Answers.Body: <p>This story has a very long pedigree going back much further than the GingerGM.</p>
  
  <p>The earliest reference I can find on the internet is from a November 1985 report on the Karpov v Kasparov match in People.com's archive - <a href="http://people.com/archive/anatoly-karpov-is-straining-in-vain-to-keep-his-world-chess-title-from-gary-kasparov-vol-24-no-20/" rel="noreferrer">http://people.com/archive/anatoly-karpov-is-straining-in-vain-to-keep-his-world-chess-title-from-gary-kasparov-vol-24-no-20/</a></p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Unlike his extroverted rival, Karpov — who has all the appeal of a
    cold fish —ignores the crowd. When he intends to play aggressively, he
    emerges onstage clad in a black suit. In keeping with a chess
    superstition, he hasn’t cut his hair during the current match. Indeed
    he seldom seems to wash it, and he has been losing weight to boot.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Paul Hoffman (<a href="https://paulhoffman.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/superstition-in-chess/" rel="noreferrer">https://paulhoffman.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/superstition-in-chess/</a>) says he mentions it in his book "King's Gambit"</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>In King’s Gambit, I write about superstitions at the board. Players
    who insist in wearing their lucky T-shirt or underwear or keeping
    score with the same special pen. World champion Anatoly Karpov was
    famous for not washing his hair when he was on a winning streak.
    Grandmaster Nigel Short said of Karpov: “Unfortunately, he had long
    tournaments where he never lost a game—the guy got greasy.”</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The English Chess forum brought this up in a thread on "Poor Taste" - <a href="http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2045&amp;start=30#p36136" rel="noreferrer">http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2045&amp;start=30#p36136</a> - back in 2010.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-10-19T08:17:34.157Z
Answers.Text: Very nice answer! Do you know if the rumour is true?
Answers.UserDisplayName: firtydank
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-10-19T09:28:21.913Z
Answers.Text: @firtydank The only way I could know for certain would be if I knew Karpov and I've never met him.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-10-18T12:17:48.623Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-10-18T12:17:48.623Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.Body: <p>This is just a joke. Since Karpov almost never lost, the joke is that he never washed his hair.</p>
  <p>I met Karpov in person during his heydey and he did have very greasy hair. He also used to wear this one black and white checked sports jacket like it was the only clothing he owned. His personal grooming was somewhat indifferent.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-09-05T10:45:50.900Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-09-05T10:45:50.900Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Cecil De Vere
Body: <p>At the recent Isle of Mann coverage, the topic of conversation was grandmaster superstitions, during which GM Simon Williams conveyed that Karpov would only wash his hair when he lost a game. Apparently he went over 40 games without a loss during a streak, leaving it up to our imagination on the consequences.</p>
  
  <p>Now I know GM Simon Williams is quite the joker, so I'm inclined to believe that this is just one of his jibes, but is there perhaps any truth to this? I found some references to this with Google, but I'm not sure about how authoritative they are.</p>
  
Tags: <history><karpov>
Title: Did Karpov really only wash his hair when he lost?
ThreadText: # Did Karpov really only wash his hair when he lost?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-18)
  
  At the recent Isle of Mann coverage, the topic of conversation was grandmaster superstitions, during which GM Simon Williams conveyed that Karpov would only wash his hair when he lost a game. Apparently he went over 40 games without a loss during a streak, leaving it up to our imagination on the consequences.
  
  Now I know GM Simon Williams is quite the joker, so I'm inclined to believe that this is just one of his jibes, but is there perhaps any truth to this? I found some references to this with Google, but I'm not sure about how authoritative they are.
  
  **Tags:** history, karpov
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-18. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  This story has a very long pedigree going back much further than the GingerGM.
  
  The earliest reference I can find on the internet is from a November 1985 report on the Karpov v Kasparov match in People.com's archive - <http://people.com/archive/anatoly-karpov-is-straining-in-vain-to-keep-his-world-chess-title-from-gary-kasparov-vol-24-no-20/>
  
  > Unlike his extroverted rival, Karpov — who has all the appeal of a
  > cold fish —ignores the crowd. When he intends to play aggressively, he
  > emerges onstage clad in a black suit. In keeping with a chess
  > superstition, he hasn’t cut his hair during the current match. Indeed
  > he seldom seems to wash it, and he has been losing weight to boot.
  
  Paul Hoffman (<https://paulhoffman.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/superstition-in-chess/>) says he mentions it in his book "King's Gambit"
  
  > In King’s Gambit, I write about superstitions at the board. Players
  > who insist in wearing their lucky T-shirt or underwear or keeping
  > score with the same special pen. World champion Anatoly Karpov was
  > famous for not washing his hair when he was on a winning streak.
  > Grandmaster Nigel Short said of Karpov: “Unfortunately, he had long
  > tournaments where he never lost a game—the guy got greasy.”
  
  The English Chess forum brought this up in a thread on "Poor Taste" - <http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2045&start=30#p36136> - back in 2010.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Very nice answer! Do you know if the rumour is true?  
  > **username_1**: @username_0 The only way I could know for certain would be if I knew Karpov and I've never met him.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2021-09-05. Score: 0
  
  This is just a joke. Since Karpov almost never lost, the joke is that he never washed his hair.
  
  I met Karpov in person during his heydey and he did have very greasy hair. He also used to wear this one black and white checked sports jacket like it was the only clothing he owned. His personal grooming was somewhat indifferent.
  
  
  ---
  
  