Chess master Kasparov to retire

[Talon]

Chess master Kasparov to retire

Former world champion Garry Kasparov has announced that he is to retire from competitive chess.

He made the surprise announcement after winning a prestigious tournament in Spain for the ninth time.

"I will continue to play chess because it is a lot of fun, but no longer on a professional level," he said.

The 41-year-old said he had made the decision because of the intense pressure which he had been under over recent years.

The chess grandmaster, a leading critic of Mr Putin, heads a group of top Russian liberals who have joined forces to keep Vladimir Putin from staying in the Kremlin after 2008.

His group, called Committee 2008: Free Choice, has criticised Mr Putin's control over Russia's parliament and the country's media, and what it calls the "flat-out falsification of the last election's results".

They have vowed to ensure a new president is elected in 2008.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/worl...ope/4338719.stm

[thebarman]

Hey Talon, why don't you go for his title!

[Talon]

Because anyone with experience in chess would kill me in 7 moves

[[G]™]

MAYBE HA WANTS TO GIVE WAY TO OTHERS......GOOD.

[Subtemperate]

Its Chess..... not a team sport...lol

Why promote people who aren't good enough to beat you?