Finding a challenger to Russian president Putin is chess maestro Garry Kasparov's aim, he tells Jamie Smyth, European Correspondent
Garry Kasparov is a charismatic yet pugnacious character. The former world chess champion turned political activist exuded oodles of charm when meeting Europe's political elite this week while simultaneously delivering a savage attack on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In between all the handshakes and backslapping with senior MEPs in Strasbourg, the man known as the "Beast of Baku" for the way he trampled over opponents on the chess board labelled Putin's regime corrupt and accused the Kremlin of murder on his visit to the European Parliament.
"I have no doubt. I believe that those who ordered Litvinenko's poisoning and Politkovskaya's belong to Putin's inner circle," said Kasparov, in a reference to the assassinations of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko and investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya - both prominent critics of the president.
These are bold claims, which the Kremlin denies. But in politics, as with his chess career, Kasparov has not shirked confrontation. In the mid-1980s he rejected KGB pressure, prompted by his bitter rivalry with the communist chess idol Anatoly Karpov, to defect from the Soviet Union. A few years later Kasparov began a 13-year schism in the chess world by setting up a rival international chess body to Fide and staging his own world championship. Now he is seeking regime change in Russia.
Since retiring from chess in 2005 Kasparov has criss-crossed Russia trying to build a political opposition capable of taking on Putin, who he accuses of consolidating his grip on power through repression and censorship.
He is founder of the United Civil Front, a social movement that seeks to preserve electoral democracy, and a member of the Other Russia, an umbrella organisation that contains a diverse group of opponents to Putin. The goal of both groups is to build a political system in Russia that is "immune to the potential virus of dictatorship", says Kasparov, who has given up chess for good to campaign for proper democratic institutions in Russia.
"Mr Putin runs not a country, but a corporation called Russia Ltd or KGB Inc. All his decisions are based on business benefit for him and the ruling elite," he says. "He doesn't inject any ideological elements into his dealings."
In an interview with The Irish Times, Kasparov paints a picture of a ruling elite in Russia obsessed with money and power. Human rights and democracy are under attack from Putin's clique, according to Kasparov, who in recent weeks has organised several public protests to pressure the regime before presidential elections next year.
"We are going to use all our resources, though limited, to . . . ensure the election in March 2008 is not a fake one. We hope Europe will support us in this fight," says Kasparov, who admits that he does not feel safe and employs several bodyguards.
UNDER THE RUSSIAN constitution, Putin must stand down after two terms, in March. But many analysts expect him to anoint one of his clique as a successor and use all arms of the state to ensure that potential challengers cannot win in a presidential election.
This strategy may already be in place. In the past six weeks Russian police have detained Kasparov twice. On April 14th he was arrested for organising an anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow along with 170 other demonstrators. Some 9,000 police attended a march by 5,000 protesters. Kasparov was freed a few hours after arrest.
Last week police prevented him from boarding a flight to an EU-Russia summit in central Russia where he planned to stage another so-called "march of dissent". The reaction of the authorities to both events prompted criticism from EU leaders, who have toughened their stance towards Russia amid concerns over growing repression.
"It is a huge difference now with no more Chirac, Schröder and Berlusconi," says Kasparov, noting that the former French, German and Italian leaders all enjoyed cosy relationships with Putin when in office. "It is already sending waves of fear to Putin's regime . . . They recognise they won't enjoy the same immunity as before." Kasparov used his appearance in Strasbourg to lobby European politicians to do more to press Russia for a free and fair election next year. He also asked them to ostracise Putin and not afford him a propaganda platform that he could use back in Russia.
Kasparov's high profile as a former chess champion, his boundless energy and fluent English have made him a big hit on the world stage, but his credibility as a political force at home in Russia is a major doubt. Rallies held by the Other Russia rarely attract more than a few thousand supporters while the organisation itself is extremely diverse, attracting communists and ultra-nationalists as well as liberals such as Kasparov.
Asked about the group's limited appeal, Kasparov bushy eyebrows visibly bristle.
"Having 5,000 on a Moscow street is more impressive than having 100,000 on Paris streets protesting . . . Joining our demonstration is quite risky because you are facing riot police that have instructions to be cruel to protesters," says Kasparov, who believes that every demonstration is a critical step towards real democracy in Russia.
BUT MANY OBSERVERS of Russia believe Kasparov's plan is having little impact within the country.
"Kasparov is seen as too much of a radical by ordinary Russians. He wants to bring it too quickly towards the West," says Alexander Rahr, an analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. "There is no mood for revolution in Russia."
The inclusion of radical groups such as the Communists and the National Bolsheviks in the Other Russia coalition has alienated some potential challengers to Putin, such as the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko, the latter led by the liberal Grigory Yavlinsky. It also alienates ordinary Russians, whom the polls show want stability, not change.
Putin currently enjoys an 80 per cent approval rating and a majority of people polled say they are happy to accept whichever candidate he decides to anoint next year.
Kasparov dismisses the polls as propaganda. If the media was also completely state controlled in the US, Bush would have 75 per cent approval ratings now, he says.
"I have no doubt Russia will be facing a severe political crisis by the end of the year because of the inability of the current regime to come up with a unified candidate to succeed Putin," says Kasparov, who also predicts that some rival camps within the Kremlin could even join the opposition if they feel they are losing influence.
Irritation is also growing about about the gap between rich and poor, he says.
"For many Russians our calls for restoring the democratic process and cancelling censorship and allowing them to participate in political life . . . will find a lot of support," says Kasparov, who is attempting to moderate between the parties in the Other Russia to find a credible candidate to take on a Putin puppet next March.
So would the former world chess champion line up a run for the top job? "I think I should limit my ambitions this time because I am not the one who can mobilise potential voters from all sides. And also if I engage in this fight for candidacy it would most likely ruin our fragile coalition," says Kasparov.
In any event Kasparov is an unlikely president. Half Jewish, half Armenian and born in Azerbaijan, he is a curious mixture in a conservative and increasingly nationalistic country. And many of the qualities that attract westerners to Kasparov, such as his fluency in English and ease travelling abroad, are not popular in Russia.
"I think he is seen as too much of a westerner for the public," says Masha Lipman, analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Centre. "Chess is also not as popular as it once was."
Kasparov denies that his ethnicity could undermine his public appeal. "For most Russians I am a Soviet chess champion . . . Obviously sometimes people raise the issue, but even the hardline Russian nationalists treat me as an intellectual pride of the country," he says, perhaps feeling that his time could come later.
In the meantime, two candidates from the Other Russia have expressed an interest in challenging in the elections - former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov and former head of the Russian central bank Victor Gerashchenko. Both must be considered long shots given Putin's ironclad grip on power and the media; however, with an energetic and ambitious former chess grandmaster by their side perhaps anything is possible.
Kasparov: move by move
The most gifted chess player of his generation was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1963. He became the youngest-ever world champion at 22 years when he beat Anatoly Karpov in the second of two gruelling matches in 1985. The first match was cancelled in controversial circumstances, with Karpov close to physical collapse. Kasparov (pictured right, playing against the chess supercomputer, Deep Junior, in New York in 2003) claimed that the Soviet regime had interfered to protect Karpov, who was used by the communists as a propaganda tool in the Cold War.
A fiery personality and not known for backing down, Kasparov fought with the chess governing body, Fide, in 1993 and set up his own rival organisation. In 1997 he accused IBM of cheating when its computer, Deep Blue, beat him in a match.
He is twice divorced and has now remarried. He has three children.
In March 2005, Kasparov shocked chess fans by announcing his retirement from competitive chess while still ranked number one in the world. He has now devoted himself to politics and writing, and has become a vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin.