Garry Kasparov: Playing Style, Openings and Best Games

By Yuval Incze · Published Nov 5, 2026 · Updated Nov 5, 2026 · ~2 min read

Garry Kasparov was world champion from 1985 to 2000 and the world number one for most of two decades (peak FIDE rating 2851). His style was dynamic and aggressive: deep opening preparation, the initiative at almost any cost, and attacks calculated far ahead.

Who is Garry Kasparov?

Born in 1963 in Baku, Kasparov won the world title from Anatoly Karpov in 1985 at 22, the youngest undisputed champion at the time, after a famous series of matches against him. He held the title until his loss to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000, reached a peak rating of 2851 in 1999, and retired from professional chess in 2005. His 1997 match with IBM's computer Deep Blue made him the face of the human-versus-machine story.

Kasparov's playing style

Kasparov treated the opening as a weapon. He arrived at the board with new ideas prepared deep into the middlegame and used them to seize the initiative, often giving up material to keep his pieces active. Once he had the attack he calculated long forcing lines with unusual energy and accuracy.

What to copy: prepare one or two openings deeply enough that you know the plans, not just the moves, and value activity over a pawn.

Kasparov's openings

As Black he made the Najdorf Sicilian and the King's Indian Defence his main weapons, and used the Grünfeld in his matches with Karpov. As White he mostly opened 1.e4 or 1.d4 and aimed for open, attacking positions.

Kasparov's best games to study

Two of his games are on this site move by move: Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999, often called his finest attack, and Deep Blue vs Kasparov, 1997, the game that decided the machine match.

Do you play like Kasparov?

Chess DNA reads your recent Chess.com or Lichess games, scores the same 8 skills shown above, and compares the shape of your play with all 12 champions. It is a style match, not a strength test: a 900 and a 2200 can both play like Kasparov if they lean on the same skills.

The other champions: Magnus Carlsen · Mikhail Tal · Tigran Petrosian · José Raúl Capablanca · Bobby Fischer · Anatoly Karpov · Hikaru Nakamura · Viswanathan Anand · Paul Morphy · Gukesh Dommaraju · R Praggnanandhaa.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Garry Kasparov's peak rating?

His peak FIDE rating was 2851, reached in July 1999. It stood as the record until Magnus Carlsen passed it in 2013.

What openings did Kasparov play?

Above all the Najdorf Sicilian and the King's Indian Defence as Black, plus the Grünfeld in his matches against Karpov.

How do I find out if I play like Kasparov?

Enter your Chess.com or Lichess username in the box at the top of this page. Chess DNA analyses your recent games for free and shows which of 12 world champions your style is closest to, with your match percentage.