Garry Kasparov, former world champion and one of the most dominant players in Chess history, has been arrested in Russia while participating in a political rally in Moscow. Kasparov is a leading figure in Russian politics and a staunch opponent of the current “regime”. He was recently interviewed by several United States media outlets, including a guest appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and Fox News Hardball with Chris Matthews, which has given new strength to his goal of establishing democracy in Russia and ousting current leader Vladimir Putin. A lucid man to listen to, Kasparov is engaging and sharp in his criticisms which may lead to more awareness of the problems in his home country and also to more unfortunate arrests.
In other news, Vassily Ivanchuk has defeated Vishy Anand to take home the World Blitz Chess Championship! In the penultimate game between two of the world’s top players, Anand was outplaying Ivanchuk and was materially ahead by two pawns when a blunder left his opponent with an opportunity for a deadly fork of his two Rooks. Ivanchuck capitalized immediately and several moves later claimed the victory when Anand acknowledged defeat and offered his handshake to end the game. A great showing by both players who had to work through an impressive field of talented Grandmasters. Congratulations to Ivanchuk, and good luck to Mr. Kasparov!
