Chess king Kasparov goads Putin with ‘alternative summit’
By Adrian Blomfield

The Daily Telegraph, UK
July 11 2006

(Filed: 11/07/2006)

Garry Kasparov was furious as he strode into the Moscow boardroom of
his new political movement, the United Civic Front. Flopping into
a chair, he gesticulated towards a giant map of Russia covered in
red labels.

"They are detaining our delegates all over the country," he said. "At
least 20 arrests that we know of and two guys badly beaten in
Kaliningrad."

Garry Kasparov Since he swapped chess for opposition politics a year
ago, Mr Kasparov has been transformed from one of Russia’s all-time
heroes to one of the Kremlin’s most hated men.

Today he will seek to goad President Vladmir Putin still further when
he plays co-host to an "alternative G8" summit, four days before the
leaders of the real thing meet in St Petersburg.

The Kremlin is worried that the chess master’s conference will upset
the carefully co-ordinated public relations drive before the summit,
the first time it has been held in Russia.

Igor Shuvalev, Mr Putin’s envoy to the group of eight industrialised
nations, has said that attendance by fellow members at the alternative
meeting would be seen as "an unfriendly gesture".

Reflecting the souring relationship between the White House and the
Kremlin, Washington is sending two senior State Department officials.

Britain, normally more timid about upsetting Moscow, is sending its
Moscow ambassador, Anthony Brenton.

Mr Kasparov, 43, said he hoped the two-day meeting would act as "a
mirror on the reality of Russia" for the G8, demonstrating that Mr
Putin was an autocrat intent on erasing the freedoms won since the
collapse of communism.

He believes that the alternative G8 could persuade Russia’s bickering
opposition to unite against Mr Putin.

"This meeting represents the coming together of the Left-wing and the
Right-wing opposition," he said. "If we succeed, we can no longer
be dismissed as marginals or puppets of the West. That is why the
Kremlin is so afraid. Our unification is their greatest fear." Even
if Mr Kasparov succeeds in unifying the opposition, he will have a
hard time getting his message across. It is a fair bet that state
television is unlikely to give the alternative summit much airtime.

Besides, the opposition has almost no presence in parliament, while
activist groups which could help Mr Kasparov put his message out have
been subjected to strict controls.

Then there is Mr Putin’s popularity. Polls suggest that he enjoys a 70
per cent approval rating. That could be because so few Russians are
allowed to hear any criticism of him but also because the economy,
aided by high oil prices, is thriving.

Mr Kasparov, ranked as the world’s leading chess player for 20 years,
is no longer feted as he once was. He has been pelted with eggs and
an elderly woman once cracked a chessboard over his head. Having
an Armenian mother and a Jewish father is also seen as a serious
impediment for anyone harbouring presidential ambitions.

Yet the Kremlin seems to fear him – if not as a challenger in his
own right, as someone with the determination and charisma to unite
the opposition.

The authorities have made great efforts to stop him giving talks during
tours of the regions, where rally venues have been double-booked and
speeches have had to be abandoned because of mysterious fire alerts.

Mr Kasparov is reticent about whether his ambitions include running
for president.

"It is not yet on anyone’s agenda," he said. "We are trying first to
ensure a free and fair election that will allow us to regain pride
in our country."

The odds may be against him if he does try but he has stared down
rivals in the past, most famously when, aged 22, he came back from 5-0
down in an epic world championship match with Anatoly Karpov in 1984/5.

The match was abandoned after five months but Mr Kasparov eventually
snatched the crown from his greatest rival in 1986.