Guide Note
Chess grandmaster, author and political activist Garry Kasparov was the Chess World Champion from 1985 until 2000. When he captured the title at age 22, he became the youngest World Chess Champion in history. In 1997, when he lost a match to IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing computer, Kasparov became the first World Chess Champion to lose a match to a machine.
Fast Facts
- Birth name: Garrik Kimovich Weinstein
- Birth date: April 13, 1963
- Birth place: Baku, Azerbaijan
- Retired from professional chess in 2005
- Long-time critic of Vladimir Putin
Presidential Bid
Kasparov retired from professional chess in 2005 to devote more time to writing and politics. In September of 2007 he announced that he would run in the upcoming Russian presidential race as the head of the Other Russia coalition party.
Kasparov was arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in a November 2007 protest against the Russian administration. The following month, he announced that he was dropping his bid to become Russia's next president.
Conference Interruption
On May 18, 2008 a Russian political meeting with Kasparov was interrupted by a model helicopter resembling a penis. The Moscow Times attributed the prank to "a couple of pro-Kremlin Young Russia activists."
