One of the greatest chess players of all time and leading pro-democracy Russian campaigner Garry Kasparov explains why he believes Vladimir Putin is a threat to democracy and global peace.
Kasparov retired from chess in 2005 to lead the pro-democracy opposition to Putin and is a longstanding critic of the Russian president. He argues that Putin is still fighting the Cold War while the Americans have long forgotten its lessons. Kasparov explains why he believes the world must make a forceful economic and diplomatic stand against Putin and not recognise him and negotiate with him.
Kasparov was the world’s number one chess player for 20 years and considered by many to be the greatest of all time. He became the youngest ever undisputed world champion at the age of 22. Since retirement in 2005 he has devoted his time to politics and writing. He was forced to abandon his bid for the 2008 Russian presidency, blaming ‘official obstruction’. In 2012, he succeeded Vaclav Havel as chairman of the Human Rights Foundation. He is also author of How Life Imitates Chess, which was translated into 26 languages, and many other works on chess. He currently lives in exile in New York.
He is introduced by John Thornhill, former deputy editor and now innovation editor of the Financial Times.
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