One of the greatest chess players of all time is coming out of retirement to play in a tournament next month. In the intervening 12 years, former world champion Garry Kasparov has had two stints in jail
Challenging the communists
In 1975, Anatoly Karpov became the world champion after Bobby Fischer forfeited his crown. The meticulous Karpov was called the “Chess King” by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Ten years later, Karpov lost his crown to his countryman. Kasparov later said that by defeating Karpov, he was also challenging the old communist system and fighting for a democratic Russia
Taking Vladimir Putin on
Kasparov quit chess in 2005 saying “he no longer saw any real goal there”. The man who ruled the chess world for 20 years started an opposition movement against President Putin, accusing him of returning Russia to its dictatorial past. In 2007, Kasparov spent five days in jail along with his colleagues in a 120 sq. ft. jail cell for “disobeying the orders of a police officer” at a rally in Moscow
Old rival Karpov comes visiting
His former rival Karpov (L) tried to visit Kasparov (R) in jail. “I don’t share his political views, but that’s something different,” Karpov told Radio Free Europe. Kasparov was again arrested in 2012 before he left Russia in 2013