Anatoli Karpov

Anatoli Yevgenyevich Karpov, born in Zlatoust, Soviet Union, is arguably one of the greatest chess players of all time. He became the undisputed World Chess Champion in 1975 by default when Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title, a crown he held for a decade through numerous defenses until losing to Garry Kasparov.

Karpov's playing style was often described as a python — slow, relentless, and suffocating. He didn't always go for the flashy sacrifice, preferring to grind opponents down with superior pawn structures and positional advantages. This made for some incredibly long, and for non-aficionados, incredibly dull, games.

Beyond the chessboard, Karpov has dabbled in politics, serving in the State Duma of Russia, and engaged in various humanitarian efforts. He even has a star on the FIDE Walk of Fame, ensuring his legacy as a chess titan is forever cemented, even if he never quite reached peak kvell-worthiness for this particular publication.

He is, by all accounts, not a member of the tribe, despite a surname that might, to the untrained ear, sound a bit Eastern European-y. Still, his strategic genius is something anyone can appreciate, even if his forebears didn't escape the shtetl.