May 14, 2026
DIANE FRANCIS
Garry Kasparov is one of the best chess players of all time. Now he is a democracy activist and a fierce opponent of Vladimir Putin and his regime. Chess is all about strategy and has been described as the world’s most popular “war game”. Kasparov views it as a blend of artistic creation, scientific preparation, and psychological warfare designed to destroy an opponent’s mental resources. The current war between Russia and Ukraine, in chess jargon, is a “stalemate” because neither side can win. Obviously, the goal is to achieve “checkmate,” which occurs when the “king” chess piece is under attack, has nowhere to go that is not also under attack, and has no way to block attacks. Regarding the Russian war, Kasparov believes that the only way to achieve “checkmate” is for Russia to be pushed into bankruptcy. That would be a victory not just for Ukraine but throughout the world because it is the only way to end Russia’s evil imperialism.
Many hope that Putin will be removed, but Kasparov says he will be replaced by an equally odious member of the “siloviki”, the inner circle of Russians from security, military, and law enforcement agencies that run the nation. The war is going badly for Putin, so rivals are already circling, and some want him removed. But that won’t end the war. Another Russian expert, Boris Bondarev, a former diplomat who defected after the invasion of Ukraine, believes that any successor would be worse, due to the nature of the elite surrounding Putin and the indoctrination of the system.
Russia must be defeated to destroy what Kasparov calls Russia’s “imperial virus”, or toxic nationalism. “Ukraine must win, and Russia must lose. Victory for Ukraine is important. This is not just Putin’s war or about getting less than all of Ukraine,” said Kasparov in an interview with me. “In 1991, Ukraine changed history. Its Maidan revolution turned west, and it’s now a military powerhouse. Since 2022, Ukraine has been the spiritual leader of the Western world, and Ukraine must eliminate this imperial virus.”
For years. Ukrainians staged mass protests and risked their lives to break away from the Russian dictatorship. In 1991, Ukraine was the first Soviet republic to leave the Soviet Union, and then others followed. However, Putin wants it all back, and invaded Ukraine because it wanted to join Europe. He still tries to bully other former republics into rejoining Russia. For instance, on May 10, Putin warned Armenia to scrap its goal of joining the European Union. He said people there should hold a referendum on the topic, but then, in a press conference, he threatened that a future alignment with Europe could lead to a “Ukrainian scenario”. Other republics remain mindful of Moscow’s imperial designs, and that they may also be invaded again. They avoid confrontations.
Bondarev believes that President Donald Trump’s negotiating approach to ending this war and dealing with Putin has been counterproductive. For instance, Trump’s haste in finding a quick deal to end the war has allowed Putin to “weaponize peace attempts”. And Trump cozies up to Putin and ignores his war crimes, global terrorism, and the ongoing enslavement of his own population. He invokes no moral or strategic leverage over Putin, nor does he seek it, which
benefits Russia and encourages Putin to stay the course. Trump has also been easily distracted by promises of “profitable” business deals in Russia. The result is that “Trump holds little sway over Putin, who is convinced he can win and that his goals will be met regardless of American involvement,” wrote Bondarev.
Putin believes he can outlast Western support. Even worse, he benefits from Trump’s public bickering with allies, which exposes divisions in the West. If that weren’t the case, argues Bondarev, the war would have been over because Russia is weaker than it looks. The war has only been propped up by two factors: Russia’s inhuman disregard for mass murder or for sending hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers to their deaths in Ukraine, and the fact that a strong and united Western alliance doesn’t exist.
Kasparov put America’s negotiating failure another way: “In the fifth year of a three-day `special operation’, Russia is now in an unwinnable war with Trump’s goalposts moving constantly.”
Fortunately, Moscow is already hurtling toward bankruptcy, but will go bust more quickly if a few strategies are put firmly in place: Ukraine, with increased allied help, must step up the damage it’s doing by bombing Russia’s industries and oil export facilities; Europe must finally crack down on Russia’s “shadow fleet” that delivers Russian oil; all of Russia’s foreign assets worldwide must be seized and used to support Ukraine; and China, India, and other Russian customers must be excessively sanctioned by the West for buying Russian oil and supplying its military.
There is unrest inside Russia. Its economic problems are grave and causing dissension among the populace and insiders. Newsweek cited intelligence reports that tensions have arisen among those Russian agencies that are to protect senior officials from assassination. Putin hides. There are reports that recent arrests for corruption, among colleagues of former military chief Sergei Shoigu, signal that a coup against Putin may be underway. The problem is that they all embrace the hyper-nationalist narrative and imperial ambitions to recreate the Soviet Union that the incumbent has perpetuated and that Kasparov calls the “imperial virus”.
Another report by the Institute for the Study of War in Washington states that the regime’s biggest threat is alienated Russian veterans. Already, hundreds of thousands of former soldiers, including convicted criminals who were pardoned for joining the military, are behind an increase in violence and organized crime that is afflicting Russian society. This same restlessness and backlash after Russia’s debacle in Afghanistan contributed to the overthrow of the Soviet Union.
A master chess strategist, Kasparov, believes “Ukraine must win to end the Russian empire and eliminate this virus. Crimea must be occupied, and Russia pushed into bankruptcy. Then no new Putin will return to empire building.”