Garry Kasparov was the undisputed world no.1 for a record 255 months from 1984 till the time of his professional retirement in 2005.
New Delhi: Former chess grandmaster and political activist, Russian Garry Kasparov has been added to the list of ‘terrorists and extremists’ on Wednesday, according to reports. The 60-year-old, who has been a longtime opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was added to the list by Rosfinmonitoring, a Russian watchdog, responsible for combatting money laundering and terror financing.
Kasparov has repeatedly spoken in public against Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine. AFP reported that Rosfinmonitoring didn’t give any reason for adding soviet-born Kasparov into its database. It is also understood that people who are labeled ‘terrorists and extremists’ by the watchdog can have their bank accounts seized.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time, Kasparov, a former world champion has been living in the United States for over a decade. He fled Russia in 2014 for fear of persecution. Earlier in 2022, the Russian justice ministry had added Kasparov to its list of ‘foreign agents’, subjecting to burdensome bureaucracy including financial reporting.
During his playing days, Kasparov was the undisputed world no.1 for a record 255 months from 1984 to 2005 (the year he retired from professional chess). He also holds the record for most victories in career – professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).
At the age of 22, Kasparov became the youngest-ever world champion in 1985 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. For the next three times, Kasparov defended his world title in 1986, 1987 and 1990. He also became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls in 1997. Kasparov was defeated by the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.
He was also the mentor to current world no.1 Magnus Carlsen in 2009-10. It was during this time, Carlsen rose to no.1 in FIDE Rankings. He also contested the elections for FIDE president in 2013–2014, but didn’t win.
An honor that says more about Putin’s fascist regime than about me. As Goldwater said, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! But all opposition, or simple decency, must be called an extremist by the dictatorship. https://t.co/OuN27A9InN
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 6, 2024
Meanwhile, Kasparov reacted to the news on social media. He stated,”An honor that says more about Putin’s fascist regime than about me. As Goldwater said, extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! But all opposition, or simple decency, must be called an extremist by the dictatorship.”