Free Republic

When a situation gets complicated, such as in Putin’s war on Ukraine, some analysts might observe that one side is playing chess while the other side is playing checkers. If one really wants to emphasize how outmatched one side is, an analyst might say that the other side is playing three-dimensional chess. Regular old two-dimensional chess is complicated enough, and when playing it at the grandmaster level can be labyrinthine.The game of chess is rather like war. For one thing, chess involves strategy and tactics. Given that, perhaps we can learn something about the war in Ukraine and its mastermind...

GARRY KASPAROV: "Putin already got what he wanted – a summit. He might get even more, but the main exchange has already happened. Biden gave the credibility of the United States to a brutal dictator. And I heard a lot from those who defended the idea of the summit that Biden would go to Geneva to deliver a message, he’ll talk tough. ... But if Biden wanted to send a real message to Putin he would meet with Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, would go to Kiev, that’s a message… He would meet with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the real President of...

After an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Sydney radio station posed the question if chess is racist because it’s customary for the white pieces to move first, Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov and former Australian chess representative John Adams took to Twitter to slam the notion, calling it “bull—” and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Adams noted that ABC contacted him to make a comment on the segment, which is intended to run Wednesday. “They called me up and asked whether I was the John Adams involved in chess,” Adams told the Daily Telegraph. “Then they said with everything going on,...

When, in 2016, I referred to Donald Trump's victory in the Republican primary as a symptom of an unhealthy American political system, I couldn't have known how such medical metaphors would sound today. But more than three years into his presidency, Trump -- facing an unprecedented crisis in the form of a deadly pandemic -- has shown himself to be a dangerous pathogen. Trump has spent his time in office weakening the nation's systemic immune system -- or institutions that hold him in check -- and setting the US up for a disaster when those institutions are needed more than...

As you may know, Garry Kasparov isn't exactly a fan of President Trump to say the least. I was wondering why is that? Is it because he swallowed all that "Trump/Russia" bullcrap from Hillary? Is it personal prejudice? What do you think it is?

The Real Fascists: Icons of the so-called #NeverTrump “resistance” are growing increasingly unhinged as Trump Derangement Syndrome continues to rob them of their ability to think and act rationally. There is nothing that these people wouldn’t do to depose the president – one way or the other – and they regularly dog whistle that sentiment to their equally deranged supporters. But now two of them – “conservative” Bill Kristol and anti-Putin Russian chess master Garry Kasparov – have begun fantasizing openly about holding ‘show trials’ for all of POTUS Trump’s supporters before throwing them in prison (or worse). “Those who...

-excerpt- There is no consideration of what is or is not good for Russia, or for Russians, only what is best for him and his close circle of oligarch elites. The 2012 U.S. adoption of the Magnitsky Act, targeting Russian officials tied to criminal repression, was answered by banning the adoption of Russian orphans by Americans. Western sanctions over Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea were met by boycotting many foreign goods, harming Russian businesses and consumers — to the perverse point of physically destroying thousands of tons of smuggled food in a country where many millions are battling hunger and...

Garry Kasparov, a Russian pro-democracy leader, has apparently been taking a lot of heat from Bernie Sanders supporters who think they know more about socialism than he does. His response: How are you all going to “lecture me”? Check out his brilliant Facebook post below:

2016 seems like a strange time to be arguing the merits of socialism in an American presidential campaign. But it’s also strange for the prospective leaders of the free world to be talking about the KKK and their appendages, so clearly this year is not like any other. While the latter topics are, thankfully, beyond my purview, I have a great deal of interest in socialism. Last week I expressed some of these thoughts on Facebook after hearing a clip of “democratic socialist” candidate Senator Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday. This was already a rarity, considering how little time the...

Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov lived in the USSR and he is not feeling the bern. I'm enjoying the irony of American Sanders supporters lecturing me, a former Soviet citizen, on the glories of Socialism and what it really means! Socialism sounds great in speech soundbites and on Facebook, but please keep it there. In practice, it corrodes not only the economy but the human spirit itself, and the ambition and achievement that made modern capitalism possible and brought billions of people out of poverty. Talking about Socialism is a huge luxury, a luxury that was paid for by the successes...

...The greatest danger isn't in confronting Putin, it's in waiting so long to do so that the stakes will be incredibly high. The longer we wait, the more confident he becomes and the more dangerous the eventual confrontation will be. Stopping Putin will be harder now than it would have been two years ago, but easier than it will be a year from now.

Chess legend Garry Kasparov was once the pride of the Soviet Union. But 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall he lives in exile, accusing Russian leader Vladimir Putin of “strategic failure” and the EU establishment of “ignorance” in its dealings with Moscow. […] “What we are seeing in Russia is a resurgence of imperialism and nationalism in its most dangerous form,” he said, comparing Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Putin’s domestic propaganda to Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II. “Just read what Putin has been saying in his [anti-West] speeches in the past year....

As Russian troops and armored columns advance in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian government begs for aid from the free world it hoped would receive it and protect it as one of its own. The leaders of the free world, meanwhile, are struggling to find the right terminology to free themselves from the moral responsibility to provide that protection. Putin’s bloody invasion of a sovereign European nation is an incursion, much like Crimea — remember Crimea? — was an “uncontested arrival” instead of Anschluss. A civilian airliner was blown out of the sky just six weeks ago –—remember MH17? — and...

Do not fall for any Western attempts to save face, even if Obama waves a piece of paper and declares, ‘Peace for our time!’ Negotiating with another country’s territory as collateral has a long history—the most obvious example is from 1938. Last Friday, Vladimir Putin called Barack Obama to discuss Ukraine, although what was said is different from what was heard. Analyzing the discrepancies between the White House and Kremlin press releases of these calls has become a booming industry and usually you would never guess that the reports are about the same conversation. The White House report mentions “constitutional...

Kasparov argues that any attempt to diffuse tensions by taking military retaliation off the table fails because Putin and his cronies do not have the best interests of Russia in mind. He says, "They do not, except in the few areas where such interests overlap with their goal of looting as much treasure as possible." When the President explicitly denied the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, he "freely surrendered one of his greatest advantages: America's overwhelming military strength." That is not to say that Kasparov is arguing for a military attack on Russia. On the contrary, he explicitly lays...

When Vladi­mir Putin formally annexed Crimea this week, he acted in defiance of the predictions of many pundits, politicians and so-called experts. Perhaps Putin was not impressed by their sound reasoning and elegant discourse on how his invasion and annexation threatened Russia’s interests. But the main problem with the West’s “Putin would never” arguments is that they assume Putin and his ruling elite care about Russian national interests. They do not, [...] The next obstacle to stopping Putin is the self-imposed paralysis of the leaders of Europe and the Group of Seven. It is easier for them to say that...

On February 22nd, former world chess champion and political activist Garry Kasparov intimated that if Barack Obama had been president instead of Ronald Reagan, the Soviet Union would still exist. Kasparov was born in the Soviet Union in 1963. He is a renowned chess player, a human rights defender, and an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Lenin. On February 22nd he tweeted: "I've said it before, but if Barack Obama had been president instead of Ronald Reagan, I'd still be a Soviet Citizen."

When chess grand champion and Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov showed up Friday at the sentencing of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, he didn’t expect to spend the next five hours in the custody of the Moscow police, recovering from a severe beating. Now, he says, after being punched in the genitals, thrown in a van and beaten by several police, Kasparov says the police have accused him of biting one of them—an allegation he denies. “They act like animals and they accuse me of biting them,” Kasparov told the Daily Beast in his first interview since being arrested. “Can...

Police have arrested Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov at a banned anti-Kremlin rally in central Moscow. He was detained during a huge security operation to prevent opponents of President Putin gathering at Pushkin Square. The former chess champion leads the United Civil Front group, part of the opposition coalition Other Russia. It accuses President Putin's regime of trampling on democracy. The Kremlin says Other Russia destabilises Russia. Mr Kasparov was seen inside a police van waving and smiling at gathered media after his arrest, the Associated Press said. Reports say dozens of other opposition activists were arrested, as well...

Garry Kasparov had nothing left to conquer. For two decades he reigned over international chess with the swagger of a Cossack and a memory that took on supercomputers. His peers vanquished and his patience worn thin by the politics of his game, the fiery, unpredictable chess legend yearned for a new arena. This year he found one. Announcing his retirement from professional chess in March, Kasparov threw himself headlong into Russian politics, undaunted by its tripwires or its steely overseer, President Vladimir Putin. In fact, Kasparov has made clear he sees Putin as his new archrival. Kasparov is virtually alone...