MOSCOW (AP) — Former chess champion Garry Kasparov, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most celebrated foes, was released from a Moscow jail Thursday after serving his five-day sentence for leading a protest march.
Riot police arrested Kasparov on Saturday after a demonstration that drew thousands of opposition protesters and ended in clashes and dozens of arrests. In a trial that evening, Kasparov was convicted of leading an illegal march that followed the rally, chanting anti-Putin slogans and resisting arrest.
Virtually simultaneous with the death of America’s greatest chess hero – Bobby Fischer – Garry Kasparov was sent to jail. Bobby also protested his government and wound up living his last days in Iceland, the land of his greatest chess triumph. It’s easy to understand why Bobby was mad at his government, as government perturbations can greatly affect and effect us all. Government is at times, if not always, like a bull in a china shop.