Garry Kimovich Kasparov[a] (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein[b] on 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, [2] achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013.