Place of birth, education. Born in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Father - Kim Moiseevich Weinstein - worked as an energy engineer. Mother - Klara Shagenovna Kasparova - an engineer by profession, a specialist in automation and telemechanics.

Graduated from the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages.

Biography pages. Kasparov learned to play chess at the age of five, watching his parents play. His father loved this ancient game, as well as music and poetry. Noticing the unique abilities of his son, Weinstein decided that chess should still be preferred to music, and this was the fate of the boy.

In 1985, Kasparov defeated Anatoly Karpov in a world championship match and became the 13th world chess champion. Then he defended this title five more times.

In the late 1980s, he undertook a struggle against the dogmatic forms of FIDE leadership, sought to attract large world companies to chess as investors. He became the initiator and founder of several chess organizations - the International Association of Grandmasters (1988), the Professional Chess Association (1993), which played an important role in promoting chess and held a number of major international competitions, in particular, the 1995 World Championship

In 1996 in Philadelphia and in 1997 in New York, Kasparov played matches against a supercomputer. deep blue by IBM. The huge popularity of these games around the world has become a unique demonstration of the capabilities of man and machine.

In 1984, Kasparov joined the CPSU, was elected a member of the Komsomol Central Committee. In 1990, he left the Communist Party. He took an active part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) in May 1990. In June 1993, he participated in the creation of the electoral bloc Choice of Russia. In 1996, as part of the presidential campaign, he supported the candidacy of the first Russian president. In 2001, he defended the disgraced NTV channel.

In March 2005, Kasparov won another super tournament in Linares (Spain) and announced the end of his chess career. The decision to leave the world of professional chess was connected with the intention to devote most of the time to social and political activities.

Garry Kasparov is co-chairman of the All-Russian Civil Congress "Russia for democracy, against dictatorship". In 2005, on his initiative, the socio-political movement United Civil Front was created, whose activists elected Kasparov as chairman of the movement. A longtime and tough opponent of the policy of the Russian president. Supporter of liberal ideas and values.

For several years of active political activity, Kasparov traveled to more than 30 regions of Russia, met with thousands of citizens. In 2006, with his participation, a coalition of political and civil forces, Another Russia, was created.

In 2007, at a congress of the Other Russia coalition, Kasparov was chosen as the united opposition candidate for the 2008 presidential election. The authorities did not allow the initiative group to nominate Kasparov to hold a meeting in Moscow, refusing to rent seven premises and thus depriving them of the opportunity to fight for the presidency, which eventually went to the pro-Kremlin candidate.

Since 2008 - member of the Bureau of the United Democratic Movement "Solidarity". One of the initiators of the mass signature campaign "Putin must go."

IN 2014 condemned Russia's takeover of Crimeaand Russian actions in connection with the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and called on Western leaders to increase pressure on Putin. Garry Kasparov considers Crimea a territory of Ukraine.

December 6, 2014 in Kyiv gave a simultaneous game session with volunteers and fighters ATO.

A family. Married, three children.

Since 2013, Garry Kasparov has been living in New York, USA.

The daughter of the chess king and Marina Neyolova charmed the director of the London Gallery

The daughter of the chess king and Marina Neyolova charmed the director of the London Gallery

The 13th world chess champion Garry Kasparov recently had a son. It is probably not by chance that the boy was named in the American manner - Nicholas. Three years ago, Garry Kimovich, having finally chosen the profession of a political prostitute, left Russia and settled in the United States.

Kasparov bought a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan in New York with an area of ​​160 sq. m. For this family nest, where his young wife lives Daria Tarasova, their 9-year-old daughter Aida and himself a chess player, the fugitive laid out $ 3.4 million. Now we have to make room a little - there are four of them.

The 52-year-old ex-world champion knows a lot about female beauty. Daria is 20 years younger than him, and some Americans, seeing them together, mistakenly think that she is his daughter. When the romance between Kasparov and Tarasova, a student at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions, was in full swing, Dasha was once asked who she was to the great chess player. The spectacular brunette, without batting an eyelid, replied: "I am his wife." Although Kasparov at that moment was married to a completely different young lady - Julia Vovk! But Tarasova achieved her goal. In 2006, she really married a chess genius.

As a student, Daria practiced in Washington DC under a program supported by the US government. She opened her own store in St. Petersburg, and even dedicated one of her songs to her. In general, this lady also knew her worth.

Garry Kimovich and Daria have been together for more than 10 years, and I must say, this is a great achievement for the wife. After all, the winner of all kinds of chess tournaments has always had a weakness for the fair sex.

About the romance of young Kasparov with a wonderful actress Marina Neelova gossiped all theatrical Moscow. When they met, Marina was 37 years old, and Garik was 21. He then lived in Baku and visited Moscow only on short visits. Neelova received a young lover in her apartment on Chistye Prudy. But in the light they have repeatedly appeared together. When in 1984 Kasparov first met in a world title match with Anatoly Karpov, Neelova was sitting in the hall next to the mother of the chess player. But it was Klara Shagenovna who separated them. First she told her son:

You need to focus on chess. And if you want to marry an actress, it's better to marry an entire factory hostel at once. She will infect you with a bad disease!

When Neelova became pregnant, Klara Shagenovna inspired her son that an illegitimate child could negatively affect his sports career. Ambitious Harry, who had already won the world title, did not object. His mother told the press: "This is not our child." As if hinting at the fact that Neelova was dating another man in parallel. The proud actress did not utter a word then. But the daughter Nika, whom she gave birth to, turned out to be like two drops of water similar to Kasparov. Neelova's colleagues at the Sovremennik Theater were outraged by the act of the grandmaster, and publicly declared:

Kasparov is not worthy to be received in a decent house.

Now Nick is 28 years old. She went to first grade in Paris. When she grew up, she became a sculptor, graduating from the Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands. Later, Nika continued her studies in England, and in 2010 she became the winner of the New Sensations competition, which was held by the Saatchi Gallery in London. Her father was replaced by the current husband of Neelova - a Russian diplomat Kirill Gevorgyan. It was thanks to her stepfather that Nika, at school age, visited different countries and learned several foreign languages. Neelova's daughter, a burning brunette, looks very attractive, although she says that she never considered herself a beauty.

I have a young man, we live together in London, - Nika admitted several years ago. - He's Italian, he also works here. Not an artist or a sculptor. Maybe it's for the best - the two of us are not bored.

However, Nika did not dare to introduce the same Italian to the public. Later, he left for his homeland, and the couple broke up. Meanwhile, Neelova Jr. literally charmed the director of the London gallery "Charlie Smith" Xavier Ellis. At first, using wide connections, he helped Nika to show his work in the capital of England, then in Berlin, Amsterdam and other European cities. Outwardly, everything looked quite ordinary: the patron of art helps the young talent pave the way to success. But when the exhibition at London's Somerset House, where the works of leading British artists and sculptors were shown, suddenly turned out to be the creations of Nika Neelova, the only foreigner, many had a question: why would it? Undoubtedly, she has talent, but without high patronage you will not get into the cohort of the elite so quickly. This vernissage, by the way, was supervised by Xavier.

Ellis' former favorite understood everything - Tessa Farmer. The woman gave the ex-boyfriend a scandal:

What is it about this Russian? Her work is completely ordinary. You are driven by personal sympathy.

Tessa insistently asked Xavier to forget about the Russian sculptor for the good of the cause. But he did not listen and began to lose his head more and more from the new favorite. Now Nika is seen with the gallery director not only at exhibitions and museums. Ellis takes her on trips, they dine together in restaurants, walk around the city.

According to our information, Nika Neelova was once offered a job in Moscow - she did not want to. Mom called her daughter to Paris, where she lives in last years and received a polite refusal. And when Nika asks Ellis for something (or vice versa), there are no refusals.

Nika prefers not to talk about Kasparov. She, like her mother, deleted him from her life.

Took the girl away from Short

In 86, friends introduced Harry to a pretty blonde Maria Arapova. A graduate of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, she worked as a translator at Intourist. It is curious that her dad was well acquainted with Karpov - the 12th world champion and Kasparov's sworn rival, but Klara Shagenovna found out about this too late. Otherwise, perhaps she would not have given her blessing for the marriage. Three years after the wedding, Maria gave her husband a daughter, who was named Polina. Arapova decided to give birth in Finland, where her parents lived at that time. But Kasparov stayed in Moscow with his mother. They say that Klara Shagenovna was seriously offended by her daughter-in-law. When Harry was about to buy a new home for the family in the center of Moscow, Masha cautiously offered to resettle her mother-in-law - to buy her an apartment in the house next door. The imperious Klara Shagenovna, accustomed to living with her son under the same roof, could not endure such deceit.

Kasparov's wife and her daughter spent several months in Finland, but Harry rarely visited them. And then he went to London for a match for the chess crown with an Englishman Nigel Short. The duel lasted for two whole months, but Maria did not appear in London. It became clear that the couple cooled off towards each other. And it soon became clear that Kasparov dealt a double blow to Short: he won the match against him and stole the chess player girl from Nigel Virginia More. The relationship with this young Frenchwoman lasted two years.

Maria Arapova did not remain silent. In one of the interviews she said:

Perhaps something has changed with Harry personally. Returning from London, he declared that he was ripe for a divorce. I tried to talk to him, but he doesn't want to come back... They put pressure on me. If I do not agree to his terms, then I will be deprived of a credit card. He fights with us as with his chess players or political opponents. But it's just a woman with your own child. I'm disappointed in Harry. God be his judge.

It got to the point that the spouses began to communicate only through lawyers. The divorce and division of property dragged on for a year and a half. As a result, Maria and her daughter left for permanent residence in the United States - Kasparov bought them an apartment in New Jersey. By court decision, he received the right to annually take the child to him for two months. But the ex-wife never let Polina go to her father. However, when the passions subsided and the girl grew up, normal communication improved. Polina did not inherit a love for chess from her father, but she did gymnastics for several years. Now that Harry Kimovich lives in New York, he is able to see his daughter much more often.

Kasparov and Arapova had family secret which they kept hidden for a long time. The fact is that first Mary gave birth to her husband's son. But the boy was barely saved, and a few days later he still died. Harry took this as a bad sign. Even then, he slowly began to move away from Mary.

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In the 95th at the Memorial Mikhail Tal in Riga, Kasparov drew attention to the slender and sexy beauty Yulia Vovk. A classmate invited her to a banquet on the occasion of the closing of the tournament, and, as it turned out, the girl did not come there in vain. An affair immediately broke out between the 32-year-old "king of chess" and the 18-year-old student. Many of Kasparov's colleagues believed that this relationship would last five or six months. Well, at least a year. And they were wrong. Julia managed to please not only Harry, but, most importantly, his mother. Klara Shagenovna gave the green light to the wedding.

When Julia was in her seventh month of pregnancy, a very unpleasant incident occurred. Harry and his young wife were kayaking in the Adriatic Sea. Suddenly the wind blew, a lot of water got into the kayak, and it turned over. All this happened not far from a small island - the stunned spouses managed to swim to it. Fortunately, the chief pilot was not far from the disaster site. Boris Yeltsin and commander of the 235th government detachment Alexander Larin. He brought the married couple from that island.

Despite the shock, Julia gave birth to a healthy child. Note that Klara Shagenovna was present at the birth, but Harry was not there. But his son Vadim Kasparov, of course, loves. For example, when the boy was five years old, dad, as promised, took him to Paris, to Eurodisneyland. Vadik was in seventh heaven with happiness. In 2004, having become the champion of Russia, Kasparov, after the award, took off the gold medal and hung it around the neck of his eight-year-old son. It was very important for the famous chess player that his son was proud of him.

Alas, a year later, Kasparov's second marriage fell apart. His ex-wife Julia still lives in Riga, and Vadim has already grown to be two meters tall and now weighs 120 kilograms. To the disappointment of his father, the son is absolutely indifferent to chess, but he plays iron with pleasure. Vadim became a weightlifter and participated in the Latvian Deadlift Championship. When in 2007 his father was arrested in Moscow (Kasparov organized an unauthorized procession of Russophobes), the guy was in shock. And Harry Kimovich himself did not believe that he would be sent to prison.

They gave me five days, although they could have rolled in 15, - then the chess player, who had become an enemy of the people, whined. - Decided to study. I was placed in a cell for three: three beds screwed to the floor, the passage between them was literally a meter. But there were also concessions. For example, I could walk as much as I wanted, but only in a cage about three meters by five, on the top floor. Lights were not turned on at six in the morning. I managed to take a bar of chocolate and a bottle of water with me (they let me into the cell with this!). I figured out how long such a supply would last for me - I refused the prison gruel. However, five days without food can be sustained.

Apparently, after this incident, Kasparov decided to flee to the West. He tried to obtain Latvian citizenship, but was refused. But the Croats went forward. But Harry Kimovich prefers to live in the USA. He once admitted that he sometimes plays chess on the Internet under a pseudonym. And he feels great pleasure when virtual rivals are amazed at the quality of his game. In general, the rogue likes America much more than Russia, and work for the benefit of the United States is paid very generously. In his own words, Kasparov is now publishing books, giving lectures in various cities of America and abroad, earning quite well - almost the same as it was during his sports career. But he does not serve the country that raised him and glorified him throughout the world. With Russia, Kasparov was not on the way.

And there was another case

* I really liked the famous German figure skater Katharina Witt. Once he managed to meet her in Germany, and mutual sympathy had already arisen between the young people. However, the mother of the Olympic champion, seeing a guy with a Caucasian appearance, categorically told her daughter: “We don’t need such people!” Harry was hurt and offended.

Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born on April 13 1963 years in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. His father, a Jew by nationality, Kim Moiseevich Weinstein, worked as an energy engineer, and his mother, an Armenian from Karabakh, Klara Shagenovna Kasparyan (Kasparova), was an engineer, a specialist in automation and telemechanics. Kasparov's grandfather and uncle Moses and Leonid Weinstein were well-known composers in Baku, and the latter was married to the sister of Abdurakhman Vezirov (USSR ambassador to Pakistan and second secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League of the republic, who headed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan under Mikhail Gorbachev). The cousin of Kasparov's father was his father Yulia Gusmana is a professor of medicine who headed the IV Main Department of the republican Ministry of Health, which served the entire Azerbaijani elite.

Kasparov learned to play chess by watching his father and mother play. One day, 5-year-old Kasparov, to the amazement of his parents, who had never taught him chess before, solved a problem from the chess section of the republican newspaper Vyshka, which was then run by Suren Abrahamyan, one of the founders of the Transcaucasian chess school. After that, Kasparov's father decided that chess should be preferred to music, although initially he planned to send his son in the footsteps of his grandfather, a composer.

According to some reports, Kasparov inherited his talent for chess from his mother, who at the age of six beat adult chess players. According to some reports, Kasparov's father died in 1970 year, in a car accident, according to others - he died of blood cancer (lymphosarcoma). After the death of her husband, Kasparov's mother devoted herself to raising her son, caring for his career and health (as a child, Kasparov suffered rheumatic heart disease). Until Kasparov had professional coaches, she worked with him herself - she put positions from chess books on the board and offered to find the right move .

AT 1970 year, his mother brought Kasparov to study in the chess section of the Baku Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren named after Yuri Gagarin to the honored coach of Azerbaijan Oleg Privorotsky. At first, Kasparov, in those years Weinstein, was recorded as Bronstein - he vaguely introduced himself to the coach, and only two months later Kasparov's mother personally I corrected the mistake in the standings by coming to my son's classes.

Thanks to the support of his relatives, Kasparov participated in international youth tournaments, the existence of which sometimes even his coach did not know. Yes, in 1972 year, nine-year-old Kasparov went to the international youth tournament, held in France.

AT 1973 Kasparov, as part of the Azerbaijani national team, went to the All-Union Youth Games in Vilnius. It was here that he met the Moscow master Alexander Nikitin, who began to help Kasparov prepare for the tournaments.

In the same year, Kasparov, on the recommendation of Nikitin, came to Dubna, passed a two-hour exam and ended up in a correspondence school for children and youth chess, ex-world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, the creator of the so-called research direction in chess, in which the art of preparing for chess competitions is brought to to perfection. Twice a year, Botvinnik gathered his students for a ten-day gathering: the guys reported, showed their games, received new assignments. Kasparov soon became the first assistant to the teacher and received the right to use his unlimited support, and after each tournament he had to submit a creative report to the ex-world champion.

AT 1974 (or 1975 ) a year before the All-Union tournament "Pioneers vs Grandmasters", when her son was 11 (12) years old, his mother changed not only his last name, but also his nationality - the Jew Harry Weinstein became the Armenian Garry Kasparov. In her opinion, under Soviet anti-Semitism, the chess player Weinstein would have been it’s more difficult to climb the career ladder. Klara Kasparova said then that she changed her son’s surname on the advice of all relatives, although it later turned out that uncle Leonid Weinstein was categorically against it.

AT 1974 Kasparov played for the first time in Moscow - at the Pioneer Palaces tournament: each of the six children's teams was led by a grandmaster, who gave a simultaneous game session to the guys from other teams. At the beginning 1975 Kasparov participated for the first time in the national youth championship, where most of the opponents were six or seven years older than him. Kasparov was in the lead after eight rounds, but lost at the finish line and shared only seventh place. In the middle 1975 year at the youth championship "Spartacus" he took second place.

In the end 1975 Kasparov participated in the next tournament of the Palaces of Pioneers in Leningrad, in which he met in simultaneous sessions with two chess luminaries - Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. In the game with Karpov, Kasparov made a mistake in an equal position and lost, while he played against Korchnoi in a draw.

At the beginning 1976 year, 12-year-old schoolboy Kasparov won the USSR championship, which allowed young men under 18 years old. This was the first unique record set by Kasparov. Kasparov and his coach Nikitin continued to meet at competitions, and then parted: the student returned to Baku, and the coach to Moscow. In Baku, Alexander Shakarov, a well-known theorist and creator of a unique card index of openings, became his coach. Under his leadership, Kasparov made his first opening cards, and Shakarov became the main custodian of Kasparov's information bank for many years.

Summer 1976 Kasparov went to the World Championship among cadets (under 16 years old) in France, but managed only to share third place. Nikitin had a conflict with Karpov, as a result of which the former was forced to leave the USSR State Sports Committee, publicly promising to overthrow Karpov from the chess throne. Nikitin moved to Spartak and, in essence, became Kasparov's professional coach. At the beginning 1977 Kasparov won the USSR Youth Championship for the second time in a row with a score of 8.5 points out of 9 possible. Summer 1977 2009, he again participated in the World Championship among cadets - he was in the lead three rounds before the end of the tournament, but again he was third at the finish line.

AT 1978 In 1999, candidate master of sports Kasparov took first place in the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk, and already five rounds before the end he completed the master's norm. In the last round, for the first time in his life, Kasparov played a serious game against the only grandmaster in the tournament and won a landslide victory. Notable success in youth competitions gave Kasparov the right to compete in the summer 1978 of the year in the all-Union qualifying tournament for the next national championship, in which he won the only ticket directly to the big leagues. Before the USSR Major League Championship, Kasparov participated in the All-Union Spartakiad of schoolchildren in Tashkent as a training, defeating the world champion among youths of that year, Sergei Dolmatov.

AT 1978 In the year in Tbilisi, at the 46th USSR Championship, Kasparov took the lead after the 4th round, but then fell behind.

spring 1979 Kasparov first entered an international tournament in the Yugoslav city of Banja Luka thanks to Botvinik, who managed to convince officials of the great chess potential of his protégé. : he scored 11.5 points out of 15 possible and overfulfilled the grandmaster norm by one and a half points - however, then he was only awarded the title of international master. After this speech, Kasparov and his mother were invited to his office by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, after which he took them under personal guardianship.

AT 1979 At his second USSR Championship, Kasparov took a podium place, losing to Yefim Geller and sharing bronze with Yuri Balashov.

In April 1980 year Kasparova won another international tournament in his homeland in Baku, defeating Igor Zaitsev, Karpov's coach, and became a grandmaster at 17 years old.

Summer 1980 year Kasparov graduated from school with a gold medal. At school, he was fond of geography and history, read philosophical treatises. At the family council, it was decided that since Kasparov's future is connected with chess, then a language education would be best for him. Medalist Kasparov passed only one exam - having received a "five", he was enrolled in the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​of the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute.

In the same 1980 Kasparov won the World Youth Championship in Dortmund, in which 58 young men from 55 countries took part, and won his first title of chess king. Second place, one and a half points behind, was taken by International Master Nigel Short. After the championship in Dortmund, experts unanimously started talking about the fact that in the next cycle of the world championship, Kasparov has every chance of becoming a rival to the current champion Karpov in the match for the crown. In the end 1980 Kasparov, as part of the USSR national team, went to the Chess Olympiad. He showed a high result: eight wins and three draws with one defeat.

AT 1981 In the same year, Kasparov's mother resigned from the position of senior researcher and scientific secretary at the Azerbaijan Research Electrotechnical Institute in order to devote herself entirely to her son's chess career. She was enrolled in her son's staff as a professional coach, went with him to all competitions, took upon herself the solution of all domestic problems, was her son's assistant and chief adviser, replaced a whole team of psychologists for him. According to experts, soon the mother became Kasparov's main confidant, and coaches have gone from assistants and advisers to employees. Kasparov's mother could quite professionally conduct any negotiations on behalf of her son: it was she who began to answer all phone calls and decide with whom to connect Kasparov.

In February 1981 year Kasparov played in a match-tournament of four national teams (first, second, youth and veterans). He won two games against Vasily Smyslov, "exchanged blows" with the leader of the second team Oleg Romanishin, and two of his games with Karpov ended in a draw. As a result, Kasparov took first place on the first board ahead of two chess kings- Smyslov and Karpova.

In the same 1981 Kasparov, together with Lev Psakhis, shared 1-2 places at the USSR Championship in Frunze. Summer 1982 Kasparov won the tournament in Bugojno in Yugoslavia. Being the winner of the USSR Championship, he received the right to participate in the Moscow Interzonal Tournament, won it in September 1982 year and at the age of 18 became a contender for the chess crown. At the next Chess Olympiad in Lucerne in 1982 Kasparov won six victories and drew five games; in the match between USSR and Switzerland, Karpov decided to avoid a meeting with Viktor Korchnoi, and Kasparov, who replaced him, won, according to experts, a "fantastic" victory.

AT 1983 Kasparov won the quarterfinals against Alexander Belyavsky with a score of 6:3 and the semifinals against Korchnoi (7:4) in the candidates' matches for the title of world champion. that they could not guarantee his safety, but, according to Kasparov himself, because of the fears of the party nomenclature for the sports career of Leonid Brezhnev's protege Karpov, who could lose the title of world champion. Kasparov directly turned to Aliyev, who by that time had also become a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee The CPSU, which managed to obtain permission to hold the match. Korchnoi, already declared the winner, agreed to play and lost to Kasparov. 1984 In 1994, Kasparov defeated Vasily Smyslov in the final (8.5:4.5) and became the number one contender.

AT 1984 Kasparov joined the CPSU: according to him, in the USSR, a candidate for the title of world champion had a choice between party membership or emigration.

In the same 1984 Kasparov met actress Marina Neelova while visiting a married couple - figure skating coach Tatyana Tarasova and pianist Vladimir Krainev. Kasparov and Neelova, who was 16 years older than him, met for two years. AT 1987 In the year Neelova had a daughter, Nika, whose father Kasparov did not recognize himself.

autumn 1984 2009, the duel Karpov - Kasparov began, which was supposed to go up to six victories of one of the chess players (draws were not counted). In the first nine games, Kasparov lost four. After a long series of draws, the 27th game was again won by Karpov and took the lead with a score of 5:0. In the 32nd meeting, Kasparov won the first victory, and after another series of draws, he won two more games. According to experts, party and sports functionaries concerned about the course of the duel considered various ways to save the current world champion. February, 15 1985 of the year, with a score of 5:3 in favor of Karpov, the match was stopped without declaring a winner due to the deteriorating health of the current champion.

A new match between Kasparov and Karpov was scheduled for autumn 1985 of the year. Three months before it began, Kasparov, in an interview with the West German magazine Der Spiegel, accused the Soviet Chess Federation of anti-Semitism. Three weeks before the start of the fight, a meeting of the USSR Chess Federation was scheduled, at which Kasparov was going to be disqualified for "anti-state performance." Kasparov turned to the head of the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev, whose intervention saved the situation. On September 1, a match began in Moscow according to new rules: the system of unlimited matches was replaced by a match of 24 games, with a score of 12:12 the champion retained his title. November 9 1985 22-year-old Kasparov defeated Karpov with a score of 13:11 and became the youngest, thirteenth world chess champion.

Later, Kasparov defended his champion title three times in rematches with Karpov: in 1986 year - in London (12.5:11.5), in 1987 year - in Seville (12:12), in 1990 year - in Lyon (12.5:11.5).

In the end 1985 Kasparov every Sunday held chess lessons in the Baku House of Pioneers on a gratuitous basis - after each lesson he was given a huge bouquet of flowers as a token of gratitude.

AT 1986 In the same year, Kasparov graduated from the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute. In the same year, Kasparov met Maria Arapova, a graduate of the Romano-Germanic department of the philological faculty of Moscow State University, who worked as a guide-translator at Intourist and was a translator at the Novosti Press Agency. 1989 year they got married.

AT 1987 Kasparov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for achievements in the field of chess. In the same year, the first meeting of the USSR Chess Union was held, created on the initiative of Kasparov as a counterbalance to the official federation.

In July 1989 year, Kasparov broke the previous achievement of Robert Fisher - 2780 Elo points, and in January 1990 the first year exceeded the mark of 2800 points.

In January 1990 Kasparov left Baku - massacres of Armenians began in the city. Kasparov chartered a plane from Moscow by phone, but it was impossible to get to it: all roads were blocked by militants of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan. According to some information, the grandmaster was helped by one of the most influential clans in Baku - the so-called "flower mafia": Kasparov was guaranteed protection, and his car reached the airfield without stopping.

Kasparov left the CPSU 1990 year, and took an active part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) in May 1990 of the year. In the summer of the same year, Kasparov moved into the inner-party opposition, creating, together with Arkady Murashov, a free-democratic ("liberal") faction, which split the party and withdrew from the DPR in the spring 1991 of the year. October 5 1991 Kasparov founded the coalition of political parties "Liberal Union", which included the Party of Free Labor, the Party of Free Democrats and some members of the DPR. December 25 1991 On the initiative and with the money of Kasparov, one of the first private foundations, Freedom and Property, was formed, the goals of which were to promote the ideas of liberalism, create an appropriate research institute and provide material support to liberal politicians.

Summer 1993 Kasparov participated in the creation of the electoral bloc "Russia's Choice" and signed a statement on its creation. November 9 1993 Kasparov announced that he did not intend to run for the new parliament, since, remaining the world chess champion, he would not be able to work in it on a professional basis.

AT 1993 Kasparov left FIDE in the run-up to his next duel for the title of world chess champion - with the Englishman Nigel Short. Opponents, in order not to pay the interest due to FIDE, created their own organization - the Professional Chess Association (PCHA). Kasparov won the match in London (12.5:7.5) and became the PCHA world champion. FIDE, in turn, also held a match for the title of world champion, in which Karpov won against Jan Timman. Since then, there has been a division of the world chess champion title into two versions - FIDE and PCA, and some chess players began to play within both organizations (only on October 13 2006 year in Elista ended the match for the title of absolute world champion - a title that was recognized for the first time by both organizations. The champion was the Russian chess player Vladimir Kramnik, who defeated the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov. Kasparov played two more matches for the title of PCA World Chess Champion: in 1995 In 1994 he won in New York against Viswanathan Anand (10.5:7.5), and in 2000 year lost to Kramnik.

At the beginning 1990 years, Kasparov's wife went to Finland, where her parents then lived, and in 1993 She gave birth to a daughter, Polina, in the same year. The grandmaster himself remained in Moscow: according to some reports, by that time relations between Kasparov's wife and mother had become tense. After the duel with Short, Kasparov suggested that his wife get a divorce, check out of the Moscow apartment and give up further claims to his property. The divorce proceedings and the division of property lasted a year and a half.

AT 1995 year in Riga at the final banquet after the tournament in memory of Mikhail Tal, Kasparov met Yulia Vovk. At the beginning 1996 they got married, and in the autumn of the same year their son Vadim was born.

AT 1996 Kasparov took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin, became a confidant of the president for campaigning in a number of regional centers of the so-called "red belt".

AT 1997 Kasparov agreed to become a financial adviser to General Alexander Lebed, who initiated the creation of the Third Force alliance and the Russian People's Republican Party. According to Kasparov, he managed to convince Lebed not to participate in the gubernatorial elections in the Tula region, but failed to dissuade him from fighting for the post of head of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, after which their relationship ended.

AT 1996 In Philadelphia, Kasparov won a match with IBM's Deep Blue computer, and in May of the following year he lost to the same machine in New York. Kasparov accused the computer team of not following the rules of the game, and IBM immediately dismantled Deep Blue.

In the end 1996 Kasparov began to create a virtual chess "Kasparov's Club". In the end 1998 A bilingual (in English and Russian) chess website "Kasparov's Club" (ClubKasparov.ru) was created, which quickly became one of the most popular on the Internet. Kasparov's unique achievement was his victory in a match against the rest of the world organized by Microsoft in 1999 year. Over 3 million people visited a site specially created for this purpose on the Internet during four months of intense and exciting struggle. According to experts, there has never been such an interest in a chess event in the entire previous history.

In June 1999 Kasparov signed a contract for the development of the site with investors from the Israeli company Poalim, after which KasparovChessOnline Inc. was created in Delaware (due to tax benefits). , and its offices opened in Tel Aviv, New York and Moscow. Due to the financial crisis in September 2002 The board of directors unanimously decided to terminate the company's activities. In December 2002 Israeli bank First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) accused Kasparov and part of the board of directors of KasparovChessOnline that the company did not repay a loan of $1.6 million and closed the website kasparovchess.com, which served as a money back guarantee. A Delaware court dismissed the FIBI bank's lawsuit against Kasparov.

AT 2003 year in New York, Kasparov played a draw with computer programs Deep Junior and Deep Fritz.

In January 2004 year, Kasparov founded the public "Committee- 2008 : free choice. "According to Kasparov, until December 2003 years, his participation in politics was somewhat detached: "closing his eyes", he voted for the Union of Right Forces, and his mother - for Yabloko. By August 2005 year the declaration of the "Committee- 2008 "2322 people signed. Kasparov himself became the chairman. According to experts, it was originally assumed that the committee would become a "think tank" of Russian liberals and a platform for their consolidation into a single political structure, but things did not go beyond press releases and open letters criticizing the authorities . For 2004 years of activity of the "Committee- 2008 "mainly consisted of public statements on the current political situation: about the elections, about the terrorist attack in Beslan, about the danger of a constitutional coup, about the need to unite the democrats.

In November 2004 year Kasparov participated in the Russian chess championship. Karpov refused to play, but had to personally present the winner with an award from his foundation - a chess set made of semi-precious stones. After Kasparov's victory, Karpov did not come to the awards ceremony.

12 December 2004 year "Committee- 2008 "Kasparov took an active part in the holding of the All-Russian Civil Congress" For Democracy, Against Dictatorship ". According to experts, due to the weakness of the opposition and unwillingness to go into open conflict with the authorities, the clause on readiness to conduct mass actions of civil disobedience was rejected in the final declaration. On the other hand, at the request of Garry Kasparov, the phrase about the intention to conduct a dialogue with the authorities was also excluded.To organize further joint work, the forum participants decided to establish a permanent body - the Action Committee of the All-Russian Civil Congress.

In January 2005 year, Kasparov refused to play a unification match with FIDE world champion Uzbek Rustam Kasymdzhanov, scheduled for spring 2005 of the year. According to experts, this led to an increase in the split between FIDE and the PCA.

In March 2005 Kasparov won another super tournament in Linares in Spain and announced the end of his chess career in order to devote most of his time to social and political activities. At the same time, he stated that he was leaving only professional chess, but would conduct simultaneous sessions and play blitz games. According to experts, Kasparov lost his motivation to continue playing chess after the idea of ​​combining the two world championship systems finally collapsed, and the reigning world champion Kramnik rejected all attempts by Kasparov to play with him. By that time, Kasparov was an eight-time Olympic champion and a two-time European champion as part of the national team, a two-time champion of the USSR and a champion of Russia, the winner of many super tournaments, the owner of 13 chess Oscars and a record Elo rating of 2851 points. As of January 1 2006 year, he was ranked first in the FIDE rating list with an Elo coefficient of 2812. In April 2006 Kasparov was excluded from the rating list of the best chess players in the world according to FIDE, since he did not play a single game during the year; Topalov ranked first with 2804 points.

In May 2005 Kasparov founded and headed the United Civil Front (UCF). The UHF called itself a structure whose main task is to unite the extra-parliamentary opposition on a common anti-Putin platform, regardless of political beliefs. Summer 2005 Kasparov carried out a large-scale propaganda trip to the regions of Russia, which in a number of places attracted the close attention of the special services, who several times tried to disrupt Kasparov's meetings with the population (for example, in the republics of the North Caucasus). Branches of the UCF were established in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Primorsky Krai, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk, Kaluga, Dagestan, Kostroma and Primorsky Krai. By this time, the activity of the "Committee- 2008 "was practically reduced to a minimum, and key leaders took up their own political projects.

Summer 2005 year it became known that Kasparov divorced his second wife and registered a marriage with a student of the University of Trade Unions of St. Petersburg Daria Tarasova, whom he met at the end 2004 year.According to Kasparov, leaving the sport and going into politics, he was forced to change "the whole algorithm of his personal life."

In July 2006 Kasparov became one of the organizers of the opposition forum "Other Russia", timed to coincide with the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. Russian presidential aide Igor Shuvalov said on the eve of the forum that the participation of officials from Western countries would be regarded by the Kremlin as an unfriendly gesture. The conference was attended by former Russian Prime Minister and leader of the People's Democratic Union Mikhail Kasyanov, MP Sergei Glazyev, leader of the National Bolsheviks Eduard Limonov and head of the Labor Russia movement Viktor Anpilov, British Ambassador to Russia Tony Brenton and US Deputy Secretary of State Daniel Fried . Representatives of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces did not take part in the forum, and Mikhail Delyagin was expelled from the Rodina party for participating in The Other Russia. According to experts, the conference "Other Russia" became a review of the forces of the most radical opponents of the government and, perhaps, the start of their election campaign.

10th of November 2006 2009, the political conference of The Other Russia adopted a statement demanding that the Russian authorities bring the electoral legislation in line with the Russian constitution. Members of the political council appealed to President Putin, as well as the speakers of both houses of parliament, Sergei Mironov and Boris Gryzlov, with a demand "to fully restore the electoral rights of citizens in a short time, ensuring the abolition of legislative changes in recent years" (the call went unanswered). On the same day, it was decided to hold in December 2006 years of the "March of Dissent" in Moscow. An application to the Moscow City Hall for its holding was submitted in early December 2006 year, but the metropolitan government banned the procession. As a result, the march of supporters of the "Other Russia" was replaced by a rally near the monument to Mayakovsky on Triumphal Square. Explaining the reluctance to take people to an unauthorized march, Kasparov said: "We will not endanger those who are here."

In March 2007 year Kasyanov addressed the participants of the "March of Dissent" in St. Petersburg. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, this rally received mixed reviews from observers, some of whom accused the marchers of extremism. The publication wrote that Kasparov and another leader of the Other Russia, Mikhail Kasyanov, spoke at a rally sanctioned by the authorities. At the same time, it was noted that they did not take part in the procession, about the inadmissibility of which the governor of the city Valentina Matvienko had previously spoken.

In April 2007 Kasparov acted as one of the organizers of the new "March of Dissent" planned by the "Other Russia" in Moscow. According to the press, it was originally planned to hold a procession in the center of the capital - on Pushkin Square and Tverskaya Street. However, shortly before the scheduled day, the city authorities announced that they had agreed with the organizing committee of the "March of Dissent" to change the route and form of the event - now it was supposed to hold not a procession, but a rally on Turgenevskaya Square. Kasparov disputed this statement: according to him, there were no agreements with the Moscow government to hold a rally on Turgenevskaya Square instead of the announced march. "We are going to Pushkinskaya and will look for an opportunity to pass peacefully from Pushkinskaya to Turgenevskaya," he said. 14th of April 2007 Kasparov took part in the "March of Dissent" in Moscow. According to a number of media reports, the action was accompanied by mass detentions and beatings of its participants, as well as journalists covering the march. Kasparov himself was detained shortly after the march began. Later, the police dispersed a spontaneous rally in his defense, which took place near the Presnensky police department, where he was taken. On the same day, Kasparov was released, but the justice of the peace fined him 1,000 rubles "for shouting anti-government slogans." The politician's lawyers, calling the court's decision "illegal and unreasonable," said they intended to appeal it to a higher authority.

May 18 2007 a number of media reported that Kasparov, who was about to fly to Samara to participate in the next "March of Dissent", as well as Limonov, human rights activist Lev Ponomarev and a number of representatives of the "Other Russia" (about 25 people) were detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Kasparov, Limonov and Ponomarev had documents and tickets, explaining that the numbers of the tickets presented by the passengers were not in the airport database. After the detainees gave explanations about the tickets, the documents were returned to them, but the flight had already departed by that time. According to a representative of the Sheremetyevo Airport Department of Internal Affairs, the opposition leaders had the opportunity to fly to Samara on the same day on other flights, but they refused to do so. In this regard, some publications stated that since the organizers failed to ensure the “popularity” of the action in Samara, Limonov and Kasparov “found a reason why it would be possible not to go to Samara”.

In July 2007 year, after Kasyanov's break with the "Other Russia", Kasparov acknowledged the existence of "serious differences" that are "deep, difficult to overcome at this stage in nature" within the political meeting "The Other Russia". The reason for their emergence was the question of the procedure for determining a single candidate from the opposition in the upcoming presidential elections: Kaspar's UCF insisted on a transparent and democratic procedure for nominating a candidate, Kasyan's Russian People's Democratic Union (RNDS) proposed a variant in which the list of candidates was limited to representatives of each of the four organizations participating in the "Other Russia" (one representative from each). Following Kasyanov, the "Other Russia" was left by its founders - Lyudmila Alekseeva, Georgy Satarov and Alexander Auzan. "The main crack lay between M. Kasyanov and G. Kasparov... We cannot take part in an event that was conceived as a coalition, but has become separate," they said in their statement.

In September 2007 2009, the Moscow publishing house Eksmo refused to publish Kasparov's book Chess as a Model of Life, which was supposed to be presented that same month at a book fair in Moscow. The press service of the publishing house announced the postponement of the release date of the book for an indefinite period without explanation. Subsequently, the publishing house, according to Lenta.Ru, explained the refusal by the absence of the necessary agreement with the author. Kasparov himself saw an obvious political motive in what happened: according to him, the postponement of the publication of the book was an attempt to "block the channels" of communication between the opposition and the citizens of the country.

September 30th 2007 year, the congress of the coalition "Other Russia" elected Kasparov as a single candidate in the presidential elections 2008 year (he received 379 out of 498 votes). At the same time, at the congress, the coalition approved the list of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections - despite the fact that opposition representatives had practically no chances to register it (the law allows only parties registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation to participate in elections). In a conversation with a representative of the newspaper "Kommersant" Kasparov said: "In the top three we have the former head of the Central Bank Viktor Gerashchenko, the leader of the National Bolsheviks Eduard Limonov and I."

In October 2007 2009, the co-chairs of the All-Russian Civil Congress (VGK) Alekseeva, Satarov and Auzan published an open letter in which they appealed to the fourth co-chairman - Kasparov - with a call to suspend his activities as co-chairman of this structure. "Combining the post of congress co-chairman with biased political activity, for example, his own presidential nomination, is not very correct, this is a conflict of interest," Satarov explained the position of human rights activists. In response to this appeal to him, Kasparov said that he was not yet ready to make a final decision on this matter.

In December 2007 year, Kasparov dropped out of the presidential race, never joining it. It was noted that the meeting of the initiative group to nominate his candidacy for the presidency of the Russian Federation was to be held at the Mir cinema on December 13 2007 year, however, the administration of the cinema, citing technical problems, refused to provide the premises at the last moment. According to the executive director of the UHF, Denis Bilunov, the cinema staff was threatened with a tax audit and the closure of the premises for a month if the meeting was held there. Bilunov turned to the head of the CEC, Vladimir Churov, and in his message spoke about the situation. However, the response, signed by a technical officer of the Central Election Commission, emphasized that, according to the law, the meeting of the initiative group of at least 500 people must be held on time, and the CEC must be notified of the time and place of the event no later than five days before it. , and no other options are foreseen for self-nominated candidates. Thus, according to Bilunov, the electoral committee de facto removed Kasparov from the start of the presidential race, since December 13 was the last day when it was still possible to hold the meeting on time.

12 December 2007 At the All-Russian Civil Congress congress in Moscow, Kasparov said: "My presidential campaign ends tomorrow, because there is no hall in all of Moscow to hold a meeting of my initiative group." In turn, representatives of the Central Election Commission expressed bewilderment about Kasparov's statement. In particular, Aleksey Kissin, deputy head of the legal department of the CEC, noted: "In Russia in general and in Moscow in particular, there are many premises where it is possible to gather for a variety of purposes."

In the same place, at the congress, Kasparov, Alekseeva and Satarov were re-elected as co-chairs of the All-Russian Civil Congress, while Auzan was not among the co-chairs. Kommersant described the congress as an event at which "the discussion turned into a showdown between the members of the Supreme High Command that lasted a whole day." Already in January 2008 The conflict in the leadership of the Supreme High Command reached its highest point: Alekseeva and Satarov announced that they were leaving the posts of co-chairmen of the organization. According to them, in the case of the Supreme High Command, a situation has developed when "the most negative of the current Russian political practice is being introduced into the work of a civil organization," and therefore they do not see the possibility of further cooperation with Kasparov. In turn, Kasparov expressed surprise and regret in connection with the departure of Alekseeva and Satarov. "This is a very sad story," he said, noting that "many who identify themselves as adherents of democracy are allergic to democratic procedures."

In March 2008 Dmitry Medvedev, who had previously held the post of first vice-premier of the government of the country, was elected the new president of Russia. In May of the same year, the ceremony of his inauguration took place, the confirmation of Putin as Prime Minister of Russia.

In the same month, the Other Russia coalition made another attempt to unite the opposition by initiating the creation of an "alternative parliament." May 17 2008 2009, a meeting of the National Assembly was held in Moscow, bringing together, as reported in the press, representatives of 85 organizations from 66 regions of Russia. Assembly participants promised to restore political democracy in the country. Elected to the presidium of the National Assembly, Kasparov, in his speech at the opening of the "alternative parliament", called the assembly "a unique phenomenon in Russian history", since it became "the first representative body not imposed from above by the authorities." The UHF leader said that the National Assembly should become a counterbalance to the "flawed, illegitimate, shameful State Duma."

In September 2008 Kasparov represented Russia at a meeting with dissidents and human rights activists from states with authoritarian regimes, organized as part of the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York.

December 13-14 2008 year in Khimki, near Moscow, the founding congress of the new opposition movement "Solidarity" was held. Kasparov, who entered the presidium and political council of the movement, even before the approval of his program, said that the goal of Solidarity was "not the destruction, but the dismantling of the regime." The researchers noted that two trends immediately took shape in the new movement: supporters of Nemtsov and supporters of Kasparov, who fought for seats in the political council at the founding congress. The election of the head of the executive committee of "Solidarity" was scheduled for February 2009 year, this post was taken by Kasparov's associate Denis Bilunov.

In February 2009 year, on the eve of the first meeting of the political council of Solidarity, Kasparov, Nemtsov and the head of the Energy Policy Institute Vladimir Milov presented their plan to combat the economic crisis. They saw the main reason for the deterioration of the economic situation in the country in "Putin's model of state organization." Accordingly, "the main anti-crisis measure should be the immediate resignation of Vladimir Putin and his government," followed by political reform. To implement it, members of the party's political council expressed their readiness to "cooperate with anyone... Even with President Medvedev, although he also has problems with legitimacy."

In September 2009 2009, in the Spanish city of Valencia, a match between Kasparov and Karpov took place, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of their match for the world title. The match consisted of four games with "fast" time control (25 minutes for each opponent) and eight blitz games (5 minutes for each player). In the end, Kasparov defeated Karpov again.

Kasparov is the author of numerous chess books. Kasparov wrote his first book, The Test of Time, at the age of 20. Other publications and public appearances, according to experts, allowed Kasparov to create an image of a chess researcher and publicist. One of his latest works - "My Great Predecessors" - consists of several volumes and is dedicated to all previous world chess champions. 2005 Kasparov announced that he had begun writing a book about how life imitates chess, the rights to which were bought in 17 countries. At the same time, it was noted that Kasparov does not have and never had his own chess school, since he was not attracted to classes with beginners.

Kasparov is an active supporter of the "New Chronology" theory, which claims the historical falsification of the "genuine" chronology. He even wrote a preface to the book by Anatoly Fomenko and Gleb Nosovsky "Introduction to a new chronology (What century do we live in?)".

Dossier on the stars: truth, speculation, sensations. Idols of all generations Fedor Razzakov

Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov

G. Kasparov was born on April 13, 1963 in Baku in a family of engineers. His father Kim Vanshtein and mother Klara Shagenovna worked in one of the Baku research institutes. Their acquaintance happened in 1960 under the following circumstances. Klara Shagenovna was on a business trip for several weeks, and when she returned to her native enterprise, she found a new boss there - electrical engineer Kim Vanshtein. Apparently, he liked her so much that he soon began to persistently look after her, and after six months they got married.

Harry was born a healthy boy. When the parents discussed what the name of the child should be, the head of the family said: “The surname Vanshtein is very deaf, the patronymic - Kimovich - too, so there should be a sonorous and short name with a sonorous “r” inside. The wife joked in response: “Maybe two Rs in a row?” But my husband really liked this idea: “Why not? There is also the Harry Weinstein Orchestra. Let him be Harry."

According to relatives, the future chess champion as a child amazed them with many of his actions. He began to walk at 9 months, but he began to speak only at the age of two. However, already at the age of 5 he was able to read freely, and not only books, but also newspapers. He was extremely stubborn. Once he dropped a toy in the bath, his grandmother wanted to help him, but Harry said no and began to remove the toy on his own. He suffered for two hours and still achieved his goal - the toy was again in his hands.

Quite early, Harry also showed his chess abilities. K. Kasparova recalls: “My husband and I did not have the opportunity to play chess, two engineers who come home after work, you understand. But we loved solving chess problems. And one morning, at breakfast, we could not solve one problem in any way ... Suddenly, five-year-old Garik said: "We must put the horse here." So it happened in an elementary way: we look, right. Then Kimochka asked: “Well, do you know how to play chess?” Garik replies: "Well, you're playing." I say: "We do not play, but solve problems." It was so extraordinary that it might even be hard to believe. He, no matter how to start the game, already knew how to checkmate. Then we opened the board and Kimochka started showing him the openings. The learning process took so little time that we did not have time to look back. And a year later, at six years old, Garik could already beat his father ... "

Unfortunately, the father of the future champion was not destined to live to see the triumph of his child - when Harry was 7 years old, Kim Wainstein died at the age of 39 from cancer.

In the same year, Klara Shagenovna took her son to the chess section of the Palace of Pioneers. When his first coach Oleg Isaakovich Privorotsky met Harry, his surprise knew no bounds, he said: “I don’t know how it is in other cities, but there has never been such a miracle in Baku - he solves problems like a master of sports!” As a result, in just three months, Harry completed the third, second and first youth categories in turn. At the age of eight, he got into the children's team of the republic, then into the youth team. True, at the same time, Harry began to have health problems - he was diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease, and his mother was forced to give him injections herself (until the age of 15 he was on bicillin). And then it all went away as suddenly as it started. It is worth noting that among Harry's childhood hobbies were not only chess. For example, he liked to play football in the yard, and here he always wanted to be the first. On this basis, he constantly had skirmishes with peers. Certain difficulties began with him when he went to school. He was so self-confident that he had the courage to interrupt the teacher during the lesson and make comments to her - he said that she was teaching the lesson incorrectly.

K. Kasparov recalls: “Once, it was in the 3rd grade, a teacher called me (she was my age, and we were friends) and said: “You know, Clara, when I tell something, Garik often interrupts me and says that I'm wrong. I called him back at recess and said that it was ugly to make comments to the teacher, the children might think that he was the smartest. He says: Isn't that right? Naturally, my grandmother and I arranged a home meeting that day and began to inspire him that all children are talented, only each in his own way. And if he knows more than others in some area, this does not mean that in another area he is also the smartest. He listened to everything, but did not say anything, so we did not understand whether he agreed with us or not ... "

Harry studied well, and his favorite subject was, of course, mathematics. The teachers predicted a bright future for him in physics and mathematics, but Harry himself dreamed of becoming a military doctor for a long time. However, at the age of 14, he decided once and for all - I would be a chess player.

The stages of Kasparov's chess career as a teenager looked like this: at the age of 10 he fulfilled the norm of a candidate for master of sports, at 12 he became the champion of the USSR among juniors (then he played with Anatoly Karpov for the first time during a simultaneous game session in the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers and lost him), at 13 he repeated the union record, at 14 he became a master of sports, at 17 he was a grandmaster, at 18 he was the champion of the USSR among adults.

It is curious to note that Harry had no friends in his childhood. He hated girls at all, considered them stupid, stupid. However, in the 10th grade, he suddenly fell in love with a girl a year younger than himself, even met her for some time. Then he started another one. But due to the complex nature of Harry, this relationship ended rather quickly.

At the age of 19, Kasparov joined the ranks of the CPSU. At the same time, he traveled to the West for the first time (the socialist countries had been “mastered” before). Since the latter circumstance could not fail to attract the attention of the KGB to him, the ideological department of the Azerbaijan State Security Service was instructed to establish surveillance over him. Which is what was done. And soon this observation gave unexpected results. In 1981 (after Kasparov became the champion of the USSR), he visited Sweden and brought from there, in addition to various kinds of souvenirs, ideologically harmful literature - books by V. Nabokov. These books were then given by his mother to female friends, which was considered doubly dangerous. In addition, it became known that Kasparov became friends with another grandmaster, Boris Spassky, who was always considered an ideologically unreliable person (on foreign trips, many refused to live in the same room with Kasparov, and it was Spassky who took him under his wing). As soon as this information became known to the Chekists, it was decided to deal with Kasparov individually. So, an employee of the Azerbaijani KGB, Viktor Litvinov, appeared near the future champion. He recalls: “Of course, both Garik and Klara Shagenovna met me warily: “Why, why?” In general, our acquaintance did not cause great joy in them. But then the solution of everyday issues and my sincere desire to help made us friends.

Meanwhile, the dislike of the Moscow leadership towards Kasparov grew as he moved more and more confidently to challenge the "Kremlin favorite" Anatoly Karpov. However, the more this hostility developed, the more Kasparov's authority grew at home, in Baku. In the end, the first secretary of the republican Central Committee, Heydar Aliyev, took the young grandmaster under his personal tutelage and instructed his people to consciously "sculpt" a positive image of Kasparov. And he appreciated it - in 1983, at the congress of the Azerbaijani Komsomol, he delivered a solemn panegyric to Aliyev.

The following year, Kasparov defeated Smyslov and Korchnoi in the Candidates matches and became the most prominent chess player in the world after Karpov. Now everyone was expecting an open duel between them, which was scheduled for the autumn of that year.

So it happened, but the beginning of this fight turned out to be sad for Kasparov - the experienced Karpov beat him in all respects in just two weeks, and in September the match score was already 4:0 in his favor. After that, most of those who watched the match were sure that Kasparov's position was hopeless. However, there were those who did not believe in it. Among them were different people, including very famous ones. For example, Alla Pugacheva.

Kasparov met Pugacheva in 1983. In April of the following year, their paths crossed again in Vilnius: Kasparov played there with Smyslov, and Pugacheva gave concerts. That meeting was much longer and warmer than the previous one. In the middle of the month, the chess player and the singer gathered in a warm company and celebrated three birthdays at once: Kasparov and Evgeny Boldin (Pugacheva's then husband), which fell on April 13, and the singer herself, whose name day was two days later.

In mid-September, when Kasparov's situation in the match with Karpov was catastrophic, it was Pugacheva who first rushed to his aid. Once, in the middle of the night, she arrived at the Rossiya Hotel, where Kasparov was staying, and forced her mother to get him out of bed (unheard of!). When the sleepy grandmaster appeared before the singer, she turned to him with a heated monologue, which contained both praise and blasphemy at the same time. And Pugacheva ended her speech with parting words: “If you last forty games, the match is yours!” And the most amazing thing is that this is exactly what happened. Meanwhile, the story with Pugacheva did not end there.

The next day, the singer was honored to come to the match itself in the Hall of Columns. She came in wearing a golden jacket, sat down with her husband and began to stare intently at Karpov. When one of her friends asked what she was doing, the singer replied: “I inspire Karpov to go the wrong way.” Apparently, the singer entered the role of a psychic so well that Karpov really felt uncomfortable under her gaze. The game had to be postponed, and immediately after its completion, Karpov called the Central Committee of the CPSU and demanded that Pugachev not be allowed into the hall anymore.

Some observers explained that devastating defeat of Kasparov in September 1984 by a whole range of reasons, among which there were also subjective ones - outside interference. According to this version, the Central Committee of the CPSU, together with the KGB, developed a thorough plan to prevent Kasparov from the chess throne. As V. Litvinov recalls, one of the leaders of the KGB at Lubyanka expressed himself in a private conversation as follows: “The world champion is a political figure. We believe that Kasparov is not ripe for this title.” How could the KGB influence the situation? Here is just one example. Kasparov's doctor, whom he completely trusted, turned out to be an ordinary "informer" and every evening reported to the competent authorities everything that was said in Kasparov's entourage.

The opposite side also resorted to espionage methods - Karpov's team. It is known, for example, that on Karpov's instructions, his close friend Feldman, a teacher of physics, contacted Grandmaster Dorfman, who worked in Kasparov's team, and offered him profitable cooperation. This meant that supposedly in order to play the sweepstakes (he acted behind the scenes during the match), Feldman had to receive information from Dorfman about Kasparov's openings, the recorded move during the adjourned game, and the results of home analysis. Feldman promised Dorfman to pay 150-200 rubles for this information. Feldman then took the received data to Arkhangelskoye (Karpov lived there at the dacha of the Ministry of Defense during the match) and personally handed it to the chess player. When, after the 11th game, Dorfman suddenly realized that his information was going to Karpov's team, he demanded that Feldman sharply raise the price for the information provided, but Karpov did not go for an increase in payment. Apparently, at that moment he was already confident in his own victory.

Meanwhile, after sudden defeats in the autumn of 1984, Kasparov managed to find the strength to pull himself together and gradually adjusted the game. At first he won one game, in January of the following year - the second. After the 47th game, a psychological turning point occurred in the match, and Karpov suddenly experienced severe stress - once he could not even get up from his chair after the game was over. The match was adjourned, and Karpov was taken to the hospital. After he was examined by doctors and found to have serious nervous exhaustion, it was decided to postpone the match indefinitely by any means necessary. For this, influential forces were put into play. Through a candidate member of the Politburo, Minister of Culture of the USSR Pyotr Demichev, an approach was found to the head of FIDE, Florencio Campomanes, and he, by a strong-willed decision, suspended the match in February 1985. What were the organizers of this suspension counting on? Apparently, they hoped that Kasparov could be removed from the road by an elementary stand, as happened with Korchnoi at one time. That is, it was supposed to turn the hot-tempered nature of the young grandmaster in their favor, in order to then angrily condemn him for anti-Soviet speeches and disqualify him. And Kasparov's opponents had such an opportunity. At the beginning of the summer of 1985, he was invited to Germany, where the magazine Der Spiegel was supposed to do a big interview with him. In the old days, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the State Committee for Sports put up all sorts of obstacles for the young grandmaster in his trips abroad, but now they literally pushed him out of the country. The calculation was simple: Kasparov, out of resentment, would utter all sorts of barbs to journalists, and perhaps even more desirable - he would remain abroad forever. However, the latter did not happen, and the former took place only in part. Kasparov did not say a word about politics, but spoke sharply about the USSR Chess Federation. And his opponents decided to take advantage of this circumstance. In the same days, a detailed report on Kasparov's stay in Germany, his interview with "Der Spiegel" lay on the table of the new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Mikhail Gorbachev. Properly presented material caused a negative reaction in Gorbachev, and he was ready to bring down on Kasparov all the power of his royal wrath. However, the secretary of the ideological department of the Central Committee, the closest associate of the Secretary General, Alexander Yakovlev, intervened in the matter. In a private conversation with Gorbachev, he said: “We ourselves keep saying that times are different now. And what - will we again appoint sports champions? And Gorbachev was forced to agree with him. This was how the second match and Kasparov's chess career were saved.

The second match for the title between Karpov and Kasparov was to take place in September of the same year. Before it began, the situation in the chess world was already somewhat different than a year ago. Now Karpov did not have that unconditional support in political circles, and the so-called "young reformers" made an open bet on Kasparov. As A. Bublikov later wrote about this: “Young wolves, sharpening their teeth in all areas of the life of the fatherland, dreamed of justice - for them these concepts were identical. They raised Harry to the banner: according to many parameters, he was drawn to the hero of time - a self-made man. He became a symbol of perestroika not because he had any strong political convictions: according to the majority of chess players who know him, he cannot have them in principle, because all thoughts are directed exclusively to superiority. It should not be forgotten that Kasparov is a graduate of Botvinnik's chess school, which has always been a school of hatred for the opponent. It is impossible to win without sports anger, without self-winding, while maintaining friendly relations. That is why, unlike the chivalrous Tal, Smyslov, Polugaevsky, Kasparov always saw an enemy in his partner. Including ideological. And Karpov was fit for the role of an ideological enemy ... "

The second match took place in Moscow, in the Tchaikovsky Hall, and in terms of the intensity of passions (including espionage) turned out to be no less tense than the previous one. Literally a month before it began, Feldman, at the request of Karpov, again got in touch with Dorfman and agreed to cooperate with him. And now the latter asked for no less than 100 thousand rubles for the transfer of information. This collaboration lasted about two months, after which Dorfman suddenly cut off all contact with Feldman. However, at the end of August, he again resumed cooperation with the Karpov team, and then stopped it again. Apparently, he began to really fear exposure. And, I must say, not in vain. By that time, both Azerbaijani and Moscow Chekists, who supported Kasparov, became aware of his "espionage" activities. In those days, Heydar Aliyev was already working in Moscow (he was Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR) and helped his talented countryman as much as he could. Largely due to this assistance, an operational group was created at Lubyanka to develop the information received about the Feldman group. In a short time, the Chekists managed to achieve the main thing - the leakage of information from Kasparov's entourage stopped. In addition, the Chekists managed to stop the activities of the underground sweepstakes, which operated during the chess match. During this operation, several people were detained, including two recidivists who were on the All-Union wanted list.

Meanwhile, the second match ended with Kasparov's victory, and the championship title passed to him (for this victory, Kasparov received 72,000 rubles of the time). The democratic community was jubilant, considering the victory of the young grandmaster a sign of the times - after all, the former Brezhnev favorite was defeated. On the same days, Kasparov was awarded an invitation to the Moscow Sovremennik Theater, where he delivered a speech to the capital's beau monde. It is worth noting that Kasparov had not only business contacts with this theater, but also personal ones. The fact is that in early 1984 he met the prima of this theater, 37-year-old Marina Neelova, and fell in love with her. A romance broke out, which caused a lot of rumors in the acting party. Kasparov himself would later speak of him this way: “Marina suited me because she did not want to get married. She understood the true nature of my struggle and gave me support and support. We had many common friends among writers and artists ... "

The rematch between Karpov and Kasparov took place exactly one year later - in the autumn of 1986 and took place in two places: in London and Leningrad. And again, as in the two previous cases, espionage passions raged on his sidelines. This time, Karpov's supporters again managed to recruit into their ranks a person close to Kasparov - one of his coaches. However, this became known to Dorfman, and he considered it good to inform the KGB officer working in Kasparov's team, Viktor Litvinov. The "spy" was monitored, but it was not possible to catch him by the hand. Meanwhile, Karpov managed to win three games in a row, and Kasparov again suspected treason. After that, the person who was on suspicion was removed from the team. In response, Karpov took a time-out, and when the match resumed, his advantage suddenly disappeared, and Kasparov managed to defend the champion title.

In the same year, Kasparov's alliance with Neelova collapsed. The chess player himself says that the reason for this gap is his busy preparation for the upcoming rematch, when their meetings with Neelova were reduced to almost nothing. According to Kasparov: “Parting was becoming inevitable. Therefore, I was completely sure that the child she was carrying could not be mine. Each of us already had a separate personal life. I tried to put it all out of my head and focus on chess…”

However, chess did not prevent Kasparov from meeting another woman that same year - a 22-year-old graduate of the Romano-Germanic department of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, Muscovite Maria Arapova, who worked as a guide-translator at the Novosti Press Agency and Intourist. The mother of the chess player, having met the girl, approved the choice of her son (this time the bride turned out to be younger than the groom) and gave her blessing on their relationship.

In 1987, the fourth match took place in Seville, however, it also ended in failure for Karpov. It turned out on the very last day. On the eve of that day, Kasparov lost the 23rd game and found himself in a difficult situation. It was the penultimate game of the match, and by winning it, Karpov would have practically regained the championship title. No one managed to win the last game “to order” in matches of this rank. Most of his supporters did not believe in Kasparov's victory, who fled immediately after his defeat and did not even see him to the residence. According to Litvinov, who was with Kasparov when they arrived at the residence, Kasparov's mother fainted right in the hall, and Kasparov himself collapsed unconscious on the chess table an hour later. However, the next day he did the impossible - he won the last game of the match.

In 1989, after almost three years of dating, Kasparov finally married Maria Arapova. Soon a son was born, but, unfortunately, he did not live long - he died a few days after giving birth.

Meanwhile, in addition to chess, in the late 80s, another serious occupation appeared in Kasparov's life - politics. In 1990, he became an ally of the leader of the Democratic Party of Russia, Nikolai Travkin. Why did this happen? A certain chess player, who asked not to be named, stated in an interview with the Sobesednik newspaper: “Travkin then is Lebed today: the same rusticity, populism, even some aphorism ... Such people, rustic in image, need an intellectual nearby: in order to they were not suspected of gloomy mumbling. And Kasparov needed Travkin because Kasparov is Stalin today. Yes Yes! There is no lesser level of claims. The same authority, the same chronic inability to work in pairs - the second one must be removed: and the same ability to reach the finish line in someone's tail, in relative safety, after which there is a rapid castling - and the first become the last. Harry needs someone to jump over his shoulder at the last moment and come first. And even the only…”

One can be amazed at this forecast, but literally a year later - in April 1991 - Kasparov left the ranks of the Democratic Party and announced the creation of the Liberal Conservative Party.

At the end of the same year, Kasparov added another one to the Baku registration - Moscow. Thanks to the help of his friend, Arkady Murashev, head of the Moscow police department, he bought a four-room apartment within the Garden Ring for 28,000 dollars and 280,000 rubles. The money is not the biggest for a person who in those years received 25 thousand dollars for a match (Karpov was then paid only 10 thousand). It is worth noting that before that, Kasparov lived in Moscow as a refugee, whose status he received after he left Baku on a chartered plane with his numerous relatives (according to one version, their number reached half a hundred) in 1988.

In April 1992, a long-awaited event took place in the Kasparov family - a girl was born, whom happy parents named Polina (the birth took place in Finland).

By 1993, Kasparov had reached such a position in the chess world that he could afford to do the most unexpected things. For example, that year he announced his withdrawal from FIDE. At the same time, he took his future rival Nigel Short as an ally (he had just beaten the challengers Karpov in a match), and together they created the Professional Chess Association with a fundamentally new level of payments to the champion, with a new scheme for the world championship. However, most grandmasters did not support the new association. In addition, FIDE soon held its match for the championship crown without the participation of "troublemakers" and returned the championship crown to Karpov (he won against the Dutchman Timman). To which Kasparov stated the following: “FIDE can hold any event and call anyone the champion of its system, but you can become a world champion only by winning a match against the one who owned the chess crown before you. Such is the age-old chess tradition...”

Meanwhile, failures haunted Kasparov not only in his professional activities, but also on the personal front. At the end of that year, his relationship with Maria Arapova broke down. Here is what she herself says about this: “When the daughter I was waiting for was born, then, naturally, I began to devote more time to her - it’s such a joy. I used to give my soul to Harry. But now a little man has appeared, who also demands a lot. Harry was far from these worries. For several months I lived in Finland with my parents, because they worked there ... But alas, he did not even take us to the match with Short in London, which lasted for three whole months. And upon arrival, he declared that he was morally ripe for a divorce ... ".

As the Western press wrote, during the London match, Kasparov suddenly became interested in the young French chess player Virginia Mora and often visited the girl in her house in one of the Parisian suburbs. True, this novel did not lead to anything serious.

Meanwhile, Kasparov's divorce from Arapova was scandalous. On this occasion, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper wrote in its issue of November 16, 1994: “As MK was informed in the Presnensky Court, the other day they received a lawsuit from 31-year-old Garry Kasparov demanding, after five years of marriage, to divorce him from his wife . It is known that Garry Kimovich and his half, 30-year-old Maria Eduardovna, have not maintained any marital relations since November last year. The reason for this, oddly enough, was the birth of their daughter Polina. The fact is that the wife of the multiple world champion gave birth to a daughter in Finland. And, as Kasparov points out in the statement of claim, at each meeting with his wife, he had practically no doubt that she had no intention of returning to Moscow. While he himself wants to live in the Russian capital, especially since here the family has a large 4-room apartment bought in 1991 in Plotnikov Lane. After the return of his wife from Finland, Garry Kasparov, according to him, realized that all spiritual connection was lost between him and his wife and their relationship could not continue. “During our life together,” Kasparov admits, “I clearly understood that neither my personal, nor professional, nor public life was of interest to my spouse.”

The plaintiff does not put forward any material claims in relation to Maria Kasparova. The size of the allowance for the maintenance of the daughter is also not stipulated. Although it can be assumed that it will in no way be less than 1.5 million rubles - this is the amount Kasparov allocated to his wife for his daughter over the past year on a monthly basis ... "

After the divorce, Maria Arapova left the 200-meter apartment in Plotnikov Lane and moved with her daughter to the United States, where her ex-husband bought a luxury apartment. It is worth noting that during the divorce, among the requirements of Kasparov was this: starting from the age of two, he would annually take his daughter for two months.

Meanwhile, Kasparov experienced a new serious love interest a few months after the divorce - in April 1995. He then attended a chess tournament in Riga dedicated to the memory of Mikhail Tal (Kasparov became the winner here), and at the final banquet he met the 18-year-old charming model Yulia (she was brought to the celebration by Kasparov's Riga friend). According to legend, that evening the girl neglected to communicate with everyone who approached her to get to know her, and she herself sat down with Kasparov. And twenty minutes later they both left the banquet. In early 1996, they got married.

In September of the same year, information appeared in the Russian media that Kasparov and his wife almost died while on vacation at sea. What happened?

As it turned out, while still in Baku, the world chess champion learned to scuba dive and steer a kayak. And since then, almost every year, he rested with them on some coast. So it was in California, in Spain. This time the choice fell on the Red Island in the Adriatic Sea. Every day, Kasparov went out on a kayak to the open sea and made a 5-kilometer swim on it. And in any weather. However, on that ill-fated day, jokes with waves almost ended in disaster. Kasparov decided not to swim the distance alone and took his wife with him, who was six months pregnant. On the way back, the kayak took on so much water that it overturned. Fortunately, this happened not far from a small island in the open sea, and the couple managed to quickly swim to it. The young people were also lucky - next to the crash site, the chief pilot of the President of Russia and the commander of the 235th government detachment, Alexander Larin, was on a kayak, who took the Kasparovs from the island.

A little more than two months passed after this incident, and a joyful event took place in the Kasparov family - on October 29, a boy was born, whom his parents named Vadim.

But let's get back to Kasparov's professional activities. In 1996, he played his first chess match against a Deep Blue computer (capacity of 200 million positions per second) and won 4:2. However, a year later - in May 1997 - in a match with the same computer, he lost the match with a score of 2.5:3.5. After the match ended, Kasparov made a sensational statement. He said: “IBM has created a program specifically designed to play with Kasparov. This has nothing to do with science, the only goal was to defeat Kasparov. And when a large corporation with unlimited resources strives for this, then there are many ways to achieve the result. The result was achieved, but I am sure that the machine did not prove anything. In my opinion, she is not ready for a real big test... I give a personal guarantee that I could "break" the computer if it played normal competitive chess... "

Meanwhile, Kasparov's streak of failures, which began with the loss to Deep Blue, continued ten months later. At the tournament of the highest, 21st category according to the FIDE classification in the Spanish city of Linares, he suffered an unexpected defeat. For the first time in recent years, Kasparov could not even become second in the classical tournament, sharing third and fourth places. The favorites turned out to be chess players of the post-Kasparov generation, and they, according to Kasparov himself, are just capable of beating him in a world championship match. Among them: Viswanathan Anand (1st place) and Alexei Shirov (2nd).

However, if Kasparov the sportsman looks to the future with some uncertainty, then Kasparov the businessman is sure of himself. Today he is one of the richest athletes in the world, with income not only from sports activities. For example, he owns a company that deals with aircraft leasing.

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With Tomorrow's Majority G. Kasparov Prologue I have never had more unexpected meetings than this one. By the end of the day, when the routine fuss seemed to subside, and the last visitors left the cramped reception area, when there were almost no employees left in the editorial office ... yes, it was somewhere

Harry I guess you could say that as a child I liked to show off. Mom was always sure that I would grow up and find a job in the entertainment industry. At school, I did not yet know what I wanted to do in the future, but even then it was clear: I love to perform, from the earliest years I received

"A former world chess champion, and now an opposition politician" Garry Kasparov left Russia, but intends to "continue to annoy [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to the best of his ability", although now the main goal of his life is to become president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE ). He spoke about this and much more in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, the Friday supplement to the Bavarian newspaper of the same name.

In Russia, according to the grandmaster, he would hardly have been threatened with imprisonment, but his passport could have been taken away, as "it happens with many opposition politicians in Moscow", and this would mean for Kasparov "the collapse of his whole life", since the main source of his earnings - "reports on logical thinking and strategies for success", which he usually reads abroad. "I come to Russia only to fight the regime and defend human rights," Kasparov described his lifestyle in recent years.

Kasparov has not been in Russia since February 22, 2013 - shortly before that, his mother received a call from the Investigative Committee with a request to ensure his appearance to testify. “Because of this challenge, I decided that it was not worth returning,” he explained his decision. “I don’t want to risk the prospect of being stuck in Moscow anymore. I am announcing my candidacy for the presidency of FIDE.To do this, I will need to travel around the world to introduce myself to various national associations.To take high risks as a politician would be dishonest of me to those who finance my candidacy in the world of chess.Except Moreover, from abroad I can cause much more trouble than from Moscow. The winning process in Strasbourg will help opposition politicians more than my sitting locked up in Moscow. " Kasparov believes that his October victory in this instance has a "symbolic" meaning and "someday will help the numerous prisoners in Russian prisons." However, "Putin doesn't care about reactions from abroad," he admitted.

Now Kasparov lives in New York with his wife and youngest daughter, his eldest daughter is also there, but his son and mother remained in Moscow - he travels to Tallinn to meet with them ("not far from Moscow, and people speak Russian," the oppositionist explained). Living in the US is "convenient," Kasparov admitted, but he yearns for his homeland and the Russian language.

The head of the United Civil Front said that during the last detention after another protest, he was injured: “Because of this, my elbow still hurts when I write or pick up my bag to put it on the luggage rack on the plane ". At the correspondent's request, the source of the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin spoke briefly about his only administrative arrest, noting that his experience was "ludicrous" compared to the situation in which Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for example, finds himself.

In 2005, the oppositionist hired bodyguards - the reason for this was an incident during one of the last chess events with his participation: "A man approached me with chessboard. At first I thought that he wanted to ask me for an autograph, but then I had a bad feeling. I was surprised by the smell emanating from the board, it was brand new, and who would put an autograph on a newly purchased board? Usually they bring an old one... He hit me on the head with it... The man was young, they must have hoped that I would hit back, so two cameras were installed there. This incident was a warning to me. The very next day I hired professional bodyguards."

The ex-champion dismissed the suggestion that he was running for the FIDE presidency because he was bored with the political struggle: “I will continue to fight injustice... Putin is not only a problem for Russia. worse than Belarusian Lukashenka: Putin is everywhere, he controls more money than anyone in the history of mankind, and does not disdain to win the sympathy of entrepreneurs and politicians through bribery, he supports the most violent regimes in the whole world, without him Assad could not have killed tens of thousands of his fellow citizens. "Putin is a problem and the problem is growing because every dictator wants to expand his power. Putin is becoming more and more defiant because he sees no one who can stop him."