Chess legend Garry Kasparov added by Russia to list of ‘terrorists and extremists’

Former world champion Garry Kasparov has been added by Russia to a state list of “terrorists and extremists”, according to media reports.

Kasparov’s name was added to the list by Rosfinmonitoring, a Russian watchdog that is responsible for combatting money laundering and terror financing. Those designated by the watchdog as “terrorists and extremists” can have their bank accounts seized.

Agence-France Presse said that the Rosfinmonitoring added Soviet-born Kasparov to its database without giving any reason.

The Russian chess legend, who is the 13th world chess champion, is one of the most vocal critics of the current Russian regime and President Vladimir Putin. He had once notably called Putin “the world’s most dangerous man.”

Kasparov was born in Baku (present day capital of Azerbaijan) back when it was in the Soviet Union. When he became the world champion for the first time in 1985, he was just 22, thereby becoming the youngest in the world to ascend to the throne. He was the world no 1 chess player from 1984 till he retired: a record 255 months.

Kasparov, who retired from playing chess in 2005 to focus on politics and activism, played an active role in protests demanding fair elections in Russia in 2012 and 2013. He consequently left the country and has been in exile from the country ever since, making the USA his base.

In May 2022, Russia had added Kasparov to its list of “foreign agents”. According to a report on The Moscow Times back then, “The infamous label, reminiscent of the ‘enemies of the people’ of the Soviet period, is used extensively against opponents, journalists and human rights activists accused of conducting foreign-funded political activities.”

Kasparov was also one of the faces of an ‘anti-war committee’ which was formed in 2022 to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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