Chess legend Garry Kasparov, a vocal critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is currently seeking Latvian citizenship in hopes of continuing his political activism. Kasparov made his request in the form of a letter addressed to four of the five parties represented in the Latvian parliament, with the exception being the pro-Moscow Harmony Centre party.
An excerpt of the letter was published on InterAksyon.com today:
As a Latvian citizen, I will obtain the chance to engage without restriction in political activities in the name of democracy, peace and justice in Russia as well as in other countries of the world which fail to observe human rights and trample on the democratic standards.
Kasparov, the greatest chess player of all time, first became a World Chess Champion at the record-setting age of 22. He held the title until 1993, when he decided to leave the World Chess Federation for the Professional Chess Association. He defeated Depp Thought, a chess computer, in 1989, but he famously lost in a controversial contest to IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997.
