Chess has always come easy for Garry Kasparov.
He started playing the game when other children were typically learning to read.
At the age of seven, people regarded him as a chess prodigy.
And by the time he turned nine, he had already won an adult semifinal competition in his hometown of Baku.
By the age of 12, he had achieved, what people are calling now, his first great victory at the Soviet Junior Championship. This marked him as the youngest player in the competition's history to win this title.
In the years to follow, Kasparov would win other world class championships and foreign adult titles. He also continued to break records like being the youngest player in chess history to compete in a world championship final match.
He truly became an international icon in 1990 when he was able to move past chess star Bobby Fischer's best -ever rating of 2,785 and when he was ranked as the number one player in the world.
Despite all the success, it never went to his head.
Players who went up against the World Chess Champion, said he had a contagious laugh and was always kind and caring to others. That kindness, however, did not stop him from also being courageous.
Known for his anti-communist stance, Kasparov was considered a brave leader when he went into Baku in the 1980s to save family members and friends from the chaos created as a result of national conflicts in the USSR. He took the entire group to Moscow, found them all homes and helped them start new lives all at his own expense.
Not just a chess champion, Kasparov has a number of books out on chess and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal. He has also written pieces for TIME Magazine and Forbes. Companies have not missed out on the opportunity to use him as a powerful branding tool so Kasparov has endorse a number of big name brands that include Schwepps, Titus and Saitek.
The now retired chess player also does a great deal of charity work.