Kasparov chess player biography. Kasparov hid the family secret for many years. Chess player and information technology

Garry Kasparov is the “Great and Terrible” chess player, who is called the greatest player in the chess world. Eight-time winner of the Chess Olympiads, 13th world chess champion, 11-time chess Oscar winner. In 2005, he left professional sports for politics and led the opposition coalition “The Other Russia,” whose goal was to restore democracy in the country. Today, the great chess player is an outspoken oppositionist, accusing the Russian authorities of illegality and participation in the armed conflict in Donbass.

Childhood and youth

Garry Kimovich Kasparov was born on April 13, 1963 in the capital of Azerbaijan into a family of intellectuals. The nationality of the chess player has repeatedly caused controversy in Soviet society and sports circles. It is known that Kasparov is of Jewish origin on his father’s side and Armenian on his mother’s side. Kim Moiseevich and Klara Shagenovna, the grandmaster's parents, were considered the elite of Baku society.

The parents of the future chess king worked as engineers and were also seriously interested in playing chess. Therefore, the chess genius’s passion for this sport began from birth - already at the age of five, young Harry began to learn the game from a professional coach.

As a child, the future world champion devoted all his free time to chess, which became the meaning of life for him, because from a young age Kasparov was not interested in toys or the street, he was only interested in chess, books and newspapers. At the age of 12, the young prodigy became the USSR champion in chess among youths, and at 17 he received the title of master of sports. At the same time, the young world champion graduated from school with a gold medal and entered the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, where the “medalist” was enrolled after a single exam, which the young man passed with a solid “A”.

In 1980, the already star chess player won the title of chess king of the world and grandmaster, which became the starting point in the great career of a chess player. His professional coach was his own mother, who, after the death of her husband in 1970, devoted her life to her only son and his career. Klara Shagenovna (according to Aida’s passport) traveled with Harry to different countries of the world and solved the chess player’s everyday problems, becoming his main adviser and assistant. Then the woman decided to change not only her son’s nationality, but also her surname - from then on, the Jewish chess player Weinstein became the Armenian Kasparov.

Chess career

Garry Kasparov's professional sports career is full of victories and awards. For 13 years, the greatest chess player was the constant leader of the prestigious Elo rating with 2800 points, and thanks to numerous victories at world chess championships, he took his place in the ranking of the best professionals.

In 1990, after the start of massacres against Armenians, Garry Kasparov had to leave Baku and move to Moscow. In 1993, he decided to leave FIDE and create the “Professional Chess Association”. Since then, the world has seen a division of the world chess champion title, but this did not prevent the “Great and Terrible” from strengthening his position on the throne of chess Olympus.

In 1996, the world chess champion created the virtual chess “Kasparov Club,” which became popular on the Internet, and in 1999, Garry Kasparov won a match against all users of the World Wide Web, organized by Microsoft. Then the tense and exciting game of the chess king with amateur chess players, which lasted four months, was watched by more than 3 million people. This is the best viewership figure in the history of virtual chess sports.

In 2005, Garry Kasparov announced that he was leaving professional sports for politics, as he had achieved everything he wanted in chess. Then the grandmaster noted that in Russian politics there are many colonels and generals, but little intelligence, so he decided to use his ability for strategic thinking to help his homeland and make a valuable contribution to the development of Russia. Despite this, the brilliant athlete in the chess world is perceived as a person with imagination, original ideas and subtle calculations, and is also called a professional who surprised fans with effective play and unique solutions.

Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue

In 1996, the American corporation IBM invited Garry Kasparov to play against the chess supercomputer Deep Blue. The developers assured that the program is capable of evaluating up to 200 million positions per second, promptly making the right moves.

The Russian representative won the first meeting with a score of 4:2, but lost in the first game. Kasparov's defeat in the match against Deep Blue is the first time a computer has won a game against a human.

In 1997, the second batch of the meeting took place. The game was extremely interesting, because in one situation the chess player found himself in a difficult situation, sacrificed a pawn, and Deep Blue thought about the 37th move, spending a full 15 minutes on “thinking”, although he had previously stopped in action for only three minutes. Nevertheless, after the 45th move, the Russian chess player gave up.

Kasparov did not accept defeat, demanding to see the game’s log file, but IBM refused to show the necessary documents. According to the grandmaster, in several cases there was human intervention, and the computer was helped from outside, since the program played intermittently, sometimes choosing moves that were uncharacteristic of a technological device.

World champion

In 1985, Kasparov became the 13th world champion in the history of chess, defeating. The fight, which took place in Moscow, would later be called an example of an enchanting game.

Kasparov managed to win the first game by using White's little-used continuation in the Nimzowitsch Defense. In turn, Karpov took the lead, taking over his opponent in games 4 and 5, but the next 5 ended in a draw. Game 16 turned out to be a turning point, in which Kasparov used the gambit variation and won a spectacular victory.

Garry Kasparov managed to become the youngest world champion at 22 years, 6 months and 27 days. In 2013, the world championship was won by a chess player from Norway, who was also under 23 years old, but the Scandinavian was several months older than the Russian.

Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov

Since 1994, Garry Kasparov had a serious rivalry with chess player Anatoly Karpov, who became his main competitor on the world chess arena. “The Two Ks,” as the rivalry between Karpov and Kasparov was called in the chess world, over 6 years they played 5 world championship matches, playing 144 games, during which the chess king managed to beat his opponent and prove his superiority. These games remain in the memory of fans today.

The beginning of the era of the great chess confrontation is said to be September 1984, when in Moscow the world chess championship match between Anatoly Karpov, the then world champion, and Garry Kasparov, the winner of the candidates competition. This match became the longest in the history of world championships, because the meeting lasted 48 games. Karpov was recognized as the unofficial winner of the meeting.

1985 was a successful year for Kasparov. The fight in the capital of the Soviet Union ended in victory for Garry Kimovich.

After this, the Soviet chess players officially met three more times. The rematch, which took place in 1986 in London and Leningrad, again turned out to be triumphant for Kasparov.

In 1987, the masters held another game in Seville. The confrontation was tense, because Karpov won the meeting by one point. Nevertheless, Kasparov made every effort to equalize the score. This allowed him to retain his world title.

In 1990, Kasparov continued his victorious march. The matches in New York and Lyon ended in victory for the chess player with a score of 12.5:11.5.

After a series of championship confrontations, chess players played each other more than once, but not in championship matches, but in official and unofficial tournaments.

Policy

After leaving professional sports, the great chess player created and led the opposition movement “United Civil Front”, whose work was aimed at opposing the current Russian authorities. This is how Kasparov’s political biography began. Then he and his associates loudly opposed the policies of the President of the Russian Federation and organized numerous “Dissent Marches,” for which he was repeatedly detained by the police.

In 2008, Kasparov created the opposition democratic movement “Solidarity” and began working to organize protest rallies for Putin’s resignation. But since the chess player’s ideas did not receive support and coverage in the media, he failed to become a member of the Opposition Coordination Council - in the elections, Kasparov was beaten, who received more votes.

In 2013, Garry Kasparov stated that he did not intend to return to Russia, continuing to fight “Kremlin crimes” at the international level. In March 2014, Kasparov’s website, which openly published calls for illegal work and mass events, was blocked by Roskomnadzor.

After the events in Ukraine, Garry Kasparov began to openly support the new Kyiv government and accuse Russia of illegal annexation of Crimea and participation in the armed conflict in Donbass. At the same time, the great chess player calls on the West to increase pressure on President Putin, and considers sanctions against the Russian Federation adequate and rational. In December 2014, the opposition politician visited Kyiv and gave a simultaneous game to volunteers and the Ukrainian military in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In 2015, Kasparov published the book “Winter is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped,” in which the politician presented his vision of the problems of modern Russia, the country’s place on the geopolitical map of the world, and also criticized the actions of the Russian leader. In the new edition, the oppositionist also specifically dismissed the role of President of the United States from 1981 to 1989, positively assessing the American’s merits in defeating the “Evil Empire.”

Personal life

Garry Kasparov's personal life is no less eventful than his sports career and social and political activities. The chess king was married three times.

Kasparov’s first wife in 1989 was Intourist guide-translator Maria Arapova, who, like the mother of the world chess champion, devoted her entire life to her husband. In 1992, a daughter, Polina, was born into the Kasparov family, but soon the family union cracked, and the couple had to divorce on the initiative of Garry Kimovich. The divorce proceedings with Kasparov’s first wife lasted a year and a half. Now Maria and Polina live in America.

The chess player married 18-year-old student Yulia Vovk for the second time. In 1996, Kasparov’s second wife gave birth to his son, Vadim. After 9 years, the second marriage of the world chess champion also broke up.

Immediately after the divorce, the chess king again plunged into a love relationship. This time, Garry Kimovich's chosen one was socialite Daria Tarasova, who is 20 years younger than Kasparov. In 2005, Harry Kimovich married Daria, who gave him a daughter, Aida, who was named after the chess player’s mother. In July 2015, the Kasparov family was replenished with an heir - Daria gave birth to her husband’s son Nikolai.

In addition to official relations, Garry Kasparov also had close relationships with a theater and film actress, who gave birth to the chess player’s daughter Nika. But at the request of her mother, the chess king refused to recognize her, despite the fact that the girl resembles her father like “two peas in a pod.” Today the artist and her daughter are in California.

Now

In 2017, the ex-world chess champion continues to actively participate in political processes. Interesting publications and thoughts of Kasparov can be found in the microblogging service

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov now lives in exile in New York. From there, he organizes resistance to Putin and predicts a new cold war with Moscow. Meeting with enemy number one of the Russian state.

yu york. In the room where we meet with Garry Kasparov, there is a billiard table. Quite unexpected for such a famous chess player. In general, the location of the interview looks somewhat ridiculous. Kasparov talks to us in what looks like a hotel reception area, a luxurious but impersonal room where no one actually lives. However, it is there, in a beautiful building on New York's Broadway, that the most famous Russian dissident now lives. “I feel a little safer here in the US,” Kasparov tells me, with emphasis on “a little.” He knows that he has become enemy number one for Putin's Russia. “During the collapse of communism in 1989 or in 1990-1991, under Yeltsin and Gorbachev, during the collapse of the USSR, no one - certainly not me - could even imagine that we would see the return of the KGB, political police and secret operations , he says. - However, this is exactly the face of today's Russia. This is a dictatorship. The country is ruled by the KGB. Putin is a former KGB officer, and we all returned to the starting point, as if there was no overthrow of communism.” This is precisely the leitmotif of our conversation, which is intertwined with the main line of Kasparov’s new book “Winter is Coming.” Before coming to this anonymous apartment, Kasparov made an appointment for me at the intersection of two streets with Broadway. His address must remain confidential. However, the most titled chess player in the world is not at all paranoid. And although he no longer has the bodyguards in America that followed him relentlessly in Russia, he still worries about his safety. He knows that he has become one of the main, if not the main target of the regime. And he takes precautions. Which is completely justified. At the entrance to the house he is greeted by the concierge. Kasparov receives guests at his place, but makes appointments on the street. Caution never hurts. “I didn't commit any crimes. I’m only being threatened because of freedom of speech because I criticize Putin.” Last time we saw the chess player in Rome, he was wearing jeans and simple clothes. In New York, he meets us in a great suit. He looks wiser, but the sharpness of his character has not gone away, although it seems to be covered with soft cloth, like the billiard table near which we are having a conversation. It must be said that Kasparov has come a long way. During the Soviet era, the young chess player flirted with the Komsomol (like all ambitious young Soviet stars). During perestroika and Gorbachev, he cautiously moved towards liberalism and democracy, and began to dream about the future of the country. After the collapse of communism, he sided with Boris Yeltsin. But, as he admits in his book, he was quickly disappointed. As a democrat to the core, Kasparov invariably advocated pluralism, freedom of assembly and the press. He changed parties, but he always remained true to his democratic convictions. Vladimir Putin naturally stood in his way. Doubts arose immediately, but now acute hatred came later. At first, the former KGB officer caused alarm, but still kept secrets. Be that as it may, the worst did not take long to happen. “Putin very quickly swung towards dictatorship,” Kasparov sums up. Political field Relying on his popularity (250,000 Facebook friends and 160,000 Twitter followers), Kasparov quickly became the leader of demonstrations against the new Russian Tsar. A right-winger (if such a term makes sense in post-communist Russia), he became the face of the United Civil Front and then one of the leaders of the openly anti-Putin Other Russia movement. The grandmaster, who dominated the black and white chess field for so many years, turned out to be part of another, political game. After a series of arrests (during a short stay in prison he received support from his long-time rival Anatoly Karpov), Kasparov began to understand the heavy hand of the FSB, the new Russian political police that replaced the former KGB. He decided to take security measures, hired bodyguards and stopped flying Aeroflot flights - he was so afraid of an assassination attempt. Return of the KGB In 2008, he became an opposition candidate in the presidential elections, but was forced to withdraw his candidacy during the campaign due to press censorship and constant threats. Kasparov realized that political life is not a game of chess. In any case, he lost the first game. Which almost never happened to him. In a wave of bitterness and threats, he came to believe that there was no democracy in Russia and decided to leave. And since the Americans gave him a green card, he settled in the USA. At first glance, this is a convenient link. Only now, in his apartment in Manhattan, Kasparov found himself, in some way, under the tutelage of Moscow. The fact is that the FSB is watching him even here in New York. Putin went through the school of special services and knows how to get his way. The Russian leader may even have waged an entire diplomatic campaign, relying on Russian agencies, to force Kasparov out of international chess organizations, in particular from the International Chess Federation (this is confirmed by an investigation by The New York Times). Garry Kasparov has dual citizenship, but he is not American. For reasons of political security (and he fears that he might one day be deprived of his Russian passport), in 2014 he received Croatian citizenship in addition to Russian. And he became a European citizen. Putin mocked him for preferring English to Russian. “I still have a Russian passport, but the problem for me is not going back to Russia, but rather whether I can leave if I go to Moscow,” says Kasparov. He did not forget that part of his family remained in Russia. First of all, this concerns his mother Clara Kasparova. From time to time they meet with her in some third country (the last time it was in Croatia). At the same time, his two youngest children, Aida and Nikolai, were already born in the USA and live with him on Broadway. Young chess player Garry Kasparov (real name: Garik Kimovich Weinstein) has been playing chess seriously since he was seven years old. At the age of 13, he already represented the USSR at the international level, and in 1985 he won the world champion title at the age of 22, becoming a star of planetary proportions. He was born in Azerbaijan in the family of a Jew and an Armenian woman, and his name is still heard on five continents. Such success could not help but turn his head. Inflated ego? May be. Vanity? In any case, he has every reason to do so.

Kasparov, a living legend, talks with heads of state. He is greeted at airports like Lady Gaga. He constantly has to sign autographs, and with the widespread use of smartphones, he also has to take selfies all day long. Throughout the year he lectures all over the world (this, by the way, is the main source of income: his fees amount to thousands of dollars). He published a book with the pretentious title “Garry Kasparov and Garry Kasparov.” For a long time, the chess champion was characterized by narcissism and egocentrism.

Be that as it may, few stars of his level manage to curb their vanity and take control of their ego. Instead of thinking only about himself, Kasparov decided to serve others. Perhaps start a fight for a lost cause. This was a manifestation of rare courage and changes almost unprecedented for his environment. His turn contradicted conventional logic. Why did Kasparov take such a risk? Why did you put your life at risk? The chess player could live quietly with his name and fortune, lead a carefree and lazy existence, like many other stars before him. He could have shut his mouth and enjoyed his fame, comparable to the laurels of the first man on the moon. Instead, Garry Kasparov said “enough is enough.” Did he feel the need to act, as in zugzwang, or did the urgent desire to play rise above all, despite the lack of all the necessary conditions? In any case, he went to war with Putin. The self-centered champion decided to put his own popularity on the line to defend the Russian democratic project. But was the game worth the candle? In the past, he had the opportunity to defeat another legendary grandmaster Anatoly Karpov more than once: “Westerner” against “Stalinist”. However, in the new game, more than just winning or losing is at stake: life is at stake. Kasparov has something in common with Solzhenitsyn. Like the famous rebel writer who, thanks to his single book “The Gulag Archipelago,” became “the most implacable fighter” against the world created by the Soviet regime (as the French historian Francois Furet described it), Kasparov experienced a surge of cold extravagance. Critics will say that such radical opposition to Putin and willingness to take risks became a way for him to assert himself. But to accept such a conclusion would mean forgetting about the physical threat, the hardships of exile and simply courage. Courage, which echoes the courage of Pasternak, Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn, is a true symbol of Russia, which has produced many dictators and famous dissidents. Life and freedom Garry Kasparov is not the only political opponent of Putin, but he is definitely one of the most prominent and vocal (especially among those who are still alive and free). His comrade Boris Nemtsov, a famous blogger and dissident, a well-known fighter against Putin, was killed four times in the back in February 2015 near the Kremlin. Like journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who lost her life because of her coverage of the Chechen war and fierce criticism of the Caucasian authorities. Pussy Riot punk feminists who dared to ridicule Putin had to spend more than one month in prison. Blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was the target of a brutal attack on May 17. The founder of VKontakte, Pavel Durov, was kicked out of his own company, and now he lives in exile in Europe, Asia and America as a “digital nomad.” As for the tireless Russian human rights activist Tatyana Lokshina, who at the time of our interview headed the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch, she told me the following: “Russia is starting to move in a very bad direction. There is no rule of law. Activists are being tortured in the North Caucasus. The TV channels are in the hands of the regime. The Orthodox Church has an abnormally large influence on Kremlin policy. The trial is unfair." After this conversation, Lokshina also had to flee the country out of fear for her life. Those who now criticize the war in Ukraine or the annexation of Crimea in Moscow are taking a considerable risk. Freedom of speech is melting away like shagreen leather in Putin's cynical and corrupt system, which is a strange mixture of soft and (to a much greater extent) brute force: vodka, gas oligarchs, Botox and nuclear codes. Europe's naivety Our first conversation with Garry Kasparov took place in the fall of 2015 at the Book Fair in Rome. The living chess legend came there to present his new book, “Winter is Coming,” which has been translated into four dozen languages. Already at that meeting, Kasparov turned out to be, first of all, not the brilliant chess player and exceptional speaker that I imagined him to be, but a politician. He looked for arguments and allies and fought. He did not have the carelessness of other writers. And even then he began to criticize Europe. At a pool table in New York, his words sound even harsher. In general, he is no longer turning to Putin, because he no longer expects anything from him: Kasparov speaks to the West and addresses him with the most bitter criticism. “Nobody listened to us. Americans and Europeans chose to continue dialogue with Putin rather than see a dictatorship in the making. Just business as usual." For all those diplomats, intellectuals and journalists who cannot penetrate the foggy veil of Putinism, he offers a crystal-clear analysis. The war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea only confirm the correctness of those who have long been a voice crying in the Siberian desert. In the conversation, Kasparov again recalls his murdered friends (Nemtsov, Politkovskaya, etc.) and those who were forced to leave the country. “Before our eyes, a new type of dictatorship is being formed,” he says. - This is a more dexterous and arbitrary dictatorship than in the past. Corruption is endemic. Total and most complex propaganda was launched inside the country and abroad.” Garry Kasparov quickly gestures, as if he is playing a game at an accelerated pace. His frightening gaze is directed somewhere into the distance: “Putin is a real grandmaster. Inside the country, he keeps everything under control. The propaganda is massive and aggressive. He controls all the media. The Internet is increasingly being blocked and censored, with fake sites and rumors spreading. In foreign policy, Putin brilliantly plays on the weaknesses of Western democracies. Democracies are fragile, and Putin knows this very well.” During our first meeting in Rome, Kasparov spoke to me about Marine Le Pen. He wanted to understand whether she had a chance of being elected in France. In New York, he again raises this topic (he has apparently studied the issue better since then): “The National Front wants to destroy Europe. The far right understands perfectly well what they want in France. Putin knows this too. He helps them. He knows who his allies are in Europe." According to him, confrontation between Russia and Europe is “inevitable” while “the brutality of the regime is increasing.” He also shares his disgust for Nicolas Sarkozy - his connections with Putin's entourage lead Kasparov to despair. If Kasparov prefers chess games with their clear rules, Putin, in his words, plays poker, where they “bluff” and there are “no rules.” And a brawl and war are probably exactly what “Putin wants.” “He supports destabilizing forces in European countries, and this is just the beginning.” Does a pessimistic chess player become a kind of Cassadra who prophesies even darker times? He speaks of “coming dangers,” “the forces of evil that are fueled by the status quo.” A new Cold War has begun in Russia, and as the title of his book says, “winter is coming.” Is he too much of a pessimist? Or even paranoid? Even some dissident friends tell him this. They believe that he looks at everything too radically, paints a black and white picture. Others are confident that he is looking to the future, that Putin has found in Kasparov an equal strategist who is always ready to decipher his next move. A rematch In the near future, Kasparov will visit Germany, Spain, Israel and France. In parallel with this, he is promoting chess. Of course, he no longer participates in official competitions: he said goodbye to professional sports in 2005. But they say that he still plays anonymously online for his own pleasure. Officially, he tries to draw attention to chess with the help of the Kasparov Chess Foundation created in the USA and plays only as part of events in support of associations, educational and public programs. He does not skimp and wants to raise worthy successors. So, it was he who trained the current world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2009-2010. And here he intends to take revenge on Putin. In November 2016, the young Norwegian genius Carlsen will compete in New York with a certain Sergey Karjakin. Karyakin, 26, was born in Ukraine but received a Russian passport. Now he looks like Kasparov's heir. But only externally. Because Karjakin is a staunch supporter of the Kremlin, its militant views on Crimea and homophobic prejudices. Finally, he is a Putin fan through and through, as evidenced by his Twitter and Instagram pages. The Karjakin-Carlsen game could be a remake of the great chess battles of the 1980s between Kasparov and Karpov, as well as a proxy confrontation between Kasparov and Putin. The Incredible Strategist In anticipation of the symbolic autumn match, Kasparov continues on his way. And he reads more and more lectures on strategy and the ability to make quick decisions. Heads of companies large and small listen to his advice in awe. His favorite topics include the relationship between man and machine. Be that as it may, Kasparov will remain in history as an incredible strategist who was able to fight back against the machine. In 1999, he played over the Internet with 50,000 chess players from 75 countries and won in 62 moves. At the same time, he fought with supercomputers as they improved technically. He managed to defeat machines that ran on hundreds of processors and could calculate more than 100 million moves (Deep Thought, Fritz 3 and Deep Blue). He then drew with Deep Junior and X3D Fritz, and eventually lost to more modern entries like Chess Genius 2.9 and Deeper Blue. The machine still turned out to be beyond his skills. But it is not important. Businesses from all over the world look to him for strategic advice, and his books on chess are still international bestsellers. His playing style, which became famous for his unique combinations with big “sacrifices” (the bishops he sacrificed became legends), is still discussed all over the world. Today he is perceived not as a player, but as an intellectual, a theorist who revolutionized the game. Garry Kasparov calmly escorts me into the lobby of the house. Along the way, he shows me a luxurious gym and a sun-drenched, flower-filled patio where he can take an afternoon nap on a sun lounger. At the entrance he greets the concierge again by name. There is some kind of hidden extravagance in him, despite the fact that in Solzhenitsyn it was clearly expressed, and in Sakharov it was of a calculated and patient nature. Standing in front of me is a great chess player who has become a great politician. His commitment to human rights, love for Russia, fight for freedom and truth - all this inspires respect. For this reason alone he is worthy of admiration. Perhaps Kasparov the chess player will go down in history again, this time as a politician. Can he defeat Putin? In the near future, probably not. In truth, both of them take defeats painfully. The former KGB spy no longer intends to lose, and the chess player is not going to just let him win. As I leave, I ask one last question to this man who is afraid of losing the most important game. I ask him how long he thinks Putin will remain in power. He looks at me with a stern, frightening gaze: “Putin doesn’t believe in elections. He will never leave power. This is a dictator. President for life."

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.

The life of the famous chess genius Garry Kasparov is as varied as his analytical mind is brilliant. Victories in chess that excited the world, sudden departure at the peak of fame, literary and political activities are only a small part of the achievements of the great grandmaster. Truly, the great representatives of humanity are multifaceted and talented in everything.

Childhood

On April 13, 1963, Baku heard the cry of a baby of the future chess champion. Parents, Weinstein Kim Moiseevich and Kasparyan Klara Shagenovna, were immensely happy. Both were people with engineering specialties, but loved to while away the evenings playing chess.

Little Garik Kasparov (a chess player in the future) from an early age demonstrated a remarkable intelligence and grasped everything on the fly. Unnoticed by everyone, the curious baby watched the chess battles of mom and dad, absorbing all sorts of tricks and solutions like a sponge. One day, completely unexpectedly, at the age of 5, he suggested a way out of a chess problem that his parents were puzzling over. At that moment, Kim Moiseevich saw a future champion in his son.

In 1970, after the death of his father, a little chess lover begins to visit a section of the local Pioneer Palace. In the first year of study he receives the 3rd category and the road to international competitions opens up for him.

From this moment on, constant travel begins. Kasparov (chess player), whose nationality was Jewish from birth, at that time had the sonorous surname Weinstein. His mother understood that it would be quite difficult for him to achieve success in chess. And in 1974, the surname was changed to Kasparov. Now little Garik is Armenian. Now this position may seem strange, but at that time it was the only right decision. Anti-Semitic persecution would hardly have allowed a Jew to win and gain fame in the sport of chess.

The first victories of the young chess player

The beginning of his career was quite easy for the little chess player. Success accompanied the talented child. In 1973, at the All-Union Youth Games in Vilnius, Kasparov the chess player found a mentor in the person of the master of sports Alexander Nikitin. Captivated by the young talent, Nikitin gives him a recommendation for admission to a school for in-depth study of chess art under the leadership. Without thinking twice, in the same year, Garik and his mother go to Dubna, where they enroll in studies without any problems. After some time, Botvinnik himself notices the boy and takes him under his wing, providing all possible support.

A year later, Kasparov, a chess player with a capital “C,” became a participant in the USSR Youth Championship for the first time. This time he takes only 7th place, which delights those watching, because the age of the other participants is at least 6 years ahead of the age of the little chess player. The next year, the stubborn child returns to the tournament and wins a brilliant victory. At this moment, the young talent was noticed by the highest circles in the game of chess and since then they have not taken their gaze off, following the achievements of young Garik.

Already at the age of 15, having received a master of sports in chess, the brilliant child participates in the selection for the country's major league. And again he wins. In 1980, at the next tournament in Baku, chess player Garry Kasparov received the title of grandmaster, defeating Igor Zaitsev, the coach of his future opponent Anatoly Karpov.

Fight of two "K"s for the title of "World Champion"

In 1984, Kasparov (chess player) entered into a confrontation with the incumbent Anatoly Karpov. The fight and the desire to become the best consumes both and drags on for 10 years. All this time, the world is watching with tension the battle between the two greatest chess players.

The first fight begins in the fall of 1984. With what attention the whole world is watching the game. The fight has no time limit and the final must be 6 victories of one of the participants. Difficult games and incredible tension do not allow anyone to relax. The fight drags on for 159 days and perhaps could have lasted longer, but the President of the International Chess Federation decides to interrupt the chess battle. The result is a draw and the title, according to the rules, remains with Karpov. It is the epoch-making duel between the two that is included as the first and only unfinished chess battle.

Six months later, Kasparov and Karpov meet again for a decisive battle. This time the match has a limit of 24 games. On November 9, with the score 13:11, Garry Kasparov - a chess player whose biography is interesting to his fans - wins a well-deserved victory and becomes the youngest World Champion. At this moment he is only 22 years old.

Over the next 10 years, two brilliant chess players collide in three more battles. But each of them ends in Kasparov’s victory.

Life of a Champion

Since receiving the title of world chess champion, Kasparov has repeatedly confirmed his unique talent. Wins tournaments, defeats brilliant chess players.

At the same time, Kasparov advocates the opening of the Professional Chess Organization (PSA), which holds a number of matches and tournaments.

In 1993, the chess genius left FIDE (International Chess Organization) and was almost deprived of all titles, titles and place in the world ranking. But some time later, justice triumphs, and the title returns to its rightful owner.

At this time, Harry Kimovich was actively involved in social activities. Opens schools for young talents and supports the development of chess in various countries in every way. The photo of Kasparov the chess player is recognized all over the world.

The fight between man and computer

In 1996, the creators of computer technology challenged the champion and he accepted it without hesitation. Based on curiosity and interest, the genius chess player enters into a battle with the machine. The first match leaves the man victorious, although Kasparov loses one game. And in May 1997, during the second match, Kasparov was defeated and the computer became the winner of the match.

After losing 2 more times, the grandmaster enters into a chess battle with the machine. Both times the result is a draw.

Years later, Kasparov’s interest in computer technology does not fade and several interesting chess programs are released in his name.

Political career

Despite the enormous busyness in developing his sports career, constant training, and traveling, Kasparov is madly attracted to politics.

After the devastating actions in Baku in 1990, the champion moved with his family to Moscow and became involved in the political activities of the country. The chess player advocates the introduction of democracy and promotes the Democratic Party.

At the moment, the political career of the famous chess player is in full swing. A participant in election campaigns, an activist in the creation of parties, the brilliant chess player can no longer imagine life without politics, the main direction of which remains democracy.

Leaving a sports career

The fall of 2000 becomes, to some extent, a milestone in the life of the grandmaster.
As part of the next tournament to identify the leader in the ancient game, he turns out to be more successful and defeats the great chess player. Kasparov ceases to be world champion, but only officially.

After the loss, Garry Kimovich, being a multifaceted personality, is not particularly sad and for another 5 years continues to take part in all kinds of chess tournaments and championships. Naturally, winning numerous victories.

And in 2005 he suddenly announced his intention to end his career as a chess player. It was from this moment that the main direction of his activity became politics, into which Kasparov plunged headlong.

Literary activity

At the beginning of his movement to the chess Olympus, Kasparov quite often wrote articles that were published in various publications.
In addition, he wrote several books on the conduct of chess games and their completion.

In 1987, the autobiography book “Child of Change” was published. The book was published in English and was written not by hand, but by dictation to a local journalist. After which Kasparov published several more books, devoting them to his beloved ancient game.

Personal life

The heart life of the famous chess player is as varied as the directions of his activity in the outside world.

In 1986, he met Maria Arapova. The young and lovers enter into an official union two years later, and after another three years the family is replenished. And a wonderful daughter is born - Polina. But everyday problems, conflicts between his beloved wife and his equally dear mother lead to the collapse of the family, and in 1993 the couple filed for divorce. After some time, the ex-wife and daughter Polina leave the country and currently live in the USA.

Three years later, chess player Garry Kasparov, whose biography is described in the article, begins to develop feelings for a young student and enters into an official marriage with her. Kasparov's son is born. But this marriage does not bring happiness either and ends in divorce in 2005. After which Kasparov marries St. Petersburg resident Daria Tarasova. The marriage produces two children - son Nikolai and daughter Aida.

At the moment, the name of chess player Kasparov is known all over the world. Garry Kimovich remains an unsurpassed master of chess art who has gone down in history. Winner of several chess Oscars and many awards. A man who, with the unshakable tenacity inherent in his strong character, defends his opinion in the world. A person about whom even after the end of his life’s journey they will talk and create legends.

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 1st 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: “Harry 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 advisor 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.