Garry's Dangerous Game

The ex-World Champ Garry Kasparov writes a special web exclusive for Newsweek magazine. On what else but Russian politics.

I was fully aware from the start that our chances for success were terribly slim, and that I was one of the few Russians who could run away from the dangers. It has never been my style, on the chessboard or in life, to back down from challenges when the odds are against me or when there is a safer option. When there is a moral imperative at stake, you don't calculate the odds. It may sound strange coming from a chess player, but some decisions we don't make with our heads. We make them with our hearts.

In A Dangerous Game.