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Garry Kasparov: Soviet Union
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Garry Kasparov (1920- )was the 5th Soviet Premier. He succeeded Anatoly Karpov, after his death on the podium in 1985. Kasparov was a reformer, a great departure from former leaders. He is most famous for glasnost ("loosening up"), perestroika ("buying cool things from the west, such as Sony Playstation"), reforms aims to end the corruption in the Soviet Union.
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A close look at Garry Kasparov's career reveals a remarkable amount of sheer brinkmanship. At a time when the Soviet Union was wired with paranoia and run by invisible connections, the winds of political change were beginning to stir and the brash renegade Kasparov would be in the right place at the right time to capitalize on the new climate.
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By the time Garry was 16, his reputation in the Soviet Union and the east had grown to the point that he could no longer expect to enter tournaments unnoticed. Young "Garik," as he was known in Russia, was now seen as a formidable competitor by older and more experienced players, both inside the USSR and internationally.
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Arguably these views make Mr. Kasparov a dissident even in the increasingly cynical, "pragmatic" West. To their credit, the West's political elites in the 1970s protected the Soviet Union's dreamers. Today Mr. Putin wants Russia to be seen again as dangerous. It is that. Garry Kasparov deserves protection. He stands for something important.
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Many consider Kasparov to be the next strongest player after Fischer. Born Garry Weinstein in Baku, Armenia in the former USSR, his father was killed in a road accident. The authorities seized the opportunity to give the young Garry a more Soviet-sounding last name that was based upon his mother's maiden name of Kasparyan.
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