Ex-chess champ Karpov to play, lecture at UMBC

Former chess world champion Anatoly Karpov, on a U.S. tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first world title, will play school-aged challengers and deliver a public lecture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County this week.

On Wednesday, Karpov will simultaneously play all scholastic challengers in grades one through 12. The event is free but limited to the first 60 players, who must bring their own regulation sets. The event is from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Commons Building in the center of the campus, which is off Exit 47B on Interstate 95.

On Thursday, Karpov, who will also provide private training sessions to UMBC's renowned chess team, will deliver a free lecture explaining some of his best games, including recent encounters with reigning world champion Garry Kasparov. The lecture is from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Lecture Hall 8 of the Information Technology and Engineering Building on campus.