Garcia Meets Chess Legend Karpov
Russian chess legend Anatoly Karpov, a former World Chess Champion and one of the greatest chess players in history, was in Gibraltar ahead of the 18th edition of the Gibraltar International Chess Festival. The brief but hectic visit saw him give a masterly 29-board simul at the Caleta Hotel for early arrivals at the festival on the Sunday night lasting close to five hours. He also held a masterclass for the Rock’s junior players and met with the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia.
Outside of the chess world Karpov has been successful in politics, ecology, art appreciation and is a keen and renowned philatelist worldwide. With a chess library of over 9,000 books and a wide-ranging stamp collection he owns one of the greatest stamp collections on chess.
Dr Garcia presented Karpov with a framed set of the Gibraltar Stamps issued in the year 2012 to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Gibraltar International Chess Festival - the Gibraltar collection of stamps from 2015 to 2019 on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar. To everyone’s surprise, Mr Karpov explained he already owned the complete collection of Gibraltar stamps since 1886 when the first stamp was issued.
The first stamp in his collection was a USSR stamp from 1958 celebrating 40 years of the Red Army. But it was the colonies of the British Empire which attracted him and stamps depicting animals such as zebras and snakes.
To evaluate his stamp collection would be a tough job for anyone, but as he once said: “I've never tried. Why should I? I don't collect the stamps as an investment and I am not trying to sell them. I enjoy seeing the collection grow.”
Karpov’s personal philatelic collection and purchases have always broken world records at International Stamp Auctions.
Pic: Gibraltar’s Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia presents chess legend Anatoly Karpov with Gibraltar stamp collection. Pic: Patricia Claros Aguilar.
