Anatoli Karpov

The great champion Anatoli Kapov has visited Valencia a number of times to support its claim as the birthplace of modern chess.

We will here refer to his excellent and moving introduction to the book El regreso de Francesch Vicent. The Russian genius attended the presentation of the book on 11th November 2005, and his speech included the following extract: “A year ago we presented the research that Mr. Garzón had carried out on new chess, and now we would like to present to you a very serious and well documented book on the History of Chess. The fact that this presentation is held in Valencia is very significant because it has now been proven that modern chess with its new rules was invented here (with Segorbe also playing an important role). It is absolutely incredible that after 500 years relevant discoveries can still be made about this game. All this is very exciting, and this discovery will allow the promotion of future activities both in Valencia and in Spain as a whole”.
(Video of the presentation of the work p.2 multimedia section). 

Garry Kasparov

The genius from Baku, who is introduced on the cover of his book of 2006 as the best chess player in history, also recognises that modern chess originated in Valencia:

Extract p. 179: “Spain is also the place where the queen gained increased power (in the original game it was a weak piece, while in modern chess it is by far the most powerful). In 2005 new and more detailed research showed that this fundamental change occurred in Valencia in the late 15th century and quickly spread to the rest of the world".

(KASPAROV, Garry. Cómo la vida imita al ajedrez. Barcelona: Debate, 2006, p. 179). 

 Vishy Anand

Anand’s participation and that of Karpov is of note in the RTVV documentary Els escacs, un joc valencià directed by the journalist Josep Lluís Fitó.

His support for the Valencian origin of modern chess was also shown in Segorbe in June 2004 at the conference: “Anand and Francesch Vicent: An encounter on the invention, modernity, and future of chess”.