Garry Kasparov: ‘Putin will violate a truce when he finds it convenient, as he did with dozens of others’
The former world champion chess player is an outspoken critic of the Russian president, who he warns is capable of anything
The man who in his heyday at the chessboard was nicknamed “the Ogre of Baku” can certainly measure up to that moniker: behind his bushy eyebrows and luminous, yet severe eyes lie a steely determination and an aversion to wasting time. This is evident in his interview responses, which can be sharp and abrupt. But if Garry Kasparov, 61, is expeditious, it is because much is at stake — and not on the chessboard. And so he has learned how to be didactic, even affable. A resident of New York, the man who was world chess champion for two decades is now among the staunchest opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because of this, he cannot take life for granted. He is under constant surveillance due to security concerns, and cannot even step out into the hallway to have his photo taken for the 15-minute interview. He’ll only leave his room in Barcelona to give a talk at Mobile World Capital’s Talent Arena on artificial intelligence, his old rival that he beat in a game of chess in 1996, only to lose to in a rematch the following year.
