The match was then controversially ended by FIDE president, Florencio Campomanes, who cited that the players' health were at risk due to the extreme length of the match. After being down 5 to 0 with dozens of draws, Kasparov would fight back to a 5-3 score. The World Championship Match of 1984 would become a controversial war of attrition. Later in 1984 he defeated former World Champion, Vasily Smyslov in the Candidates final earning the right to play Anatoly Karpov for the World Championship. By the start of 1984, Gary Kasparov would be the highest rated player in the world (2710), making him the youngest No. At age 19 he had qualified for the Candidates Tournament the youngest player to do so since Bobby Fischer (15). Over the next few years Kasparov would continue to compete with impressive results in strong tournaments. He would also attain the title of International Grandmaster. He would help win the gold medal for his team and country. The following year Kasparov would represent the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad. Serving as a replacement for the legendary Viktor Korchnoi, he would go on to win the tournament that featured some of the world's strongest Grandmasters. Kasparov would explode onto the international chess scene when he played in the Banja Luka Grandmaster Tournament in 1979. He would win the event, becoming the youngest player ever to do so. Later that year, he competed in the Soviet Chess Championship he had qualified for. This would be a defining moment in the young Kasparov's career that would encourage him to pursue a chess world championship. It was at tournament that Kasparov was awarded the title of chess master. 1978 was a big year for the 15 year old Kasparov who would surprise everyone by winning the strong Sokolosky Memorial tournament in Minsk.

He would win the Junior Championship the following year with a score of 8 ВЅ out of 9. In 1976 at the age of 13 Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship scoring 7 out of 9 points. Displaying a natural gift for the game, Kasparov was taken to Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school where, at the age of ten, he began studying under the tutelage of Russian chess trainers. Chess was and remains incredibly popular in the former Soviet Union and Gary would solve chess puzzles at a young age. The son of a Russian Jewish father who died when he was just seven, Gary was predominantly raised by his Armenian mother. He was born on Apin Baku, Azerbaijan in what was at that time the Soviet Union. Gary Kimovich Kasparov was the thirteenth World Chess Champion and is considered by many to be greatest players of all time.

Kasparov chess