of analytical work on his games from the "patriarch" of Soviet chess - Mikhail Botvinnik .

Based on the results of his analysis of his games in Tilburg, he revealed that he had difficulties in realizing the advantage he had gained.

Harry immediately began work on filling this gap. Soon the self-criticism and diligence of the young athlete bore fruit.

In the same year he becomes the champion of the USSR.

Garry Kimovich has been very ambitious since childhood. For him, only one goal was important - the title of champion. In those years, the chess arena was dominated by Anatoly Karpov, who has already managed to defend the champion title several times in a confrontation with Viktor Korchnoi.

Kasparov successfully passes the qualifying round, defeating experienced fighters Korchnoi and .

First match with the champion

And in 1984 the first match took place between Kasparov and Karpov for the chess crown. The era of the great confrontation between the two "K" began.

The first match between them was very dramatic, and it was never completed. According to the regulations, the winner of the match was declared the one who could win 6 victories. The number of parties was not limited.

The debut for him in this fight was disastrous. After 9 games Anatoly Karpov is ahead 4:0 ! He had only 2 games left to win.

Kasparov starts the game to "exhaust" the opponent, taking advantage of the shortcomings in the match regulations. From the 10th to the 26th game, not a single opponent managed to win! However, in the next game, Karpov wins again. Check 5:0 !

Karpov is just one step away from winning the match.

Garry Kimovich continued his tactics, and it began to bear fruit. One draw after another followed. The match dragged on. But Kasparov manages to win three victories.

After 48- th(!) game of the match the score became 5:3 . At that moment the FIDE President Campomanes one of the most controversial decisions in history was made.

The match was abandoned under the pretext that the participants in the match were mentally and physically exhausted. Both participants of the match were dissatisfied with this decision.

Ascension to the throne

The new match took place in 1985 year in Moscow under new conditions, according to which the number of parties was limited to 24 .

Demonstrating an excellent game, he won 13:11 . Kasparov became the youngest world champion. He was then only 22 years old!

After losing the title, Karpov repeatedly tried to regain the crown. AT 1986 year in a rematch in Leningrad, Harry defeats him again 12,5:11,5 .

Karpov was very close to victory in 1987 in the year in a match in Seville, but Harry managed to win in the last game "on order" and equalize the score in the match- 12:12 .

According to the regulations, in case of a draw, the current champion retained his title. AT 1990 Another match between the two great "Ks" took place this year. Kasparov wins again by one point.

Era Kasparov

In the 90s, the "era" of Garry Kimovich continues. He wins in many major tournaments, reaching a record ranking - 2851 paragraph. But his chess career was accompanied by conflicts with the FIDE organization, mainly due to financial issues.

In the early 1990s, Kasparov created PSHA(professional chess association), which began to organize world championships according to its version.

The chess world was split. During the period of "dual power" many new FIDE champions appeared. But then everyone understood that he was still the strongest chess player in the world.

The situation began to change in 2000, when Kasparov conceded Vladimir Kramnik title of world champion according to his organization (PSHA). Garry continued to show very high results in major tournaments for another 5 years.

Against the machine

His duels with the strongest computer programs aroused great interest among the public. For example, - deep blue.

At first, Kasparov took over the machine, but the programs were constantly improved, and he was subsequently forced to admit that the computer began to play stronger than a person.

In 2005, Garry Kimovich decided to leave chess.

Many still believe that his departure was premature. He could well regain the chess crown. However, Kasparov decided to drastically change his life and became involved in politics.

His opposition activities to the current government did not bring him much support among the citizens of Russia. AT 2013 In the year Garry Kimovich decided to stay abroad, where he lives now.

living legend

Despite his controversy, he remains a living chess legend. He did a lot to popularize chess and increase the fees of the world's leading chess players.

Kasparov's style of play is very risky, accompanied by spectacular sacrifices and non-standard decisions over the board.

Kasparov's beautiful game still attracts chess fans. The study of games, his books will help chess lovers to “immerse themselves” in an unprecedented depth of understanding of the ancient game.

We offer you a position from the 16th game of the rematch Kasparov-Karpov(Leningrad, 1986)

White's move. Win.

We also offer you to watch a video about the chess champion:

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In the chess world, Garry Kasparov was not called otherwise than the "Great and Terrible". The famous champion retired from big sport at the peak of his fame. Some are convinced that in vain, while others say that on time. Nevertheless, the great grandmaster has something to tell about himself, because Garry Kasparov's biography, personal life and children are of interest to many of his admirers. And today's activity of the champion causes a lot of rumors in society.

Today, the former chess player has devoted himself almost entirely to politics and is a bright positioner, accusing the Russian government of unleashing the armed conflict in Donbass and annexing the Crimean peninsula. But first things first.

So, below is the biography of Garry Kasparov: personal life, children, sports achievements and other interesting moments from the life of the great grandmaster.

Childhood

The future champion was born in Baku on April 13, 1963. The boy's parents were intelligent people and kept apart from the lower, so to speak, working class. As for the nationality of Garry Kasparov, this moment caused a lot of controversy in sports circles.

The fact is that the father of the chess player (Kim Moiseevich) is a Jew, and his mother (Klara Shagenovna) is an Armenian. Both the one and the other almost up to the fifth knee were purebred. Therefore, in a sports society, both Jews and Armenians, as they say, each pulled the blanket over themselves, challenging the nationality of Garry Kasparov in their favor. However, in the Soviet Union he was considered an Armenian and just a Soviet citizen.

The parents of the future grandmaster worked as engineers and arranged chess battles almost every evening. It was thanks to them that Garry Kasparov got such a passion for this sport. Starting from the age of five, he began to master the basics of chess art. And it absorbed him so much that he did not need toys, nor the street, nor other courtyard delights. Only chess, books and newspapers.

Youth

At the age of twelve, a turning point occurred in the biography of Garry Kasparov: the young child prodigy became the champion of the Soviet Union in youth chess. Since then, this sport has become for him the meaning of his life.

By the age of seventeen, Garry Kasparov (photos are presented in the article) received the title of master of sports. At the same time, the chess player graduated from school, and with a gold medal, and then entered the local pedagogical university at the department of foreign languages. Harry was taken to the institute after passing one single exam, which, by the way, he passed with a solid five points.

In 1980, already known throughout the Union, Garry Kasparov was awarded the title of grandmaster.

After the death of his father in 1970, the talented chess player's mother became more than a parent to him. She was his coach, mentor and dedicated herself to her son and his career. Klara Shagenovna was with him almost everywhere. The championships were held not only in the Soviet Union, but also abroad, and Garry Kasparov's mother followed her son everywhere and solved all his problems, from domestic to some professional friction.

It was then that she decided to radically change the image of the grandmaster, changing not only Harry's nationality, but also his last name. So after 1980 he ceased to be the Jewish chess player Weinstein, and turned into the Armenian Kasparov.

Career

The career of Garry Kimovich Kasparov is full of victories and all kinds of awards. The venerable grandmaster for 13 years took first place in various championships and chess competitions. At that time, Harry's Elo rating reached the mark of 2800 points, and this is an exceptionally high professional level.

After the unpleasant events in 1990, when brutal reprisals against Armenians began in his homeland, he was forced to leave Azerbaijan and moved to the capital of the USSR. A little later, in 1993, Harry left the International Chess Federation, while creating its analogue - the Professional Chess Association.

Later, in 1996, the grandmaster organized a virtual sports organization - the Kasparov Club. The resource gained popularity from year to year, and already in 1999 the famous chess player beat all users on the Internet in a match organized by Microsoft. At that time, this game with all non-professional chess players, which lasted almost four months, was watched by more than 3 million users of the World Wide Web. This indicator still cannot be beaten by any virtual chess resource.

Kasparov vs. Deep Blue

In 1996, the then-leading IBM corporation challenged Kasparov by inviting him to oppose their most advanced computer, Deep Blue. The designers assured users that the machine is capable of processing up to 200 million strokes per second and making decisions with due literacy.

Kasparov won the competition with a good score - 4:2, but lost to a computer opponent in the first game.

The next time Deep Blue and the great grandmaster met a year later - in 1997. The game was hard and tense for Kasparov. And on the 46th move, the famous chess player admitted defeat and surrendered to the computer. After the game, Harry asked for detailed party logs, suspecting human interference in the process, but the company refused him, citing trade secrets.

Champion

In 1985, the chess player officially became the thirteenth world champion. Sports experts called the game Karpov and Kasparov - enchanting. But the last champion could not keep his title and lost it to the newcomer. Kasparov managed to cunningly play the rare Nemtsovich Defense and win the first game. Neither one nor the other yielded and held out to the end, bringing the pieces to a draw. But by the end of game 16, Harry had won a spectacular victory and won the world championship.

Kasparov became the youngest grandmaster ever. At the time of the game with Karpov, he was 22 years old. Only Norwegian athlete Magnus Carlsen, who also turned 22 when he took the title, could beat such a “youth” record.

End of career

In 2005, the grandmaster decided for himself that in chess he had achieved everything he wanted, and told his fans that he was leaving the sport. As an alternative to the board and pieces, Harry preferred politics, stating that in Russia there are a dime a dozen colonels and generals, but there is too little intelligence.

It was the latter that he decided to compensate for with his presence, deciding, with the help of his talent for comprehensive thinking, including strategic thinking, to change the Motherland for the better and contribute to its development. Some took such impulses very enthusiastically, but a good half of the grandmaster's fans, as well as politicians, were rather skeptical about this.

Over the following years, the chess player almost day and night gave his strength to the opposition movement "United Civil Front" created by him. The main policy of the party was aimed at counteracting the current leadership of the Russian Federation. With this movement, the serious political life of the famous chess player began.

Together with his associates in the movement, Karpov opposed the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his team. Garry Kimovich organized wherever possible marches of dissenters under his own banners, for which he was repeatedly detained by law enforcement agencies.

A little later, in 2008, Kasparov created a new democratic movement and called it Solidarity. The latter, again, was aimed at fighting the current government, where the top priority was the resignation of the president.

Not everyone liked the cardinal plans and ideas of the chess player, so he did not receive support from the media. Nor did he become a member of the Coordinating Council of the opposition. Garry Kimovich was ahead of Alexei Navalny by a fairly large margin.

After all these ups and downs, the chess player moved with his family to America and settled in New York. In 2013, he stated that he was not going to return to the Russian Federation and would fight the Russian authorities where he lives. Garry Kasparov continues to fight "Kremlin crimes" from abroad at the international level. It is also worth noting that in 2014 the main website of the chess player was blocked by Roskomnadzor for calls for extremist actions.

After the events in Ukraine in 2014, Kasparov openly supported the leadership in Kyiv and, using all available means, accused Russia of seizing the Crimean peninsula and supporting the military militia in the Donbass.

Kasparov strongly urges Europe and the United States to increase pressure on the President of the Russian Federation with the help of sanctions and other political tools. Then, in 2014, Garry Kimovich repeatedly visited the capital of Ukraine and gave a simultaneous game session to everyone in support of the authorities.

A year later, Kasparov wrote a book in which he presents to readers his vision of the situation in the world and problems modern Russia in particular. In his publication, the chess player speaks extremely negatively about the current authorities in the Russian Federation and specifically about Vladimir Putin. One of the key roles in modern history Kasparov assigned to Ronald Reagan, who in the 1980s did a lot to end the "Evil Empire".

Personal life of Garry Kasparov

The children of the great chess player are much more willing to talk about their father, while he himself tries to avoid uncomfortable questions about his personal life. As such, the personal life of the grandmaster began when he was 21 years old.

Already a famous chess player, at one of the social events, he met a popular actress - Marina Neelova. For many, she has remained a little capricious princess from the "Old, old fairy tale." The actress differed from other figures of the scene in her diminutiveness, plump lips and delicate taste.

Marina Neelova

The young chess player was not taken aback and invited the "princess" to take a walk. And so began the romance of Garry Kasparov and Marina Neelova. Literally the entire inner circle of both the chess player and the actress reacted with hostility to such a relationship. The fact is that Kasparov was 21 years old, and Neelova - 37 years old.

The mother of the future grandmaster was obsessed with her son and his victories and, of course, she didn’t even want to see any actress, and even more so 16 years older than him. Nevertheless, Garry Kasparov nevertheless carved out several hours and even days from his busy schedule for his personal life and devoted them entirely to Marina.

The actress introduced the future grandmaster to the highest circles of the Soviet bohemian youth. At social events, he was introduced to the most talented people. Thanks to great games and similar acquaintances, the name of the chess player began to appear not only in specialized media.

But as mentioned above, Kasparov's mother was categorically against such a relationship, and soon the romance between the actress and the chess player came to naught. Marina Neelova after some time gave birth to a daughter and named her Nika. But the strict mother forbade her son to recognize the child, even though Nika looked like a chess player like two drops of water.

Maria Arapova

In 1989, Harry Kimovich officially signed with Maria Arapova. She worked as a guide-interpreter in the hotel complex "Intourist". A little later, in 1992, they had a daughter, Polina. A year later, Kasparov's marriage began to fall apart, and the couple decided to leave. The divorce proceedings lasted for a whole year and a half. The ex-wife of the chess player, together with her daughter, decided to leave Russia and settled for permanent residence in America.

Julia Vovk

The next chosen one of Kasparov was 18-year-old student Yulia Vovk. From her, the chess player has a son, Vadim, born in 1996. The couple lived together for 9 years, after which the marriage began to crack and subsequently broke up.

Daria Tarasova

But the grandmaster, after a relatively quick divorce, again became entangled in Cupid's nets. And this time, the bride Kasparov again got much younger than himself. The age difference with socialite Daria Tarasova was almost 20 years. In 2005, they got married, and a year later the couple had a daughter, Aida. In the summer of 2015, a replenishment happened, Tarasova made her husband happy with her son Nikolai.

The children of Garry Kasparov have nothing to do with the world of chess and do not even consider this sport as a hobby. But the great grandmaster himself does not insist on this, believing that everyone should choose their calling on their own and without the guardianship of their parents.

These days

The former world champion is still actively involved in politics. The position of a chess player, thoughts, some conclusions and other information can be found in the Twitter service. There he shares the latest news with his subscribers and comments on what is happening in the world and in Russia.

Kasparov invariably follows the previously chosen political course and believes that "the Russian Federation should return to the European family of peoples." A good half of compatriots criticize the ideas, plans and position of the chess player regarding Russia.

Kasparov, in addition to housing in New York, also has real estate in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Croatia. In the latter, he very often visits and lives for months in the town of Makarska with his wife and children. The former champion's main sources of income are chess master classes and thematic lectures. This also includes literary activities. Political prose is not so in demand among the reader, but they are ready to buy professional works related to chess sports, and in a decent amount.

From 2002 to this day, Garry Kasparov has been making his contribution, and a considerable one at that, to the development of chess all over the world. The ex-champion is trying to introduce chess as a sports discipline into the educational systems of different countries, along with the same physical education. Over the past ten years, Harry Kimovich has established an impressive network of collaborations with hundreds of schools in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Chess players are joking

Photo caption. Kasparov and first wife Maria

royal bounty

In 1989, Kasparov and Korchnoi met in a knockout tournament in Paris in one of the semi-finals. Both main games ended peacefully, and the third blitz game was played according to the situation, in which White needed a victory, while Black was satisfied with a draw. Black went to Korchnoi, he achieved the desired result and reached the final. But here judge Giessen, who was interested in Kasparov being in the final, in violation of the rules, forced the partners to sit down at the board again, in fact, sued Harry. This time, Kasparov won, got into the final, where he defeated Short. Of course, the referee was to blame for Korchnoi's financial loss, but Harry felt uncomfortable and found a way out of the conflict. When the prizes were handed out at the closing of the tournament, he without further ado gave Korchnoi $16,000 in cash - that much Viktor Lvovich would have been guaranteed in the final...

All world champions love money, but only Kasparov parted with it so generously...

magic sweater

In 1981, the World Youth Team Championship was held in Austria. After the victory of the Soviet team, Kasparov, its leader, purchased a dozen red and white sweaters with large numbers "85" on the chest - for gifts to everyone who intends to help him in the fight for the championship title. "What's with the strange number? - asked his coach Alexander Nikitin, putting on a sweater. “If you expect to play a duel for the crown, then the next one will take place only three years later, in 1984, and the next one three years later, and FIDE President Campomanes is unlikely to break the calendar for you.” “Wait and see,” Harry smiled enigmatically. “For now, let’s assume that I took these sweaters because of the sum of the numbers, 8 + 5 = 13.” Indeed, a damn dozen is a lucky number for Kasparov, who was born on April 13th and subsequently proclaimed the 13th world champion. But, apparently, Harry was cunning - even then he had the gift of providence ... And in fact, Kasparov became the king of chess in the second, extraordinary match with Karpov in 1985!

Women's duel

In 1984, even before the marathon with Karpov, Kasparov began an affair with the popular actress of the Sovremennik Theater Marina Neelova. They met on a visit to a famous married couple - pianist Vladimir Krainev and figure skating coach Tatyana Tarasova. Although Harry was sixteen years younger, he managed to win Marina's heart and fell in love with her. Their relationship lasted about two years, but the question of marriage, apparently, did not arise. Harry lived in Baku with his mother, and when he was in Moscow, he would certainly visit Marina. She was assigned the role of a second, Moscow mother: chess talent needed female guardianship. Neelova was a homebody, and Kasparov loved to sparkle in society, especially with such a beautiful lady, and the famous artist, in order to please him, went to meet him.

It is not known how long this relationship would have lasted, but Klara Shagenovna, Harry's mother, was tired of sharing her son with another woman, and she convinced him that for the sake of a career it was necessary to break with Neelova. Of the two mature and experienced competitors, the mother won ...

Second try

In 1986, Kasparov met Maria Arapova, a graduate of the Romano-Germanic department of the philological faculty of Moscow State University, who worked as a guide-translator at Intourist. A pretty blonde with pleasant manners, a good education and a prestigious job - all with a plus sign. They dated for three years and finally got married. In 1992, Harry's wife gave birth to a daughter, Polina, and the birth took place in Finland, where Maria's parents were on a business trip at that time. Alas, after five years of cloudless happiness, "the family boat crashed into everyday life." There is a version that the “housing problem” ruined the spouses. When the time came to buy new housing in the center of Moscow, Masha made an unforgivable mistake by offering her husband to buy a separate apartment for Klara Shagenovna in the house next door. A loving mother, who always lived with her son under the same roof and could not imagine otherwise, could not endure such deceit. The divorce process was long and difficult. Maria was not satisfied with the generous maintenance that Kasparov assigned to her and Polina. The wife said that she was disappointed in the chess player who was fighting with her for square meters, as with Karpov for the fields of a 64-cell board. Having hired experienced lawyers, she made a claim to Harry for every item of income, demanded the division of all property "accumulated during their life together." It seems that the main reason for the divorce was the desire of the wife to go abroad, while maintaining a high material level at Harry's expense. In the end, Maria went with her daughter and parents to America, where Harry bought them a very comfortable house in New Jersey. The daughter is over twenty years old, she is a student at Columbia University, but Kasparov still supports Polina and her mother.

Latvian trail

For several years, Kasparov went bachelor and was one of the most enviable suitors. Lucky was the beautiful Julia Vovk, a tall, long-legged girl whom Harry met in 1995 in Riga at the Tal Memorial: she was nineteen, he was thirty-two. A year later, the wedding took place (although there was no official registration of the marriage). Soon the young wife gave her husband a son, Vadim. "Are you going to retire from chess?" - now and then asked Harry. “Not before my son sees my victory on stage! - followed the answer - he must realize who his father is.

In 2000, Kasparov lost to Kramnik, for several years all his attempts to play a rematch were in vain, and in 2005, disappointed by the situation, Garry made a sensational statement that he was leaving big chess, refusing to fight for the return of the crown and switching to politics . However, parting with his beloved chess, Harry managed to please his son - at the end of 2004 he won the "missing" title of Russian champion. Vadim was present in the hall and, as planned by Kasparov, he saw with his own eyes what an outstanding father he had. Moreover, it was the son who got the gold medal - a valuable toy! But time flies quickly, Vadim is already eighteen, he is a tall guy, a giant, almost two meters tall.

It is important to note here that Julia is a native of Riga, has Latvian citizenship, and Vadim, thanks to this, has a residence permit, and he often visits Riga. In 2013, these circumstances played an important role in the fact that Kasparov himself asked for Latvian citizenship (of course, retaining Russian)! Thus, if the Latvian Seimas made a positive decision, then the chess king would again appear in Riga (the first was Mikhail Tal). However, in 2014, Kasparov received the citizenship of Croatia, became a full-fledged European, and the question of a residence permit in Riga disappeared by itself ...

(to be continued)

The daughter of the chess king and Marina Neyolova charmed the director of the London Gallery

The daughter of the chess king and Marina Neyolova charmed the director of the London Gallery

The 13th world chess champion Garry Kasparov recently had a son. It is probably not by chance that the boy was named in the American manner - Nicholas. Three years ago, Garry Kimovich, having finally chosen the profession of a political prostitute, left Russia and settled in the United States.

Kasparov bought a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan in New York with an area of ​​160 sq. m. For this family nest, where his young wife lives Daria Tarasova, their 9-year-old daughter Aida and himself a chess player, the fugitive laid out $ 3.4 million. Now we have to make room a little - there are four of them.

The 52-year-old ex-world champion knows a lot about female beauty. Daria is 20 years younger than him, and some Americans, seeing them together, mistakenly think that she is his daughter. When the romance between Kasparov and Tarasova, a student at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions, was in full swing, Dasha was once asked who she was to the great chess player. The spectacular brunette, without batting an eyelid, replied: "I am his wife." Although Kasparov at that moment was married to a completely different young lady - Julia Vovk! But Tarasova achieved her goal. In 2006, she really married a chess genius.

As a student, Daria practiced in Washington DC under a program supported by the US government. She opened her own store in St. Petersburg, and Valery Leontiev even dedicated one of his songs to her. In general, this lady also knew her worth.

Garry Kimovich and Daria have been together for more than 10 years, and I must say, this is a great achievement for the wife. After all, the winner of all kinds of chess tournaments has always had a weakness for the fair sex.

About the romance of young Kasparov with a wonderful actress Marina Neelova gossiped all theatrical Moscow. When they met, Marina was 37 years old, and Garik was 21. He then lived in Baku and visited Moscow only on short visits. Neelova received a young lover in her apartment on Chistye Prudy. But in the light they have repeatedly appeared together. When in 1984 Kasparov first met in a world title match with Anatoly Karpov, Neelova was sitting in the hall next to the mother of the chess player. But it was Klara Shagenovna who separated them. First she told her son:

You need to focus on chess. And if you want to marry an actress, it's better to marry an entire factory hostel at once. She will infect you with a bad disease!

When Neelova became pregnant, Klara Shagenovna inspired her son that an illegitimate child could negatively affect his sports career. Ambitious Harry, who had already won the world title, did not object. His mother told the press: "This is not our child." As if hinting at the fact that Neelova was dating another man in parallel. The proud actress did not utter a word then. But the daughter Nika, whom she gave birth to, turned out to be like two drops of water similar to Kasparov. Neelova's colleagues at the Sovremennik Theater were outraged by the act of the grandmaster, and Valentin Gaft publicly stated:

Kasparov is not worthy to be received in a decent house.

Now Nick is 28 years old. She went to first grade in Paris. When she grew up, she became a sculptor, graduating from the Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands. Later, Nika continued her studies in England, and in 2010 she became the winner of the New Sensations competition, which was held by the Saatchi Gallery in London. Her father was replaced by the current husband of Neelova - a Russian diplomat Kirill Gevorgyan. It was thanks to her stepfather that Nika visited different countries at school age and learned several foreign languages. Neelova's daughter, a burning brunette, looks very attractive, although she says that she never considered herself a beauty.

I have a young man, we live together in London, - Nika admitted several years ago. - He's Italian, he also works here. Not an artist or a sculptor. Maybe it's for the best - the two of us are not bored.

However, Nika did not dare to introduce the same Italian to the public. Later, he left for his homeland, and the couple broke up. Meanwhile, Neelova Jr. literally charmed the director of the London gallery "Charlie Smith" Xavier Ellis. At first, using wide connections, he helped Nika to show his work in the capital of England, then in Berlin, Amsterdam and other European cities. Outwardly, everything looked quite ordinary: the patron of art helps the young talent pave the way to success. But when the exhibition at London's Somerset House, where the works of leading British artists and sculptors were shown, suddenly turned out to be the creations of Nika Neelova, the only foreign woman, many had a question: why would it? Undoubtedly, she has talent, but without high patronage you will not get into the cohort of the elite so quickly. This vernissage, by the way, was supervised by Xavier.

Ellis' former favorite understood everything - Tessa Farmer. The woman gave the ex-boyfriend a scandal:

What is it about this Russian? Her work is completely ordinary. You are driven by personal sympathy.

Tessa insistently asked Xavier to forget about the Russian sculptor for the good of the cause. But he did not listen and began to lose his head more and more from the new favorite. Now Nika is seen with the gallery director not only at exhibitions and museums. Ellis takes her on trips, they dine together in restaurants, walk around the city.

According to our information, Nika Neelova was once offered a job in Moscow - she did not want to. Mom called her daughter to Paris, where she lives in last years and received a polite refusal. And when Nika asks Ellis for something (or vice versa), there are no refusals.

Nika prefers not to talk about Kasparov. She, like her mother, deleted him from her life.

Took the girl away from Short

In 86, friends introduced Harry to a pretty blonde Maria Arapova. A graduate of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, she worked as a translator at Intourist. It is curious that her dad was well acquainted with Karpov - the 12th world champion and Kasparov's sworn rival, but Klara Shagenovna found out about this too late. Otherwise, perhaps she would not have given her blessing for the marriage. Three years after the wedding, Maria gave her husband a daughter, who was named Polina. Arapova decided to give birth in Finland, where her parents lived at that time. But Kasparov stayed in Moscow with his mother. They say that Klara Shagenovna was seriously offended by her daughter-in-law. When Harry was about to buy a new home for the family in the center of Moscow, Masha cautiously offered to resettle her mother-in-law - to buy her an apartment in the house next door. The imperious Klara Shagenovna, accustomed to living with her son under the same roof, could not endure such deceit.

Kasparov's wife and her daughter spent several months in Finland, but Harry rarely visited them. And then he went to London for a match for the chess crown with an Englishman Nigel Short. The duel lasted for two whole months, but Maria did not appear in London. It became clear that the couple cooled off towards each other. And it soon became clear that Kasparov dealt a double blow to Short: he won the match against him and stole the chess player girl from Nigel Virginia More. The relationship with this young Frenchwoman lasted two years.

Maria Arapova did not remain silent. In one of the interviews she said:

Perhaps something has changed with Harry personally. Returning from London, he declared that he was ripe for a divorce. I tried to talk to him, but he doesn't want to come back... They put pressure on me. If I do not agree to his terms, then I will be deprived of a credit card. He fights with us as with his chess players or political opponents. But it's just a woman with your own child. I'm disappointed in Harry. God be his judge.

It got to the point that the spouses began to communicate only through lawyers. The divorce and division of property dragged on for a year and a half. As a result, Maria and her daughter left for permanent residence in the United States - Kasparov bought them an apartment in New Jersey. By court decision, he received the right to annually take the child to him for two months. But the ex-wife never let Polina go to her father. However, when the passions subsided and the girl grew up, normal communication improved. Polina did not inherit a love for chess from her father, but she did gymnastics for several years. Now that Harry Kimovich lives in New York, he is able to see his daughter much more often.

Kasparov and Arapova had a family secret that they hid for a long time. The fact is that first Mary gave birth to her husband's son. But the boy was barely saved, and a few days later he still died. Harry took this as a bad sign. Even then, he slowly began to move away from Mary.

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In the 95th at the Memorial Mikhail Tal in Riga, Kasparov drew attention to the slender and sexy beauty Yulia Vovk. A classmate invited her to a banquet on the occasion of the closing of the tournament, and, as it turned out, the girl did not come there in vain. An affair immediately broke out between the 32-year-old "king of chess" and the 18-year-old student. Many of Kasparov's colleagues believed that this relationship would last five or six months. Well, at least a year. And they were wrong. Julia managed to please not only Harry, but, most importantly, his mother. Klara Shagenovna gave the green light to the wedding.

When Julia was in her seventh month of pregnancy, a very unpleasant incident occurred. Harry and his young wife were kayaking in the Adriatic Sea. Suddenly the wind blew, a lot of water got into the kayak, and it turned over. All this happened not far from a small island - the stunned spouses managed to swim to it. Fortunately, the chief pilot was not far from the disaster site. Boris Yeltsin and commander of the 235th government detachment Alexander Larin. He brought the married couple from that island.

Despite the shock, Julia gave birth to a healthy child. Note that Klara Shagenovna was present at the birth, but Harry was not there. But his son Vadim Kasparov, of course, loves. For example, when the boy was five years old, dad, as promised, took him to Paris, to Eurodisneyland. Vadik was in seventh heaven with happiness. In 2004, having become the champion of Russia, Kasparov, after the award, took off the gold medal and hung it around the neck of his eight-year-old son. It was very important for the famous chess player that his son was proud of him.

Alas, a year later, Kasparov's second marriage fell apart. His ex-wife Julia still lives in Riga, and Vadim has already grown to be two meters tall and now weighs 120 kilograms. To the disappointment of his father, the son is absolutely indifferent to chess, but he plays iron with pleasure. Vadim became a weightlifter and participated in the Latvian Deadlift Championship. When in 2007 his father was arrested in Moscow (Kasparov organized an unauthorized procession of Russophobes), the guy was in shock. And Harry Kimovich himself did not believe that he would be sent to prison.

They gave me five days, although they could have rolled in 15, - then the chess player, who had become an enemy of the people, whined. - Decided to study. I was placed in a cell for three: three beds screwed to the floor, the passage between them was literally a meter. But there were also concessions. For example, I could walk as much as I wanted, but only in a cage about three meters by five, on the top floor. Lights were not turned on at six in the morning. I managed to take a bar of chocolate and a bottle of water with me (they let me into the cell with this!). I figured out how long such a supply would last for me - I refused the prison gruel. However, five days without food can be sustained.

Apparently, after this incident, Kasparov decided to flee to the West. He tried to obtain Latvian citizenship, but was refused. But the Croats went forward. But Harry Kimovich prefers to live in the USA. He once admitted that he sometimes plays chess on the Internet under a pseudonym. And he feels great pleasure when virtual rivals are amazed at the quality of his game. In general, the rogue likes America much more than Russia, and work for the benefit of the United States is paid very generously. In his own words, Kasparov is now publishing books, giving lectures in various cities of America and abroad, earning quite decently - almost the same as it was during his sports career. But he does not serve the country that raised him and glorified him throughout the world. With Russia, Kasparov was not on the way.

And there was another case

* Garry Kasparov really liked the famous German figure skater Katharina Witt. Once he managed to meet her in Germany, and mutual sympathy had already arisen between the young people. However, the mother of the Olympic champion, seeing a guy with a Caucasian appearance, categorically told her daughter: “We don’t need such people!” Harry was hurt and offended.

Ironically, none of his children play chess. Viva! recalls well-known and not-so-famous facts from the biography of the 13th world chess champion, writer, the most influential Russian opposition figure in the West, personal enemy of the Kremlin and recognized playboy Garry Kasparov.

1. Head coach and adviser - mother.“I can be frank with her, like with no one else. At critical moments, you hear a voice that you used to believe for many years. Each of us needs someone whom you can trust, to express everything without concealment, calling a spade a spade. And then most often you yourself understand what to do. Mom jokes that she absorbs my stress.”

2. The first serious romance was with a famous actress.“Our close communication with Marina Neelova lasted more than two years. She was 16 years older than me, like all my then girlfriends. Partly because I grew up so fast. But rather more due to the fact that peers, as a rule, sought to get married as soon as possible. Of course, I could not even think about this, as I was preparing for my first match for the world championship. Everything - my health, my training, my aspirations - was subordinated to this goal. On the other hand, I was a normal young man with normal needs and desires. Not a monk at all. It is quite possible that our union was also based on a sense of our exclusivity.

3. Garry Kasparov did not recognize his daughter from Marina Neelova.“We had a relationship. They were not fixed, moreover, they were in no way limited to the two of us. They ended, probably, not very well, but, nevertheless, I had no reason to believe that I left her with the child. In any case, I believe that if I had something to do with a child, then life would have turned out differently.

4. In 2005, Garry Kasparov changed chess for politics.“There are too many generals and colonels in Russian politics and little intelligence. I hope that my ability to think strategically will help my homeland.”

5. Garry Kasparov considers chess players to be ordinary people. Luzhin's Defense, Zweig's chess short stories - great literature, unfortunately, has created clichés that cannot withstand any collision with reality. It is clear that there are people with their oddities. But there are no more of them than in any other mental activity that requires tension.

6. With the third wife of Garry Kasparov - 19 years difference.“I met my wife in St. Petersburg, at a lecture on alternative history. I was married, I had a son, but I decided to divorce. I realized that Dasha and I are on the same wavelength and I practically don’t feel the 19-year age difference. Now I lead an extremely exemplary lifestyle and really like myself that way. Even though I am constantly on the move. After all, I don’t have an oil well or a candle factory, I live mainly due to lectures.

7. Has a reputation as a playboy.“At 22, I became a world champion, I had money, status, opportunities. All this created a lot of temptations. Therefore, life, let's say, was rather chaotic. Fans did not besiege the entrance, but there is something to remember. There was less confusion than you might think, but still enough.

8. Garry Kasparov goes in for sports every day.“In the late 90s, I had perfect athletic tone, I did 100 push-ups. For me, having a routine has always been important. It doesn't matter what it is - the main thing is that it be. Whenever possible, you need to sleep. I try to sleep during the day. In addition, it is important to eat properly and qualitatively. Naturally, I have never smoked, I have no need for alcohol. For me, four weeks at sea is a recovery, six weeks is a recharge. Walking, swimming, proper food plus an hour a day are sports. You can do push-ups and pump the press without any simulators.

9. Garry Kasparov considers Putin to be Hitler's successor.“I have a feeling that Putin instinctively tries to repeat even the rhythm of Hitler's speeches. How he does it is another matter, but the style of statements has long become the style of the Third Reich. Many psychological moments in his behavior with world leaders are a copy of what the Fuhrer did. And I guess the final part of the equation will be the same."

10. Garry Kasparov's favorite number is 13.“I must in every possible way support the magical faith in the power of the number 13, because I have a lot connected with it: I was born on April 13, became the 13th world champion. Although, it must be said that most of our superstitions are made up of a set of facts that are already analyzed after the fact. We put together for ourselves a kind of mosaic picture that has successfully lined up, and then we begin to adjust everything to fit it. Accordingly, what does not fit into it, we carefully push aside.