Anatoly Karpov - Find The Right Plan.pdf May 2026

"Where is my opponent’s weakest square, and how do I make it weaker?"

Positions where Karpov traded queens to keep long-term pressure – and when he kept them on. Anatoly Karpov - Find The Right Plan.pdf

A practical chapter follows: time-blocking and calendar governance. Karpov is urged to allocate blocks for deep work (analysis, writing), public duties (interviews, appearances), mentoring (regular sessions), and restoration (family, exercise). The PDF recommends setting a weekly review — a ritual Karpov recognizes from decades of disciplined training — to adjust priorities and record small wins. "Where is my opponent’s weakest square, and how

24. Nd5! – not flashy, but it fixes Black’s pawns on light squares, then transfers a rook to h3. The PDF recommends setting a weekly review —

There is a finance-and-legacy section too, written in sober prose. It recommends transparent record-keeping, delegating nonessential tasks to trusted aides, and creating a succession plan for his archives and foundations. The document frames legacy as a living enterprise: endowments, scholarships, curated collections of games and annotations, and an oral-history project that captures his insights for posterity. Karpov imagines a small team digitizing match records, annotating games with clear narrative threads, and producing accessible content for new generations of players.

Furthermore, Karpov’s teachings highlight the symbiotic relationship between pawn structures and piece placement. He posits that the "right plan" is almost always dictated by the pawn skeleton. Unlike dynamic players who seek to shatter the structure for tactical gain, Karpov prefers to maneuver within the constraints of the position, improving the placement of his pieces inch by inch. In his famous games and examples, he demonstrates how a "bad" piece can be transformed into a dominant force through patient rearrangement, or how a backward pawn can be defended and turned into a stronghold. This patience is a discipline; it requires the player to resist the temptation of premature activity and instead focus on accumulating small advantages.