Hikaru Nakamura shared his opinion on the chess career of Anatoly Karpov. Nakamura believes that Anatoly is historically underrated, and notes that Karpov was World’s No. 2 for a long time.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

American GM, streamer

“I played Anatoly Karpov in a classical chess game in 2009. This also shows just how amazing Karpov was. Karpov basically became number one in the world in 1973, and it was only in 1996 that he was overtaken.

He was number one in the world literally from 1976 until 1983. So even though Garry Kasparov was better than him, he was still the number two player in the world for such a long time, that it really does speak to how amazing he was as a player.

Anatoly Karpov is very underrated historically. I would say that Karpov is either fourth or fifth in history. I think Karpov and Vishy are both very similar in terms of their longevity. They both were very, very strong for a very long time.”

75-year-old Anatoly Karpov is the 12th World Champion. Anatoly held the undisputed Champion title from 1975 to 1985, and the FIDE World Champion title from 1993 to 1999. Karpov was World’s No. 1 twice, first taking the spot in January 1976. He held the number one spot for a total of 9 and a half years.

Credit: David Llada