Garry Kasparov IQ

Garry Kasparov's best-documented IQ results are about 135 and 123, reported from testing for Der Spiegel in Baku in 1987. The 190 seen on celebrity lists has no test behind it. Chess strength and IQ are related, but only loosely.

Kasparov's IQ is 135. What's yours?

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Key facts

Estimated IQ: 135
Range: 123 to 140
Known for: World chess champion from 1985 to 2000 and the matches against Deep Blue
Lived: Chess Grandmaster, Born 1963
Basis: Reported professional testing (1987); 190 is an unsourced claim
Confidence: Low. Testing in Baku for Der Spiegel in December 1987 is reported to have given about 135 and 123. The original article was not checked by LifeScore.

Kasparov is one of few famous people with a test result reported from professional testing. It is well above average, and far below the 190 on celebrity lists.

What is Garry Kasparov's IQ?

Reports of the 1987 Der Spiegel testing in Baku give about 135 on a battery put together by Hans Eysenck and 123 on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices. The 190 quoted online has no test, examiner or date. We could not check the original article, so treat the figures as reported.

Does a high chess rating mean a high IQ?

Only loosely. Studies find a modest link between chess skill and IQ, and practice matters far more at the top. Kasparov reached a rating of 2851 in July 1999 through years of preparation. His memory for chess positions is a specialised skill that does not show up in a general IQ score.

How did Kasparov do against Deep Blue?

He beat IBM's Deep Blue 4 to 2 in Philadelphia in February 1996. In the May 1997 rematch in New York he lost 3.5 to 2.5, the first defeat of a reigning world champion by a computer in a standard-time match.

Where does the 190 figure come from?

The 190 circulates on celebrity IQ lists without a named test, examiner or date. We found no source for it.

The 1987 testing is different: professionals gave him real tests, and the reported results are 135 and 123, well above average but far below 190.

Kasparov's dominance came from chess-specific skill, memory for positions and preparation. A general IQ test does not measure those directly.

How smart was Garry Kasparov?

01
World champion at 22
He beat Anatoly Karpov 13 to 11 in 1985 to become the youngest undisputed world champion.
02
Number one for 255 months
He was ranked world number one for 255 months in total between 1984 and 2005, the longest of any player.
03
A 2851 rating
His July 1999 rating of 2851 was the highest on record until Magnus Carlsen passed it in 2013.
04
Deep Blue
He won the 1996 match 4 to 2 and lost the 1997 rematch 3.5 to 2.5.

How Kasparov thought

Kasparov is known for deep opening preparation and for calculating forcing lines far ahead. He also describes using intuition built from thousands of games, then checking it with concrete variations.

The evidence behind the estimate

An estimate built from the historical record, not a recovered test score.

What supports it

Reports of the December 1987 Der Spiegel testing give about 135 on an Eysenck battery and 123 on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices.
He became world champion in 1985 and held a 2851 rating in July 1999.
He won the 1996 match against Deep Blue and narrowly lost the 1997 rematch.

What it cannot prove

We rely on secondary summaries of the 1987 testing and have not seen the original article.
A single set of tests in one session, 35 years ago, is a limited sample.
Chess strength depends on narrow skills and practice that general IQ tests do not capture, and Kasparov is a living person.

Kasparov compared with Fischer, von Neumann, Turing

Figure	Estimate	Range
Garry Kasparov	135	123–140
Bobby Fischer	187	181–187
John von Neumann	170+	160–190
Alan Turing	170+	155–180

Psychological profile

Garry Kasparov's IQ is represented here by a retrospective estimate of 135, not a verified test result. Garry Kasparov is best known for exceptional preparation. The useful question is what the surviving evidence shows, not whether a precise modern score can be recovered.

Intensely competitive and well prepared. Combines deep opening study, fast calculation and an unusual memory for positions.

The dominant archetype here is The Strategist. This archetype shapes decision patterns: what feels natural, what creates friction, and what blind spots tend to emerge.

Estimated IQ is 135. This is a rough estimate based on documented accomplishments and contemporary accounts, not a literal measurement.

Key traits

Preparation
He wrote the multi-volume My Great Predecessors, on the history of the world champions and their games.
Calculation
He prepared with teams and computers, which was unusual in the 1980s.
Competitive Drive
After retiring in 2005 he turned to writing and political activism.

One thing most people do not know

In the 1987 testing, Kasparov reportedly recalled 117 of 120 chess pieces from five briefly shown positions.

Garry Kasparov: common questions

Was Garry Kasparov a genius?

Garry's record supports exceptional achievement, but "genius" is not established by an unverified IQ number. Their The Strategist archetype, combined with Preparation and Calculation, is a more useful interpretation of their output.

What personality type was Garry Kasparov?

Garry fits the The Strategist archetype. Key traits include Preparation, Calculation, and Competitive Drive. This profile helps explain both their strengths and their documented failure modes.

What can we learn from Garry Kasparov?

Garry's profile teaches that extreme strengths create extreme trade-offs. Their Preparation and Calculation enabled success but also created recurring friction.