Karpov, Anatoly Evgenievich

12th World Champion, 1975 - 1985 and FIDE World Champion 1993 - 1999

Born in Zlatoust, Russia in 1951. He won the title in 1975 without playing a single move when Fischer refused to defend his title. He dominated the World of chess for over a decade, being recognised as the largest winner of tournaments in the history with over 160 tournaments won. Karpov is arguably considered the best positional player of all times, often compared with the legendary Capablanca.