The two great Soviet world champion Russians, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, have almost always taken divergent paths. Karpov was the golden boy of the Soviet establishment, while Kasparov was an early supporter of glasnost and perestroika. A détente occurred when Karpov visited Kasparov in prison after he was incarcerated by the Putin regime for taking part in a public protest in Moscow. But their ancient opposition continues.
Kasparov’s new book, Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the enemies of the free world must be stopped (Atlantic), is a challenge to the Kremlin and the Russian president. Kasparov prepared for its publication by emigrating to New York. Meanwhile, according to my old friend James O’Fee, who dined with him in Budapest last month, Karpov is busy with non-chess-related matters. He is a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, which analyses draft legislation and monitors the activities of the parliament, government and government bodies.
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