RSS Feed
The grandmaster is to move
7 March 2007 14:50 PM | Last modified: 16:25
The attentive daily newspaper readers won’t have missed it: a citizens riot in Russia, and all this led by ex-chess player Garry Kasparov. Chessvibes brings you – in cooperation with Olaf Koens of the Dutch quality blog Sargasso – a piece of background. Who is Garry Kasparov, and what does he want?
In December I (Olaf) wrote before about the opposition in Russia, a richly coloured collection of all, left-wing and right-wing, who are against Putin. The march in Moscow was clearly not a success, and even in Saint Petersburg – a city that has seen a revolution before – nobody had great expectations. Luckily, the opposite appeared to be true. More than 5,000 people stood up against the broadly shouldered power. Read here the stories of the printed Dutch press that perched down in ‘Piter’ by train.
How strong was Garry Kasparov as a chess player? The answer is quite simple: the best, ever. Because that’s what the experts agree on. Here a short biography, followed by an analysis of his recent speech in New York.
Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born in Baku, the capital of Azerbeidzjan, on April 13th, 1963. In 1981 he became the youngest champion of the Soviet Union ever. In 1984 the young Kasparov earned the right to challenge world champion Karpov and in their second match Kasparov managed to beat Karpov, thus becoming the youngest world champion ever, in 1985.
Kasparov’s big strenght lies both in his incredibly deep opening preparation, together with his dynamical, agressive style that leaves no room for compromize. He’s considered to be the first complete player, who masters every facet of the game at the highest level.
As a world champion, Kasparov slowly started to become involved in chess politics. In 1986 he started, together with e.g. Bessel Kok, at the time the CEO of Swift, the Grandmaster Association (GMA), the union of chess professionals. In 1993 he killed this organisation with his own hands by establishing, together with Nigel Short after a new fight with FIDE, a new chess organisation called Professional Chess Association. Since then the chess world was divided into two parts with two organisations and two champions (till the reunification match in 2006).
Like every top sportsman Kasparov couldn’t stand losing very well. In May 1997 he lost a match to the computer Deep Blue, and immediately accused IBM of cheating. There are also images of his very last game, and the disbelief on his face is the same as with all his losses.
In 2000 Kasparov lost his world champion title to the Russian player Vladimir Kramnik. In Februari 2005, right after the Linares tournament, Kasparov announced that he wouldn’t play a serious game anymore. Since then he’s trying his luck in the policital arena, being the leader of the opposition and a strong critic of Putin.
A few weeks ago the former world champion gave a speech for the Foreign Policy Association, together with the American National Endowment for Democracy in New York.
The current Putin regime is, according to Kasparov, “like a cancer”; he hopes that– in his own words – to cut it away without killing the patient. A man on a mission.
Kasparov shows the American audience that Iraq is but a small part of the mondial chess board, and the danger of a “prosperous, aggressive and nucleair oligarchy like Russia” shouldn’t be underestimated. Furthermore, Russia has an historical ‘right’ for for a democracy, just like Palestina or Iraq has this right.
He’s right to pinpoint a well-known fallacy: “The current regime is better than everything Russia has known before”. The short period of the transition between the communist regime and Putin’s ‘crackdown’ could have functioned as a the foundation of a true democracy.
Litvinenko? Politikovskaya? Kasparov is cunning enough to wait before playing out these cards. But he calls Russia’s climate, in which this can happen, “the true face of Putin’s Russia”.
The biggest mistake in the Amerikaanse foreing policy is “passivity”. When the Cold War ended there should have followed a period of Big Ideas, Leadership and Vision. Instead, mondial politics seemed to quietly enjoy the victory. According to Kasparov, 9/11 officially ends this celebration. And then people tried to make up for ten years of passivity, but with desastrous results. And again Kasparov pinpoints: “If Iraq has the right for a democracy, why were the G8 smiling together with their host in Saint Petersburg, on a picture taken last summer?”
Kasparov sounds realistic: the Russian citizens have to solve their own problems. The West can only help for a small part. The difference between the Soviet regime and today’s time is that Putin’s Russia has a great deal at stake outside of Russia. Kasparov: “It’s time for Putin and his friends to learn there are rules in the West, where all their money is kept.”
Kasparov knows himself that his chances are almost zero. But there is a ray of hope. If Putin wants to survive after 2008, he has to take care of giving power to a weak leader. Here Kasparov sees a chance – for himself, and for the West. The die is cast and for now, it’s Kasparov to move.
This article was posted both on ChessVibes and on Sargasso.
OLAF KOENS is a student of philosophy at the State University of Brussels. He lives and works in Moscow and writes for the Dutch quality blog Sargasso on post-Soviet development.
PETER DOGGERS is (final) editor and works for the municipality of Amsterdam. For a year now, he’s editor-in-chief of the internationally succesful chess blog ChessVibes, which is innovating in the chess world by regularly publishing videos about main chess events.
Loading ...
Kasparov heeft het in zich om bij democratische verkiezingen tot president van Rusland te worden gekozen, zijn populariteit is nog steeds zeer groot en zolang hij geen al te gekke dingen doet zal dat niet veranderen.
Wie zich in Moskou midden in het centrum van de macht wil handhaven heeft echter een zeer brede basis in en rond het Kremlin nodig. Het lijkt onwaarschijnlijk dat Kasparov die basis nu al heeft ergo de positie van Poetin lijkt momenteel nog veel te stevig voor welke poging tot machtsovername dan ook.
Door zich op te werpen als tegenkandidaat van Poetin zal er ook een hoop tegenstand tegen Kasparov worden georganiseerd, dat maakt de weg wellicht vrij voor andere idealisten/machtswellustelingen maar ik geloof niet dat Gary het daar voor doet. Kasparov mag politiek en bestuurlijk gezien dan een lichtgewicht zijn, hij is verschrikkelijk eigenzinnig en moeilijk te controleren. Dat laatste maakt een scenario waarbij hij als lichtgewicht naar voren wordt geschoven ook zeer onwaarschijnlijk.
Donner schreef over Tal dat het een gokker was die het wereldkampioenschap wel kon veroveren maar nooit zou kunnen verdedigen. Mocht Kasparov deze titel al veroveren dan kan hij de volgende dag meteen aan de slag; De voorbereiding van Kasparov heeft ons echter wel vaker verast. Of het goed voor Rusland is weet ik overigens ook niet.
I am very worried about Kasparov. It is obvious that Putin’s machine will roll over anyone who gets in their way, and Garry is not safe. It’s a corrupt country, has been for a long time, and there’s no sense becoming a martyr for no hope of change.
Please let’s stop this man talk. It’s one of the most arrogant men, how does he think to bring justice back and only think about himself.
I mean every politic thinks only about themself, i don’t see a change. Putin and Kasparov did more damage then nice thinks. You can’t jutice some on how he is playing on the board. Plus the council(a few powerful people like Abromovich support there canidate) he is never been voted as president.
Ik hang de russische vlag uit..
KASPAROV FOR PRESIDENT !
KASPAROV FOR PRESIDENT !
kom oo iedereen samen…
KASPAROV FOR PRESIDENT !
I, too, am somewhat worried about Kasparov, but let’s hope he knows what he does. To the critics: yes, Kasparov is an arrogant man, like probably every world champion has been, but do not say that he and Putin are even close to comparable. One is an arrogant and smart and ambitious man, the other is a newly born Hitler who’s consistently driving Russia into xenophobia and fascism.
Olaf could get into trouble . You shouldn’t reveal the correspondent’s identity if he is living in Moscow. Otherwise, he might get into trouble.
@ortanak: In civilized countries politicians do not think about themselves in the first place, but act according to what is more or less generally recognized to be “the common interest”. Now to what extend this applies to present day Russia is a delicate matter, but joining the chorus of whiners that dismiss all politicians because some act for theire own benefit is not a very usefull point of view.
I believe in order to judge about something you have to be an “insider”. In particular if you want to have a well balanced opinion about Russia, Putin, etc. you have to know history very well and to have contacts with many Russians from various community layers. I deeply respect Kasparov as a creative chess player, but that’s all. Gentlemen, this website is about CHESS, PLEASE.
Perhaps Garry would like to go back to the good old days of Yeltsin and the Jewish Oligarchy ? Is that what he means by democracy ?
I do not think Russia needs an outsider telling them how do run their country. Most Russians feel Putin is a good leader which is restoring Russia to the station it belongs so russians can take pride once again in their country and their leader.
Kasparov should really have stuck with chess.
Sorry I didn’t mean that I like Putin, but Kasparov is an one issue politic and what will he do about antisemitism and gay hate. And homeless on drug kids, just like Putin nothing.(@bert de bruut Bush started the war in Iraq because of the oil the president of Afghinstan was a oiladvisor. I think that says enough. The ex-minister of defence from Bush had an oilcompany. If you famous like Kasparov a lot of people want to be your friend. in the period after match against Short he already tought about himself, is he getting better) What will Kasparov do with the prices of the oil? What will he do in the area of Dagestan. we don’t. What will he do to the corruption? I like to hear this from a real politician and not an ex-KGB agent like Putin or a arrogant Chessplayer.
Kasparov may have been a great chess player (not the greatest, in my view at least). But listening to his mixture of rhetorics, jokes, and fairly simple perceptions on politics and economy I cannot help but feel uneasy. Is this a democrat, a man motivated by a vision or is it an arrogant former chess world champion who is more in love with his own words than the people he pretends to be fighting for? Through his gestures and phrases speak the love for applause and attention more than selfless engagement and readiness to suffer. Kasparov is playing another match, his opponent’s name: Putin, the prize: Russia. Let’s just hope he doesn’t oversee a (possibly deadly) checkmate.
Kasparov has a right to a little arrogant. He is the best to ever play the game (in my view). Plus, I met him and he didn’t seem arrogant to me