Anatoly Karpov v Viswanathan Anand: head-to-head record and title matches

Rivalry · 1 title event

12th world champion · 1975–1985

Anatoly Karpov

15th world champion · 2007–2013

Viswanathan Anand

Karpov wins

draws

Anand wins

92 recorded games, 1991–2011. Score 36.5–55.5 to Anand. Source: chessgames.com

Their title match

Year	Winner	Score	Where	Format
1998	Anatoly Karpov	–	Lausanne	Single-elimination tournament with 100 players

How they compare

Karpov	Measure	Anand
1951	Born	1969
10	Years as champion	6
3 of 7	Title events won	4 of 7
12	Head-to-head wins	31
7	Wins with White	18
5	Wins with Black	13
2780 Jul 1994	Peak FIDE rating	2817 Mar 2011
2849	On today's scale	2809
+40	Lead over No. 2 at peak	+2

A star marks the better figure. "On today's scale" and the lead are explained on the champions page.

Trophy cabinets

Karpov	Honour	Anand
3 1975, 1978, 1981	World titles	4 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
3 1974, 1987, 1990	Candidates	2 1995, 2014
1 1973*	Interzonals	–
–	World Cup	2 2000†, 2002†
1 1988	Rapid	2 2003, 2017
–	Blitz	1 2000†
3 1976, 1983, 1988*	National	3 1986, 1987, 1988
1 1969	Junior	1 1987
6 1972, 1974, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988	Olympiad team	–
3 1972, 1974, 1988	Olympiad board	–
2 1985, 1989	World team	–
4 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983	European team	–
9 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984	Oscars	6 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008

Each year links to its source. * Shared title. † Held before FIDE's official series (blitz events of 1970, 1988 and 2000; the 2000 and 2002 World Cups). World championship titles are title events won or kept. Olympiad board golds are the best score on a board. Most of these events didn't exist before the 1920s.

Their ratings over time

Anatoly KarpovViswanathan Anand

Move over the chart to compare both ratings on any list.

FIDE standard rating on each list (twice a year until 2000, then monthly from 2003). Each line ends at the player's last rating change: FIDE keeps an inactive player's rating on its lists. Sources: OlimpBase, FIDE.

Decade by decade

1990s

11 – 37 – 18

2000s

1 – 10 – 13

2010s

0 – 2 – 0

Karpov wins – draws – Anand wins, per decade.

Every recorded game

Year	White	Result	Moves	Event
1991	Karpov	0-1	46	Linares
1991	Anand	½–½	76	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Karpov	½–½	77	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Anand	½–½	47	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Karpov	1-0	43	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Anand	½–½	94	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Karpov	0-1	70	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Anand	½–½	63	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Karpov	1-0	32	Karpov - Anand Candidates Quarterfinal
1991	Anand	1-0	57	Tilburg Interpolis
1991	Karpov	1-0	53	Tilburg Interpolis
1992	Anand	½–½	27	Reggio Emilia 1991/92
1992	Karpov	½–½	56	Melody Amber Rapid
1992	Karpov	½–½	52	Melody Amber Blitz
1992	Anand	1-0	52	Melody Amber Rapid

Every game between them in the chessgames.com database (checked 2026-11-04): classical, rapid, blitz and exhibition games together, as the database records them.

Quick answers

Who won more games, Anatoly Karpov or Viswanathan Anand?

In the 92 games between them in the chessgames.com database (1991–2011), Karpov won 12, Anand won 31 and 49 were drawn: Anand leads. The count includes every recorded game, not only classical ones.

How many world championship matches did Karpov and Anand play?

1: 1998 (Karpov won, 3–3 / 2–0).

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