Garry Kasparov is famous as one of the most successful chess masters in the history of the game. (Despite his infamous loss to the IBM Machine Big Blue.) But Kasparov’s career did not come to a complete halt after his retirement from Chess in 2005. Since that time, he has been one of the most prominent critics of Russia’s then-de facto and now-de jure ruler: Vladimir Putin—a position even more dangerous than being in check with your Queen exposed.

In fact, Kasparov retired from chess in order to devote himself to politics full time. In 2005, he founded the United Civil Front, an organization that “works to preserve electoral democracy in Russia.” It’s a tall order: since Putin first took power in 2000, he has done everything possible to assure that electoral democracy in Russia is consistently subordinated to his own career. He was twice elected president, and then became Prime Minister when his “successor” (some would say stooge) Dmitri Medvedev was was elected in 2008. In that time, a number of Russian journalists — most prominently Anna Politkovskaya — raised alarms about Putin’s corrupt and violent rule. Over a dozen of them have been murdered, in crimes that remain unsolved.

Nonetheless, Putin remains a popular figure in Russia. Many in the country would probably agree with former President George W. Bush’s assessment upon meeting the Russian leader: “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy.” Kasparov would more likely agree with former Presidential candidate John McCain’s view: “I looked him in the eye and saw three letters: K, G, B.”

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