Where does Garry Kimovich Kasparov live now? Kasparov hid the family secret for many years. Where is Garry Kasparov now and what is he doing?

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Weinstein; April 13, 1963 (19630413), Baku) is a Soviet and Russian chess player, writer and politician.

International grandmaster (1980), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1985), world champion among youth (1980), champion of the USSR (1981, 1988), 13th world champion in chess history (1985-2000), champion of Russia (2004), winner of the prize for the best chess player of the year “Chess Oscar” in 1982-1983, 1985-1988, 1995-1996, 1999, 2001-2002.

Winner of the "Keeper of the Flame" award (1991). Since 1985, Kasparov has continuously topped the FIDE rating list: on January 1, 2006, he was in first place with an Elo coefficient of 2812, but, according to FIDE rules, he was excluded from the rating list on April 1, 2006, since he did not participate in tournaments for the previous 12 months.

During the Soviet years, member of the CPSU, member of the Komsomol Central Committee (1984). After 1991 - public figure, chairman of the United Front. One of the co-chairs of the All-Russian Civil Congress. Deputy of the National Assembly of the Russian Federation.

In 2008, he became one of the founders and leaders of the opposition United Democratic Movement "Solidarity". Member of the Federal Traffic Bureau.

Harry was taught to play chess at the age of five by his father, Kim Moiseevich Weinstein, a power engineer by profession. Harry's grandfather, Moses Rubinovich Weinstein (1906-1963), was a famous Baku composer and conductor, head of the musical department of several drama theaters in the city.

The whole family on my father’s side was musical: my father’s younger brother Leonid Moiseevich Weinstein is also a composer, an Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, and his grandmother is a music teacher in high school.

Harry began regular chess lessons at the Baku Palace of Pioneers at the age of seven. At the same age, he lost his father, who died of leukemia. In 1976, when Harry was 12 years old, his mother, an Armenian Klara Shagenovna Kasparyan, an engineer, specialist in automation and telemechanics, changed his surname from his father’s Weinstein to Kasparov, her surname in the Russified version, replacing the Armenian ending -yan with Russian -ov.

This was done with the consent of relatives to facilitate the further chess career of the young but promising chess player. After the death of her husband, Klara Shagenovna devoted herself entirely to her son’s chess career.

From the age of ten, Kasparov studied at the chess school of ex-world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. At the age of fifteen, Kasparov became Botvinnik's assistant.

In 1975 in Leningrad, at the Palace of Pioneers tournament, in a simultaneous game against world chess champion Anatoly Karpov, he achieved an equal position, but made a mistake and lost. In the same tournament, in a session against Viktor Korchnoi, he forced the grandmaster to a draw.

In 1976, thirteen-year-old Garry Kasparov won the title of USSR chess champion among youths.
In 1978, he won the Sokolsky Chess Memorial in Minsk and received the title of Master of Sports in chess.

In 1980, Kasparov became the world's youngest grandmaster at the time, approaching Bobby Fischer's record, won the title of world junior chess champion in Dortmund, and also graduated from high school with a Gold Medal.

In 1981, eighteen-year-old Kasparov won the title of USSR chess champion, becoming the youngest USSR chess champion in the country's history.

Graduated from the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages ​​(1986).

Kasparov was married three times:
* In 1989 - at the graduate of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University Maria Arapova. Daughter Polina, the marriage lasted 5 years.
* In 1996 - on Yulia Vovk. At the end of the year their son Vadim was born.
* In 2005 he married Daria Tarasova from St. Petersburg.

From living together with Marina Neyolova, daughter Nika was born in 1987.

The first match for the title of world chess champion Garry Kasparov played against the world champion of that time, Anatoly Karpov. This match was open-ended: the world champion was the one who won six games first.

Such regulations were introduced at the request of Karpov, despite the objections of Kasparov, a categorical opponent of open-ended matches. The match had a record duration: from September 10, 1984 to February 15, 1985. Karpov led 5:0, but got tired and began to lose games.

After 48 games, with the score 5:3 in favor of Karpov, the match was interrupted. This unprecedented decision was made by the then FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, despite the fierce objections of Kasparov. The official reason given for the termination of the match was concern for the health of the players.
From this moment on, the system of open-ended matches was abolished and replaced by a match of 24 games. With the score 12:12, the champion retained his title.

The second match for the title of world chess champion between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov took place from September 1 to November 10, 1985 in Moscow.

Kasparov won with a score of 13:11 and became the thirteenth world chess champion. Garry Kasparov became the youngest world chess champion in history. Before him, the youngest world champion was Mikhail Tal, who won the world chess championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960 at the age of 23.

Garry Kasparov defended his title of world chess champion in three subsequent matches against Anatoly Karpov in 1986 in London - Leningrad, 1987 in Seville and in 1990 in New York - Lyon. In the Seville match, after losing the penultimate game, he was losing in the score, but managed to win the last, decisive game and drew the match with a score of 12:12.

Garry Kasparov's matches against chess programs aroused great interest. Kasparov won the first match against the IBM chess computer “Deep Blue” in February 1996 with a score of 4:2, but lost the first game. This was the first time in history that a computer won a game against a world champion.

The second match, in 1997, against an improved version of the Deep Blue computer, Kasparov lost with a score of 2.5: 3.5. For the first time in history, a computer won a match against a world champion.

After the match, Kasparov demanded to know how the computer “thought up” one of the moves. No explanation was provided, and Kasparov accused IBM of fraud. According to Kasparov, in at least one case the computer was helped by a person.

Because the chess program used by IBM remained secret and was not played in any other matches, the computer's victory was called into question.

Deep Blue is a supercomputer consisting of 256 processors. The supercomputer was in a separate room, and at the board opposite Kasparov sat a representative of the IBM team, Feng-Xiong Xu, who was at the origins of the Deep Blue project. Feng-Xiong Xu carried out all communication with Deep Blue through a special monitor.

In principle, a specially invited chess player could be between the monitor in the gaming room and the supercomputer and influence the course of the game. In the second game of the match, Kasparov sacrificed two pawns, Deep Blue thought for 15 minutes, although he usually spent 3 minutes “thinking” about a move, and rejected the sacrifice.

In 2003, Kasparov played two matches against the chess programs Deep Junior and Deep Fritz. Both matches ended in a draw. "Deep Junior" and "Deep Fritz" are commercial programs. “Deep Fritz” ran on a computer with 4 Intel Pentium 4 Xeon processors.
The computer with the program was located in the gaming room, human intervention was impossible, so there were no accusations of fraud.

Disagreeing with the policies pursued by FIDE, in 1993 Kasparov left FIDE and organized the Professional Chess Association (PSA). FIDE stripped Garry Kasparov of the title of world chess champion and excluded him from its rating lists.

Under the auspices of the PCA, Garry Kasparov won the title of “PSA World Chess Champion” in matches against Nigel Short in 1993 and in 1995 against Viswanathan Anand. In 2000, Kasparov lost a match to Vladimir Kramnik and lost the title of world chess champion.

Kasparov is considered one of the strongest chess players of all time.

In 1989, Garry Kasparov surpassed the highest Elo rating (2780), which had long belonged to Robert Fischer. In the same 1989, he was the first of all grandmasters to exceed 2800 points in the Elo rating.

The Elo rating was officially recognized by FIDE in 1970. Although this ranking is subject to inflationary trends, it is generally accepted that Kasparov is superior to all other grandmasters in chess strength and knowledge of chess theory.

In November 2004, Kasparov took part in the Russian Chess Championship for the first and last time and won it convincingly.
In 2007, the reputable international consulting company Synectics published a ranking of 100 living geniuses in the fields of science, politics, art and entrepreneurship. Kasparov takes 25th place in it.

Social and political activities.
Kasparov - participant in the “March of Dissent” rally (2008)

In 1984, Kasparov joined the CPSU and was elected a member of the Komsomol Central Committee. In 1990 he left the CPSU. In May 1990, he participated in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR). In June 1993, he participated in the creation of the election bloc “Choice of Russia”. In 1996 he took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin.

He was a shareholder of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, but sold all his shares to businessman Vladimir Gusinsky.

Kasparov speaks several foreign languages ​​and is the author of many chess books. His latest work, My Great Predecessors, consists of several volumes. This work is dedicated to all previous world chess champions.

After winning the international tournament in Linares on March 10, 2005, Kasparov announced the end of his career as a professional chess player. He expressed his intention to continue working on his “My Great Predecessors” series of books, as well as to become more active in political activities.

Kasparov made harsh criticism of Vladimir Putin during his tenure as President of Russia and in the subsequent period. In 2005, he headed the sharply opposition “United Civil Front” that he created.

Participates in the opposition association “The Other Russia” and takes an active part in the “Marches of Dissent”. Previously, Kasparov was also the chairman of the “Committee 2008: Free Choice”. He is co-chairman of the All-Russian Civil Congress “Russia for Democracy, Against Dictatorship.”

In October 2006, the Dormitory Movement of Moscow and the Moscow Region accused Kasparov's OCF of provocations.

In June 2007, Boris Berezovsky accused Kasparov of lying, who denied that Berezovsky was financing the Other Russia. Previously, Berezovsky announced support for opposition organizations with the aim of carrying out a coup in Russia.

On September 30, 2007, the procedure for nominating Kasparov as a candidate for the post of President of Russia in the March 2008 elections by the “Other Russia” coalition began, but he was denied registration, since the congress of the initiative group that nominated Kasparov did not take place (according to statements from Kasparov’s representatives, all landlords approached by Kasparov’s representatives refused to provide premises for such a convention).

In 2008, Kasparov became one of the founders of the opposition united democratic movement Solidarity. In December 2008, at the founding congress of the movement, he was elected a member of the federal political council of Solidarity and became a member of the Bureau of the federal political council of the movement.

Solidarity is a social movement promoting freedom of speech and justice. Its participants fear that an authoritarian police regime has been established in Russia, leading the country to a dead end.

Representatives of the Yabloko party in February 2009 accused Kasparov of lies, disinformation and insults, saying that for several years he had been deliberately spreading lies about our party and deliberately discrediting it with his statements.

In particular, he not only - contrary to the program documents of our party and its 15-year activity - declares that YABLOKO is not a “real opposition” - read: it only imitates its own, in fact, imaginary opposition (and in the mouth of a person whose chess authority has not yet faded in the eyes of our current and potential supporters, this blatant lie is by no means harmless).

Interesting Facts
* In the mid-1980s and 1990s, he was invited to the jury of the KVN Major League.
* In 1991, Kasparov received the “Keeper of the Flame” award from the US Center for Security Policy (CSP).

In early 2007, political opponents claimed that Kasparov had been on the advisory board of the American Center for Security Policy since at least 2003, citing a list of its members published on the organization’s website in the same 2003. In response, Kasparov stated the following:

In 1991, I was sent an official letter informing me that I had been awarded the diploma “The Keeper of the Flame”, established by the Center for Security Policy. In this way, my contribution to the struggle for the triumph of democracy in Russia was celebrated.

It does not seem reprehensible to me that I agreed to accept this diploma. Throughout my chess career, I have received dozens of offers to become an honorary member of various international or foreign organizations.

This is a normal practice in the public activities of athletes, artists and other persons who have achieved world fame and recognition. Of course, I did not and do not have any obligations to the Center for Security Policy, and our actual relationship ended then, in 1991.

Later, the National Security Advisory Council was created on the basis of this organization. Apparently, they automatically copied the list of honorary members, so the presence of my name in it is just a bureaucratic curiosity.

Considering that this fact is interpreted by political opponents of the UCF as an argument against our organization, I instructed my manager Owen Williams to immediately resolve this misunderstanding, which was done the other day.

The name of Garry Kasparov is not on the list of council members as of 2009.

* According to L. Akhedzhakova, Kasparov does not have an answering machine, he is not afraid to pick up the phone himself and is a very open person.

* Garry Kasparov is one of the editors of the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal.

* Garry Kasparov has real estate in Paris, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York and New Jersey.

Garry Kasparov has repeatedly stated in the past that he shares the doubts of some researchers about the correctness of the existing chronology of historical events. Of these theories, the best known is “Fomenko’s New Chronology,” which is classified by most scientists as pseudoscientific.

In a word, I had questions for a long time, but I did not dare to ask them out loud until I read Anatoly Fomenko’s book “Empire” in 1996. That was the first time I questioned the entire official chronology.

It seems to me that under no circumstances should we talk about the Fomenko school. He has done important compilation work, but this is a group of people that is constantly growing today, and it considers all historical events in the concept of the development of all humanity as a whole.

We are trying to find some kind of truth, and we do not always agree among ourselves that it was this way and not that way.

World Championship matches
* 1984-1985 - Garry Kasparov: Anatoly Karpov +3?5 =40 (discontinued)
* 1985 - Garry Kasparov: Anatoly Karpov +5?3 =16
* 1986 - Garry Kasparov: Anatoly Karpov +5?4 =15
* 1987 - Garry Kasparov: Anatoly Karpov +4?4 =16
* 1990 - Garry Kasparov: Anatoly Karpov +4?3 =17
* 1993 - Garry Kasparov: Nigel Short +6?1 =13 (according to PSA version)
* 1995 - Garry Kasparov: Viswanathan Anand +4?1 =13 (according to PSA version)
* 2000 - Garry Kasparov: Vladimir Kramnik +0?2 =13 (according to the PSA version)

Leader of the United Civil Front (UCF), co-chairman of the All-Russian Civil Congress (VGC), former world chess champion.

Born on April 13, 1963 in Baku in the family of an engineer. Mother Klara Shagenovna is Armenian (native of Nagorno-Karabakh), father Kim Moiseevich Weinstein is Jewish (died in 1970).

In 1986 he graduated from the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages ​​with a degree in English. Until the age of 8, he bore his father's last name, Weinstein.

He started playing chess at the age of 6. As a child, he studied in the chess club of the Baku Pioneer House. At the age of 9 he fulfilled the norm of the first category, at the age of 10 he became a candidate for master of sports. Since 1973 he studied at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school. In 1975 he won the Baku Cup among adults. Winner of the USSR championships among youths in 1976 and 1977. Since 1978 - master of sports, since 1979 - international master. He played for the Spartak team. At the age of 16, he made his debut at an international tournament in Banja Luka, where he took 1st place. Participant of three USSR championships: in 1978 he took 9th place, in 1979 he shared 3-4 places with Yuri Balashov, in 1981 - 1-2 places with Lev Psakhis.

As a member of the USSR national team he won the 1980, 1982 and 1986 Olympics, and as a member of the Russian national team - in 1992. Since 1980 - international grandmaster. During the preliminary matches for the world champion title he won against Alexander Belyavsky and Viktor Korchnoi (1983), and in the final candidates match against Vasily Smyslov (1984).

In 1984-1985, a match for the world title took place between Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. Due to the imperfections of the regulations, it became protracted and was interrupted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) at a time when Kasparov's chances of winning looked preferable. FIDE decided to replay the match under the new regulations. This caused Kasparov serious dissatisfaction and sharply worsened his relationship with FIDE President Campomanes.

On November 9, 1985, Kasparov defeated Karpov, becoming the youngest world champion in chess history.

In 1984, Kasparov joined the CPSU, was elected a member of the Komsomol Central Committee and a member of the Komsomol Central Committee of Azerbaijan. In 1990 he left the CPSU. During the Constitutional Court's consideration of the question of the constitutionality of Yeltsin's decrees banning the activities of the CPSU, he demanded recognition of the CPSU as a criminal organization and stated that he joined it for career reasons.

In 1987, Kasparov initiated the creation of the International Grandmasters Association (GMA) as a counterweight to FIDE and was elected its first president. In 1988-1990, he tried to deprive FIDE of the right to host matches for the men's world championship and limit its rights in general. In this campaign he was not supported by the GMA and left its governing bodies.

In 1993, Kasparov and the winner of the candidates' match, Nigel Short, announced their intention to hold a match for the world title outside FIDE. In response to this, FIDE appointed an alternative match for the world title between Jan Timman and Anatoly Karpov.

In 1990, he became one of the co-founders of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, and for a long time owned a large block of its shares, which he ceded to Vladimir Gusinsky in the mid-1990s. (Kommersant, March 12, 2005)

In the spring of 1990, he took an active part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia (DPR). NP of the Founding Conference of the DPR in May 1990, together with Arkady Murashev, Mikhail Tolstoy, Marina Salye and others, opposed the concentration of power in the DPR in the hands of Nikolai Travkin, together with them he left the founding conference of the party, and then became part of the Free Democratic faction of the DPR ( after the First Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia in December 1990, this faction was transformed into the Liberal faction).

In January 1991, he was elected chairman of the Moscow organization of the Democratic Party of Russia (replacing Valentin Poluektov).

Together with provincial party organizations, he obtained from Travkin consent for the DPR to join the Democratic Russia Movement (DR) on January 13, 1991, was delegated from the DPR to the Council of Representatives of the DR and, on an individual basis, was elected to the Coordination Council of the DR.

He was one of the co-owners and president of the joint stock company "Information and Publishing Association "Democratic Russia", which, among other things, published the newspaper "Democratic Russia", at first (Nos. 1 and 2) it was an organ of the Democratic Party of Russia, and then an independent newspaper reflecting positions of the "radical liberal" wing of the DR Movement. In 1991, Kasparov stopped funding the newspaper, which, contrary to his initial expectations, could not achieve self-sufficiency. As a result, the newspaper soon ceased publication.

At the II Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia in April 1991, having failed to achieve the adoption of its draft Party Program, together with Murashev, he left it and announced the creation of the “Liberal Union” (LS).

On June 22-23, 1991, a meeting of the LS was held (about 200 people took part in it), which, however, did not come to an agreement on the principles of forming a new organization. At a press conference on August 9, 1991, Kasparov, together with other public figures and several small political organizations, nevertheless announced the creation of the LS. He signed a declaration on its formation, but the Union was never formalized organizationally.

In June 1992, Kasparov spoke at the Forum of Reform Supporters, organized by the DR Movement, and called for support for the government of Yegor Gaidar. In an interview in December 1992, he stated that the VII Congress of People's Deputies of Russia revealed: The Councils of People's Deputies are the CPSU today.

In March 1993, he stated that “chess has its red layers, brown layers, democracy.”

At the end of 1992, G. Kasparov initiated the exclusion of the Yugoslav team from the European team championship, stating that his vote against this team was directed against Compomanes (then head of FIDE).

In June 1993, he took part in the creation of the pre-election Bloc of reformist forces “Choice of Russia”.

In September 1993, while in London (where his match with Short took place), he fully supported B. Yeltsin’s Decree on the dissolution of parliament and new elections, saying that this is how the path to establishing true democracy in the country can be opened.

In December 1993, he supported the Russia's Choice bloc in the parliamentary elections and took part in the bloc's election campaign (trips to Krasnoyarsk and St. Petersburg).

In the mid-1990s, he founded and headed the Kasparov Consulting company, headquartered in London, which advised Western investors and organized charter air cargo transportation. (Kommersant, March 12, 2005)

During the presidential elections of the Russian Federation in 1996, he was a confidant of the candidate for President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin.

In 1996 he became one of the co-founders of the investment fund Russia Growth Fund, and in March 1997 he was its manager. In 1998, the fund acquired a 35.59% stake in the Solikamsk magnesium plant, and from 2001 to 2003 it was the holder of a controlling stake (50.42%) of its shares, which it eventually sold to Silvinit. According to Kasparov, he was not actually involved in this business, but only “helped with consultations.” (Kommersant, March 12, 2005)

In the spring of 1997, he supported the initiative of General Alexander Lebed to create the “Third Force” alliance and the Russian People's Republican Party, and became his financial adviser. (Kommersant, March 12, 2005)

In an interview with Moscow News (N14, April 6-13, 1997), he stated that he made “contact with Lebed” because the “Yeltsin regime” fulfilled its historical role - to stop the communists and raise a new class, and because “today Lebed is This is the only way out for Russia." When asked whether he would agree to join Lebed’s team as prime minister or first deputy prime minister, he replied that he was still continuing his active chess life and was not going to join any government.

At the end of 2002, he sharply opposed the introduction of the “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” course in schools: “The most terrible process now is the basis of Orthodox culture in schools. This is the introduction of ideology. We have a fairly powerful layer of people in power who don’t care, what to teach in schools, because there was one ideological component. So, we are observing an extremely dangerous trend, which is aimed precisely at the abolition of the constitution. If we talk about the fact that Wahhabism is raising its head, that these extremist tendencies are raising their heads, the authorities are doing everything , to help these trends develop, because the introduction in schools of such a subject with a provocative name is not just “History of Religion”, but “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” - this is rejection.” (atheism.ru/library/Other_61.phtml)

In March 2003, at the closing ceremony of the super tournament in Linares, the results of a journalistic vote on the best game of the tournament were announced. The game in which Teimur Radjabov defeated Kasparov was recognized as such. In response, Kasparov jumped to the microphone and attacked the journalists who made such an amateurish decision, as well as the organizers who contributed to this “disgrace.” After which he declared that he would never play in Linares and left the hall. (Sports Today, March 12, 2003)

On January 19, 2004, the “2008: Free Choice” Committee was created, the main goal of which was to counter the regime of personal power of the president. It included: editor-in-chief of the weekly "Novaya Gazeta. Monday" Dmitry Muratov, leader of the Union of Right Forces Boris Nemtsov, editor-in-chief of the weekly "Moscow News" Evgeny Kiselev, head of the Open Russia Foundation Irina Yasina, satirist Viktor Shenderovich, poet Igor Irtenev and other. Kasparov was elected chairman of the committee. (Interfax, January 19, 2004)

In September 2004, shortly after the Beslan hostage crisis, he published an article in The Wall Street Journal, “Putin Must Go,” in which he wrote, in part: “Another aspect of the Chechen conflict that deserves attention is the relatively weak interest in It would seem that the undeclared war of Christians against Muslims should attract the attention of Al Jazeera. Despite Mr. Putin's attempts to blame Al Qaeda and thus pretend that he is fighting the same war as The West and the war in Chechnya are the work of his own hands.”

On October 26, 2004, at a meeting of the “Committee 2008: Free Choice,” he said that Democrats have to unite in a “short-term tactical alliance” with people with whom “much separates us,” in particular, with the communists: “We are talking about a temporary unification facing the threat of dictatorship." (Kommersant, October 27, 2004)

In December 2004, he was one of the organizers of the All-Russian Civil Congress (ARC), on December 12, 2004 he became a member of its founders and the “Action Committee”, and was elected one of the four co-chairs of the VGC (along with Lyudmila Alekseeva, Georgy Satarov and Aleksandrov Auzan).

On February 15, 2005, a meeting of the “Free Choice” Committee was held, at which the issue of creating a single democratic party was raised. The next day, Kasparov commented on the disagreements: “Our position with Vladimir Ryzhkov is that the party should be created starting from the regions, and then a congress should be held, and not in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Our opponents insist on the traditional way of creating a party, that is, its establishment from Moscow." Therefore, negotiations within the committee, according to Kasparov, reached an “organizational dead end,” and its meetings “became like an endless Brazilian series.” “The process will go on regardless of how the SPS and Yabloko behave. If the negotiations reach a dead end and both parties insist on becoming the basis for a new party, the process will go beyond these parties.” (Kommersant, February 17, 2005)

On March 10, 2005, immediately after winning the chess tournament in Linares, he announced his retirement from his sports career: “In chess, I did everything I could, even more. Now I intend to use my intelligence and strategic thinking in Russian politics. This is not retirement , but a transition. I am moving into an area where I can positively apply my potential... I believe that now the country is moving in the wrong direction, so we need to help Russia, help Russian citizens make the country comfortable, fair and free... I "I will do everything possible to resist Putin's dictatorship. It is very difficult to play for a country whose government is anti-democratic. And I will solve this problem together with those who care about Russia." (Gazeta.ru, March 11, 2005)

On April 6, 2005, he took the initiative to create a special public Fund to help victims of terrorist attacks in Putin’s Russia and made the first contribution in the amount of $25 thousand. “Terror and war,” said Kasparov, “are the cornerstones of the Putin regime.” Putin, in his opinion, feels like “in a besieged fortress” and “he needs more and more victims.” (Grani.ru, April 6, 2005)

On the same day he announced that he had started creating his own political party. “Volodya (Ryzhkov) and I believe that we will not fight with any party, but we will create our own project and fight for votes ourselves,” Kasparov said after the next meeting of the 2008 Committee, at which the liberal leaders did not agree on the creation United Democratic Party. (RIA Novosti, April 6, 2005)

On April 15, 2005, in Moscow, Kasparov met with activists of youth organizations. At the end of the meeting, a certain Burmistrov approached him, took a wooden chessboard from his backpack and, saying: “Garry Kimovich, you are a great chess player, my idol,” asked him to sign on the board with a felt-tip pen. Kasparov gave an autograph, in response Burmistrov unexpectedly shouted: “You betrayed a wonderful sport and went into dirty politics!” - and, swinging, hit Kasparov on the head with a board. “This Burmistrov shouted something else, but the chess pieces that were inside the board rattled so much that no one heard anything,” said Kasparov’s adviser Marina Litvinovich. In the resulting confusion, Burmistrov tried to strike again, but the students who surrounded Kasparov took the board from the young man and took the troublemaker out of the hall. (Kommersant, April 18, 2005)

Immediately after the incident, Litvinovich stated: “I have no doubt that the pro-presidential Nashi movement is behind the attack on Garry Kasparov.” The fact was that on the morning of the same day, the leader of the movement Vasily Yakemenko at the Nashi congress called Kasparov (along with Khakamada and Ryzhkov) “an accomplice of the fascists." Yakemenko categorically denied the accusations. (Kommersant, April 18, 2005)

On May 16, 2005, he took part in a rally in front of the Meshchansky Court building among supporters of Mikhail Khodorkovsky during the announcement of the verdict in the latter’s case. The police, pushing the protesters away from the courthouse, tried to detain him, but Kasparov’s security did not allow this. Later, Kasparov stated that the detention of several dozen protesters was an “action of intimidation”: “The police received instructions from above - the authorities cannot tolerate any manifestations of citizenship.” (Gazeta.ru, May 16, 2005)

On May 18, 2005, at a public meeting in Novosibirsk, he announced the creation of a United Civil Front capable of “dismantling the Putin regime.” According to Kasparov, the main task of the front will be “to create a free political platform on which normal elections can be held in 2008.” (Kommersant, May 19, 2005)

On May 30, 2005, the “Manifesto of the United Civil Front” was published in Novaya Gazeta, which was signed by several politicians, including Kasparov. It said, in particular: “Our country is ruled by a regime that is contrary to the interests of both Russia as a whole and almost all of its citizens... Today it is already clear to many that the further rule of Vladimir Putin will ultimately inevitably lead to complete degradation of our state and its imminent collapse... It is no coincidence that we called the new organization a “front". We are not just in opposition to the regime of Vladimir Putin, we, in principle, do not recognize the current regime as legitimate. Vladimir Putin was initially not an elected, but an appointed president, who came to power through gross manipulation of public opinion, using the most cynical and bloody technology: the war in Chechnya..."

On May 31, 2005, he commented on the sentence to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev (9 years in prison): “The sentence draws a thick line under the whole stage of Putin’s rule. Kremlin officials have demonstrated that they are ready to do anything to remain at the helm, and that there is no legal the transfer of power in Russia as a result of democratic elections and within the framework of the constitution will not happen. Now the Putin regime has to take the last step on the path to a bright Turkmen-Belarusian future - to use armed force against popular uprisings...

It is obvious that the verdict became possible due to the passivity of Russian society. And above all, because of the cowardly position of the Russian elite, which openly condoned the actions of the authorities. High-ranking government and business officials hid their heads in the sand in the hope that they would not be noticed. As for a significant part of the Russian intellectual elite, they fell into hysterics, trying to convince themselves and others that the Putin regime is the lesser evil for Russia. Attempts to portray the Yukos affair as an unfortunate misunderstanding, rather than a manifestation of the depravity of the system created by Putin, are in fact part of a propaganda campaign aimed at covering up the lawlessness perpetrated by the Kremlin.

The sooner we can dismantle the current KGB-oligarchic regime, which has elevated lawlessness and corruption to the rank of state policy, and return Russia to the path of democratic development, the fewer people and cases like the “YUKOS case” will be unfairly convicted. (Gazeta.ru, June 1, 2005)

On November 15, 2005, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation registered the United Civil Front (UCF) as an interregional public association.

On December 23, 2005, in an interview with Radio Liberty, he declared his readiness to unite with the left in order to change the political course of Russia: “Excluding openly extremist groups and views, there still remains a very large number of people who criticize the authorities not entirely from our positions. But at the same time, this “a completely legitimate point of view of the left wing of the political spectrum, and I don’t see any problems in uniting with those who criticize the government from a more social or socialist position, but at the same time remain within the legal framework.” (Radio Liberty, December 23, 2005)

In January 2006, he proposed supporting Acting Medvedkovsky in the by-elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. in Moscow, scheduled for March 12, 2006, member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Elena Lukyanova as the sole candidate from the opposition. (Newspaper, January 12, 2006)

On February 25, 2006, at the first conference, the UCF invited all opposition forces to adopt the “single candidate program.” At the same time, he emphasized that we are talking about a single candidate from all opposition forces, and not just from the Democrats. In particular, Kasparov said that in his organization “there are no right and left, but there are those who are in opposition to the authorities.” (Interfax, February 25, 2006)

In the “single candidate program,” he highlighted two areas: the return of the state’s internal debt, primarily various contributions from the population, as well as “the issue of responsibility of today’s leaders for what is happening in the country.” “We must include such a word as “lustration” in our vocabulary. And when there is a change of power, some category of senior officials who are at the forefront of the fight against the law - this category should be legally deprived of the right to hold public office for a certain time.” . (Interfax, February 25, 2006)

As guests at the UCF conference, there were members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Elena Lukyanova, NBP leader Eduard Limonov, and State Duma deputy from the Rodina party Andrei Savelyev.

At the beginning of March 2006, together with Lyudmila Alekseeva and Georgy Satarov, he signed an appeal from the Action Committee of the All-Russian Civil Congress to the parliaments of the G7 countries, which stated that the “disastrous and threatening state of affairs” in Russia “has developed with tacit consent and with obvious the connivance of the governments of the leading world powers, which, while paying due attention to threats to democracy and the violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens in different parts of the globe, show amazing indifference to what is happening today in Russia,” in which “it is bad and scary to live.”

On July 11-12, 2006, the “Other Russia” conference was held in Moscow, prepared by the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, headed by Kasparov, Alekseeva and Satarov. The conference delegates signed a joint declaration in which they stated the need to restore democratic institutions and create a “permanent meeting operating in a regime of regular consultations,” and also supported Mikhail Kasyanov’s proposal to develop a program of national harmony (Kommersant, September 5, 2006).

On September 6, 2006, in an interview, he said: “The 2008 Committee,” in my opinion, actually played an important role in obtaining a negative result. Which is also a valuable result in the political and scientific process. He represented a fairly homogeneous association of liberal human rights forces. But at the same time it continued to function within the Garden Ring - both geographically and politically. And it became obvious that even within such a negotiating platform it was impossible to reach any real agreements between representatives of those forces that we usually call “liberal,” right- or left-liberal, like Yabloko. And therefore, further functioning became meaningless - all members of the association silently agreed with this.

“The Other Russia” was built on a fundamentally different basis - it includes completely heterogeneous, one might even say, polar political forces that are not going to unite into one party - due to the absolute impossibility - not only of developing a single platform, but often of rapprochement their positions and views. But at the same time they express their readiness to find common ground on which it will be possible to solve the problem of political transformations in Russia. That is, we can say that if the democratic forces, discussing 10 issues, agreed on nine, but disagreed on the tenth, and this became a stumbling block, then in “The Other Russia” a different algorithm operates: if there is agreement on one point, everyone is happy and agrees write it down and move on. Although, it must be added that, to the surprise of all participants in this process, there were more points on which we could agree than we expected." (Gazeta.ru, September 6, 2006)

From the same interview: “I have traveled a lot around the country over the past year and a half, 26 regions - from Murmansk to Vladivostok, and what I saw, communicating with a variety of people, strengthened me in the belief that the activities of the Putin administration are a serious threat to our future. The Russian economy is stagnating, if you subtract the oil and gas complex. The gap between the rich and wealthy and the rest of society is growing. Most regions are in a catastrophic situation. A system has been created in which corruption has ceased to be a problem, because it is the system itself." (Gazeta.ru, September 6, 2006)

In the fall of 2006, “The Other Russia” from a consultation “round table” on the basis of the All-Russian Civil Congress actually transformed into a radical opposition right-left political coalition; in November 2006, a permanent Political Conference of the “Other Russia” was created, which included Kasparov (from the United Front), Mikhail Kasyanov (RNDS), Eduard Limonov (NBP), Vladimir Ryzhkov (RPR) and Viktor Anpilov (Working Russia party "). Regional organizations (in particular, Moscow and St. Petersburg) of the radical democratic “Defense” and the Stalinist “Vanguard of Red Youth” (AKM) of Sergei Udaltsov also participate in the “dissent marches” organized by “The Other Russia”.

Continues to advocate the creation of a broad, non-ideological opposition coalition. However, attempts to attract the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko to the “Other Russia” were unsuccessful; in March 2007, V. Anpilov left the “Political Meeting of the Other Russia”; in the summer of 2007, M. Kasyanov left the “Other Russia”.

January 17, 2008, two co-chairs of the All-Russian Civil Commission - the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva and the president of the Indem Foundation Yuri Samodurov, economist Vladimir Milov, leader of the movement "For Human Rights" Lev Ponomarev, head of the Samara "Yabloko" Igor Ermolenko; On July 29, 2008, Andrei Illarionov joined the group).

At the Extraordinary V Congress of the All-Russian Civil Congress, which was held in the Leningrad region on June 28-29, 2008, he was re-elected as its co-chairman, receiving 137 votes out of 155 (co-chairmen of the All-Russian Civil Congress were also elected: co-chairman of the organization "Voice of Beslan" Ella Kesaeva, executive secretary of the Human Rights Council of St. St. Petersburg Natalya Evdokimova (93 votes), executive director of “For Human Rights” Lev Ponomarev and director of the Sakharov Museum Yuri Samodurov.

Promoter of Fomenko’s historical theories (a complete revision of the entire chronology of human history; professional historians and linguists recognize this theory as the fruit of ignorance and megalomania of its creators).

He was awarded the chess Oscar, a prize awarded by the International Chess Press Association in 1982, 1983, 1985-1989. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, winner of the competition "Business Man - Formula for Success", awarded the Order of the Eagle, established by Russian entrepreneurs.

In 1989 he was elected president of the USSR Chess Union, which in 1991 was transformed into the International Chess Union.

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 gave birth to a son. It is probably no coincidence that the boy was named in the American manner - Nicholas. Three years ago, Harry Kimovich, having finally chosen the profession of a political prostitute, left Russia and settled in the United States.

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

The 52-year-old former 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 how she related to the great chess player. The spectacular brunette, without blinking an eye, answered: “I am his wife.” Although Kasparov at that moment was married to a completely different young lady - Yulia Vovk! But Tarasova achieved her goal. In 2006, she actually married a chess genius.

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

About the romance of young Kasparov with a wonderful actress Marina Neelova the whole theatrical Moscow was gossiping. 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 her young lover in her apartment on Chistye Prudy. But they appeared together more than once in the world. When in 1984 Kasparov first met in a match for the world title with Anatoly Karpov, Neelova was sitting in the hall next to the chess player’s mother. 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 the whole factory dormitory right away. She will infect you with a bad disease!

When Neyolova became pregnant, Klara Shagenovna inspired her son that an illegitimate child could negatively affect his sports career. The ambitious Harry, who had already won the world title, did not object. His mother stated in the press: “This is not our child.” As if hinting that Neelova was simultaneously dating another man. The proud actress did not utter a word then. But the daughter Nika, whom she gave birth to, turned out to be exactly like Kasparov. Neelova’s colleagues at the Sovremennik Theater were outraged by the grandmaster’s action, and Valentin Gaft publicly stated:

Kasparov does not deserve to be received in a decent home.

Now Nika 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 London Saatchi Gallery. Her father was replaced by Neelova’s current husband, a Russian diplomat Kirill Gevorgyan. It was thanks to her stepfather that Nika visited different countries at school age and learned several foreign languages. Neelova's daughter, a sultry brunette, looks very attractive, although she says that she never considered herself a beauty.

“I have a boyfriend, we live together in London,” Nika admitted several years ago. - He is Italian, he also works here. Not an artist or a sculptor. Maybe this is for the best - the two of us are not bored.

However, Nika never decided to introduce that same Italian to the public. Later he went to his homeland, and the couple broke up. Meanwhile, Neelova Jr. literally charmed the director of the London gallery “Charlie Smith” Zavier Ellis. First, using his extensive connections, he helped Nika show her works in the capital of England, then in Berlin, Amsterdam and other European cities. Outwardly, everything looked quite ordinary: a patron of art was helping a young talent pave the way to success. But when at an exhibition in London's Somerset House, where works by leading British artists and sculptors were shown, suddenly the creations of Nika Neelova, the only foreigner, appeared, many wondered: why would this be? She undoubtedly has talent, but without high patronage you won’t get into the cohort of the chosen so quickly. This vernissage, by the way, was supervised by Zavier.

Ellis's former favorite understood everything - Tessa Farmer. The woman made a scandal for her ex-boyfriend:

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

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

According to our information, Nika Neelova was once offered a job in Moscow, but she did not want it. The mother invited her daughter to Paris, where she has been living in recent years, and received a polite refusal. And when Nick asks Ellis for something (or vice versa), there is no refusal.

Nika prefers not to talk about Kasparov. She, like her mother, crossed him out of her life.

Stole a girl from Short

In 1986, friends introduced Harry to a pretty blonde Maria Arapova. A graduate of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University 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. And Kasparov remained in Moscow, with his mother. They say that Klara Shagenovna was seriously offended by her daughter-in-law. When Harry was planning to buy a new home for his family in the center of Moscow, Masha cautiously suggested moving out her mother-in-law and buying her an apartment in the building next door. The imperious Klara Shagenovna, accustomed to living with her son under the same roof, could not tolerate such treachery.

Kasparov's wife and daughter spent several months in Finland, but Harry visited them very rarely. And then he went to London for a match for the chess crown with an Englishman Nigel Short. The duel lasted two whole months, but Maria never appeared in London. It became clear that the spouses had lost interest in each other. And it soon became clear that Kasparov dealt a double blow to Short: he won the match against him and stole Nigel’s girlfriend, a chess player. Virginia More. The relationship with this young French woman lasted two years.

Maria Arapova did not remain silent. In one interview she said:

Something must have changed for Harry personally. Returning from London, he declared that he was ready for a divorce. I tried to talk to him, but he doesn’t want to come back... They are putting pressure on me. If I do not agree to its terms, I will be deprived of my credit card. He fights us as if he were his chess players or political opponents. But we are just talking about a woman with your own child. I'm disappointed in Harry. God will be his judge.

It got to the point that the spouses began to communicate only through lawyers. The divorce and division of property lasted 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 take the child with him for two months every year. 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 her father’s love of chess, but she did gymnastics for several years. Now that Harry Kimovich lives in New York, he has the opportunity to see his daughter much more often.

Kasparov and Arapova had a family secret that they hid 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 Maria.

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In '95 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 came there for a reason. A romance 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 to six months. Well, at least a year. And they were wrong. Julia managed to please not only Harry, but also, most importantly, his mother. Klara Shagenovna gave the go-ahead for the wedding.

When Julia was seven months pregnant, a very unpleasant incident occurred. Harry and his young wife were kayaking in the Adriatic Sea. Suddenly the wind blew, a lot of water filled the kayak, and it capsized. All this happened not far from a small island - the stunned couple 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 took the 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 Kasparov certainly loves his son Vadim. For example, when the boy was five years old, dad, as promised, took him to Paris, to EuroDisneyland. Vadik was in seventh heaven. In 2004, having become the Russian champion, after the award ceremony Kasparov 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 be proud of him.

Alas, a year later Kasparov’s second marriage broke up. His ex-wife Yulia still lives in Riga, and Vadim has already reached two meters in height and now weighs 120 kilograms. To the disappointment of the father, the son is absolutely indifferent to chess, but he enjoys lifting iron. Vadim became a weightlifter and participated in the Latvian deadlift championship. When his father was arrested in Moscow in 2007 (Kasparov organized an unauthorized march of Russophobes), the guy was shocked. And Harry Kimovich himself did not believe that he would be sent to prison.

They gave me five days, although they could have given me 15 days,” the chess player who became an enemy of the people later whined. - We decided to teach you a lesson. 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. The 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 was wondering how long this supply would last me - I refused the prison gruel. However, you can survive five days without food.

And there was another case

* Garry Kasparov really liked the famous German figure skater Katharina Witt. One day he managed to meet her in Germany, and mutual sympathy already arose 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 someone like that!” Harry was hurt and offended.

“Former world chess champion and now 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 Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, the Friday supplement to the Bavarian newspaper of the same name.

In Russia, according to the grandmaster, he would hardly face imprisonment, but his international passport could be taken away, as “happens with many opposition politicians in Moscow,” and this would mean for Kasparov “the collapse of his entire life,” since the main source of his earnings - “reports on logical thinking and success strategies”, 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 any longer. I would willingly take this risk if I was left to my own devices, but next year I I am running for the presidency of FIDE. To do this, I will need to travel around the world to introduce myself to various national associations. Taking high risks as a politician would be dishonest on my part towards those who finance my candidacy in the world of chess. In addition, Moreover, from abroad I can cause much more trouble than from Moscow. A won trial in Strasbourg will help opposition politicians more than me being locked up in Moscow." Kasparov believes that his October victory in this court has “symbolic” significance and “will one day help 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 Russians,” explained the oppositionist). Living in the USA is “convenient,” Kasparov admitted, but he misses his homeland and the Russian language.

The head of the United Civil Front said that during his last arrest after another protest, he was injured: “Because of this, my elbow still hurts when I write or lift my bag to put it on the luggage rack on the plane. ". At the request of the correspondent, the interlocutor of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin briefly spoke about his only administrative arrest, noting that his experience is “ridiculous” compared to the situation in which, for example, Mikhail Khodorkovsky 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 a chessboard. At first I thought that he wanted to ask me for an autograph, but then I had a bad feeling premonition. I was surprised by the smell emanating from the board, it was brand new, and who would sign an autograph on a board they had just bought? 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 fight back, that's why two cameras were installed there. This incident became a warning for me. The very next day I hired professional bodyguards."

The ex-champion rejected the assumption that he is running for FIDE president because he is bored with the political struggle: “I will continue to fight injustice... Putin is a problem not only for Russia. Any dictator poisons the lives of neighboring countries. But Putin is much more worse than the Belarusian Lukashenko: Putin is everywhere, he controls more money than anyone in the history of mankind, and does not hesitate to bribe the sympathy of entrepreneurs and politicians. He supports the most brutal regimes around the world. Without him, Assad would not have been able to kill tens of thousands of his fellow citizens. "Putin is a problem, and the problem is growing because every dictator wants to spread his power. Putin is becoming more defiant because he sees no one who can stop him."

Chess players joke

Photo caption. Kasparov and first wife Maria

Royal bounty

In 1989 in Paris, in a rapid chess tournament using the knockout system, Kasparov and Korchnoi met in one of the semi-finals. Both main games ended peacefully, and according to the position, the third blitz game was played, and in it White needed a victory, and Black was satisfied with a draw. Black went to Korchnoi, he achieved the desired result and reached the final. But then Judge Giessen, interested in Kasparov ending up in the final, in violation of the rules, forced his partners to sit down at the board again, and actually put Harry on trial. This time Kasparov won and made it to the finals, where he prevailed over Short. Of course, the judge was to blame for the fact that Korchnoi suffered financially, but Harry felt awkward and found a way out of the conflict situation. When the prizes were awarded at the closing of the tournament, he without further ado gave Korchnoi 16 thousand dollars in cash - that much Viktor Lvovich would have been guaranteed in the final...

All world champions love money, but only Kasparov parted with it so generously...

Magic Sweater

In 1981, the world youth team championship was held in Austria. After the victory of the Soviet team, Kasparov, its leader, purchased a dozen red and white sweaters with large numbers “85” on the chest - as gifts to everyone who intends to help him in the fight for the champion title. “What is this strange number? - asked his coach Alexander Nikitin, putting on a sweater. “If you expect to play a duel for the crown, then the next one will take place only three years later, in 1984, and the next one three years later, and it is unlikely that FIDE President Campomanes will break the calendar for you.” “We’ll wait and see,” Harry smiled mysteriously. “For now, let’s assume that I took these sweaters because of the sum of the numbers, 8+5=13.” Indeed, the devil's dozen is a lucky number for Kasparov, who was born on April 13 and was subsequently proclaimed the 13th world champion. But, apparently, Harry was cunning - even then he had the gift of providence... And in fact, Kasparov became the chess king in the second, extraordinary match with Karpov in 1985!

Women's duel

In 1984, even before the marathon with Karpov, Kasparov began an affair with the popular actress of the Sovremennik Theater Marina Neyolova. They met while visiting a famous married couple - pianist Vladimir Krainev and figure skating coach Tatyana Tarasova. Although Harry was sixteen years younger, he managed to win Marina’s heart and fell seriously in love. Their relationship lasted for about two years, but the question of marriage, apparently, did not arise. Harry lived in Baku with his mother, and whenever he was in Moscow, he would certainly visit Marina. She was assigned the role of a second, Moscow mother: her chess talent needed female tutelage. Neyolova was a homebody, and Kasparov loved to sparkle in society, especially with such a beautiful lady, and the famous artist, in order to please him, went to meet him halfway.

It is not known how long this relationship would have lasted, but Klara Shagenova, Harry’s mother, was tired of sharing her son with another woman, and she convinced him that for the sake of his career he had to break up with Neyolova. Of the two mature and experienced competitors, the mother won...

Second try

In 1986, Kasparov met a graduate of the Romano-Germanic department of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, Maria Arapova, who worked as a guide-translator at Intourist. A pretty blonde with pleasant manners, a good education and a prestigious job - all with a plus sign. They dated for three years and finally got married. In 1992, Harry’s wife gave birth to a daughter, Polina, and the birth took place in Finland, where Maria’s parents were on a business trip at the time. Alas, after five years of cloudless happiness, “the family boat crashed into everyday life.” There is a version that the spouses were ruined by the “housing problem.” When the time came to buy a new home in the center of Moscow, Masha made an unforgivable mistake by suggesting that her husband buy a separate apartment for Klara Shagenovna in the building next door. The loving mother, who always lived with her son under the same roof and could not imagine anything else, could not tolerate such deceit. The divorce process was long and difficult. Maria was not satisfied with the generous allowance that Kasparov assigned to her and Polina. The wife said that she was disappointed in the chess player who was fighting with her for square meters, as with Karpov for the fields of a 64-square board. Having hired experienced lawyers, she presented claims to Harry for each item of income, demanding the division of all property “accumulated during their life together.” It seems that the main reason for the divorce was the wife’s desire to go abroad, while maintaining a high material level at Harry’s expense. In the end, Maria went with her daughter and parents to America, where Harry bought them a very comfortable house in New Jersey. The daughter is already more than twenty years old, she is a student at Columbia University, but Kasparov still supports Polina and her mother.

Latvian trace

For several years, Kasparov was a bachelor and was one of the most eligible bachelors. Lucky was the beautiful Yulia Vovk, a tall, long-legged girl whom Harry met in 1995 in Riga at the Tal Memorial: she was nineteen, he was thirty-two. A year later, the wedding took place (although there was no official registration of the marriage). Soon the young wife gave her husband a son, Vadim. “Are you going to quit chess?” - Harry was asked every now and then. “Not before my son sees my victory on stage! - came the answer, - he must realize who his father is.

In 2000, Kasparov lost to Kramnik, for several years all his attempts to play a rematch were in vain, and in 2005, disappointed with the situation, Harry made a sensational statement that he was leaving big chess, abandoning the fight for the return of the crown and switching to politics . However, parting with his beloved chess, Harry managed to please his son - at the end of 2004 he won the “missing” title of Russian champion. Vadim was present in the hall and, as Kasparov had planned, he saw with his own eyes what an outstanding father he had. Moreover, it was the son who received the gold medal - a valuable toy! But time flies quickly, Vadim is already eighteen, he is a tall guy, a giant, almost two meters tall.

It is important to note here that Julia is a native of Riga, has Latvian citizenship, and thanks to this, Vadim has a residence permit, and he often visits Riga. In 2013, these circumstances played an important role in the fact that Kasparov himself asked to be granted Latvian citizenship (of course, retaining Russian citizenship)! Thus, if the Latvian Seimas had made a positive decision, then a chess king would again appear in Riga (the first was Mikhail Tal). However, in 2014, Kasparov received Croatian citizenship, became a full-fledged European, and the question of Riga registration disappeared by itself...

(to be continued)