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Kasparov in Presidential Gambit

Former world chess champ maneuvering to replace Putin

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 1, 2007 3:29 AM CDT

(Newser) – Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has been overwhelmingly chosen by an opposition coalition to run for president of Russia when Vladimir Putin's current term ends next March, reports the Daily Telegraph. His place on the ballot is not guaranteed until he registers, a process likely to be checked by Putin forces.

Kasparov, 44, is one of Putin's most outspoken critics and founded the coalition "Other Russia" in 2005. "I will do everything possible for the ideas of Other Russia to win," he said. "I know that the road will be difficult." Even if he is manages to run, he's not expected to pose a major threat to whichever candidate Putin endorses.

Other Russia opposition coalition leaders Eduard Limonov, left, and Garry Kasparov, right, attend a regional meeting of the coalition in Moscow, on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. Other Russia is holding regional meetings across Russia in an attempt to come up with a single opposition candidate to challenge an expected Kremlin-backed...
Other Russia opposition coalition leaders Eduard Limonov, left, and Garry Kasparov, right, attend a regional meeting of the coalition in Moscow, on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. Other Russia is holding regional...   (Associated Press)
Kremiln critic Garry Kasparov speaks with reporters in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Kasparov, a chess grandmaster and a top leader in the Other Russia opposition movement in Russia, sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and accused the Kremlin of harassing and attacking oppositionists in their bid to unseat...
Kremiln critic Garry Kasparov speaks with reporters in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Kasparov, a chess grandmaster and a top leader in the Other Russia opposition movement in Russia, sharply...   (Associated Press)
Chess champion Garry Kasparov, now a leading opposition figure, looks on during an interview with the Associated Press in Moscow, in Thursday, May 17, 2007, file photo.  In Russia, new extremism law is being cast with a widening net and Kasparov is among the people thought to be suspected of...
Chess champion Garry Kasparov, now a leading opposition figure, looks on during an interview with the Associated Press in Moscow, in Thursday, May 17, 2007, file photo. In Russia, new extremism law is...   (Associated Press)
Other Russia opposition coalition leaders Eduard Limonov, left, and Garry Kasparov, right, attend a regional meeting of the coalition in Moscow, on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. Other Russia is holding regional meetings across Russia in an attempt to come up with a single opposition candidate to challenge an expected Kremlin-backed...
Other Russia opposition coalition leaders Eduard Limonov, left, and Garry Kasparov, right, attend a regional meeting of the coalition in Moscow, on Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. Other Russia is holding regional...   (Associated Press)
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