From a Moscow resident:
"As far as we (general public) know, Vladimir Putin never played chess competitively or has shown deep interest in it.
https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-documented-chess-games-played-by-Vladimir-Putin
But, on the chess board of the world he is a GM compared to the "casual" players who lead the western democracies.
And no, I am not a supporter of Putin.
He's an effing patzer as a leader and his only strong move is to use his death squads.
He has an approval rating of over 80% in Russia, and he is playing the west like a fiddle.
He is a very dangerous man, and by underestimating him (by calling him a patzer), is playing right into his hands.
He's an effing patzer as a leader and his only strong move is to use his death squads.
He has an approval rating of over 80% in Russia, and he is playing the west like a fiddle.
He is a very dangerous man, and by underestimating him (by calling him a patzer), is playing right into his hands.
I couldn't agree more. But it doesn't matter, this is getting locked anyways.
My thanks to the commenters. But if we could, please, keep the thread focused on chess rather than geopolitical politics (as tempting as they are to the lot of us, myself included!).
Philidor_Legacy, thanks for the Quora link. I had actually seen it already, and was hoping that perhaps something new would turn up that would overturn the current online consensus, which is that Putin and chess basically don't mix.
You know, it's funny, but for whatever reason, I *want* Putin to have at least a casual interest in chess. It doesn't matter to me that he doesn't play competitively. The President of Russia isn't going to play competitively, for a myriad of reasons. I am hoping, though, that he has at least some interest in the game. But perhaps he only plays with the real world as his board.
Please note, religious or political debate or commentary is not to be conducted in the regular forums: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/off-topic/forum-posting-rules---be-nice--no-religious-or-political-debate; I am therefore locking this thread.
Please join the Open Discussion Club if you would like to discuss these topics: https://www.chess.com/club/open-discussion. Alternatively, you can try one of the less unmoderated private clubs, such as Debate+: https://www.chess.com/club/debate
Thanks, Marcus - Moderator.
News articles have for years been comparing Russian President Putin's geopolitical moves to chess moves. I don't want to get into politics here, but I am wondering: does Putin play chess, and how good at it is he? When he walks beside Karjakin and gets his picture taken, is it only because he's proud of one of the best two players in the world (which is perfectly reasonable), or is it also because he's also interested in chess for its own sake? Can Karjakin "talk chess" with Putin, or is their conversation limited to the aspects of the game that lie outside the chessboard?