Free Republic

MOSCOW (AP) - Garry Kasparov, the world's former No. 1 chess player who quit the professional game last month to focus on politics, said Saturday he had been hit over the head with a chessboard in a politically motivated attack. Kasparov, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was not injured Friday when he was hit with the chessboard after signing it for a young man at an event in Moscow. A spokeswoman for Kasparov, Marina Litvinovich, said the assailant told the chess champion: "I admired you as a chess player, but you gave that up for politics." She said...

GARRY Kasparov, the chess world’s youngest-ever champion and undisputed king for the past two decades, made a stunning move shortly after winning a prestigious tournament in Spain: he retired from professional play. Kasparov yesterday said he had achieved all he wanted to in the game and was planning to turn his attention to politics. The announcement by the Russian grandmaster - the world’s No 1 ranked player since 1984 who is considered by some to be the best in the history of the game - came shortly after he won the 14-match Linares tournament in Spain. "Before this tournament...

MADRID (Reuters) - Former world champion Garry Kasparov has announced his retirement from competition chess, according to Spanish media reports. Kasparov, 41, announced his decision after winning a prestigious tournament in the southern Spanish town of Linares for the ninth time on Thursday, state radio said. Kasparov, a leading member of a Russian liberal grouping known as Committee 2008, plans to devote himself to politics and to writing books, the radio said. Tournament organisers could not immediately be reached to confirm the reports. "I will play chess, because I like it a lot, but not professionally. I may play...