Chess Legend Slams Trump: 'In Any Game Of Wits, I Would Bet On Putin'
Chess legend and political activist Garry Kasparov said President Donald Trump is no match for Russian President Vladimir Putin when it comes to games of strategy.
“Both of them despise playing by the rules, so it’s who will cheat first,” Kasparov told Politico when asked who might win a chess match between the two. “But in any game of wits, I would bet on Putin, unfortunately.”
Kasparov, who was a chess grandmaster for the Soviet Union and Russia, also said he wanted people to stop describing what politicians do as “chess.”
He said:
“When I hear phrases like ‘Putin plays chess, Obama plays checkers,’ or moreover, ‘Trump plays chess,’ I feel I have my duty to defend the game that I have been playing for decades. The game of chess is game of strategy; of course, you have many opportunities to show your tactical skills, but foremost, it’s about strategy.
And also, it’s a transparent game. It’s 100 percent transparency. You know what I have; I know what you have. So, we don’t know the intentions of the opponent, but we know the resources our opponent can use to do us harm.”
Kasparov has been sharply critical of Putin and once attempted to run for the Russian presidency himself.
He has also not held back when it comes to Trump.
Before last year’s election, Kasparov said Trump’s threats to jail rival Hillary Clinton and crack down on the media sounded like something Putin would do.
Read his full interview with Politico here.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
