Little-known facts about the 8-time winner of the World Chess Olympiads
In the days of the USSR, his name was well known to every student, and recently, almost nothing is known about him – after he moved from Russia to America. What made him make such a decision, what secrets he kept for many years and other little-known facts – further in the review.
The real name of the chess player is Harry Weinstein. His father was of Jewish origin, and his mother was of Armenian origin, so his nationality has caused controversy more than once. Until the age of 11, Harry bore the name of his father, and then his mother, frightened by the growing anti-Semitic sentiments in the USSR, insisted that her son take her name. His parents worked as engineers in Baku, and were also seriously fond of chess. At the age of 5, Harry helped his father solve a chess study – then the parents first drew attention to his talent and recorded his son in a section at the Palace of Pioneers. Since then, he devoted all his free time to chess. Soon the fame of the child prodigy spread far beyond Baku. At 12, Kasparov became the USSR champion in chess among young men, and at 17 he already received the title of master of sports. He graduated from school with a gold medal and entered the Baku Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Foreign Languages.
In 1970, the father of Garry Kasparov died of lymphosarcoma, and since then, the mother devoted herself entirely to her son, quitting the research institute and focusing on his career. Many said that it was Klara Shagenovna who raised the champion from him. Her influence was undivided, as coach Alexander Nikitin, who worked with the young grandmaster, wrote in his book: “It was difficult to think of an ideal candidate for playing such a role than Harry’s extremely ambitious mother. This was done gradually and quite subtly. Clara Kasparova’s entry into the role was approved by all interested parties. I was glad that she willingly took upon herself the solution of all technical issues related to our gatherings and trips, negotiations with local leaders – I had plenty of purely chess problems. I did not take into account that her influence on her son is not limited by anything. And very soon, her formerly softness and humanity gave way to decisive, almost bossy, treatment of coaches. ”
And Kasparov himself admitted: “The main thing is that I can be honest with her, like with anyone else. At critical moments you hear a voice that you used to believe for many years. Each of us needs someone you can trust, express everything without hiding, calling a spade a spade. And then most often you yourself understand what to do. Mom jokes that she absorbs my stress. ” Mother for Kasparov has always been an indisputable authority. He always listened to her advice, even if he had to sacrifice personal happiness.
This story became known only years later, when the famous actress Marina Neyolova admitted that she was raising a daughter born out of wedlock from Garry Kasparov. When they met, he was 21 years old and she was 37. Their romance was very fast-moving, but his mother was against a relationship that distracted him from his career. She publicly stated that her son had nothing to do with Neelova’s daughter born in 1987, although the outward resemblance of Nika to her father from childhood was obvious. Obeying the will of his mother, Kasparov did not recognize his paternity. And after 2 years, Neyolova married diplomat Kirill Gevorgyan, who replaced Nika’s own father.
Years later, Kasparov wrote: “Our close communication with Marina Neelova lasted more than two years. She was 16 years older than me, like all my girlfriends then. Partly because I grew up very quickly. But much more due to the fact that peers, as a rule, sought to get married as soon as possible. Of course, I couldn’t even think about this, as I was preparing for my first world championship match. Marina so arranged for me that did not want to get married. She understood the true nature of my struggle and provided me with support and support. … But in 1986, I was very concerned about preparations for the rematch … I almost stopped seeing Marina. Parting became inevitable. Therefore, I was completely sure that the child she was wearing could not be mine. Each of us already had a separate personal life.
Meanwhile, in a chess career, victories went one after another. In 1985, Garry Kasparov defeated Anatoly Karpov and became the 13th chess king and the youngest world champion (22.5 years). He single-handedly led the FIDE rating for 21 years (from 1985 to 2006). Kasparov won about fifty victories in tournaments of various difficulty levels, became an 8-time champion of chess olympiads and an 11-time winner of chess “Oscars”. The British included Kasparov in the list of 100 world geniuses, where he got 25th place. Interestingly, there were only 2 chess players on this list – Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fisher. Today Kasparov is called one of the greatest chess players in the world.
