Chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov was turned away when he tried to visit and offer moral support to his old rival Garry Kasparov, under detention for anti-Kremlin protests. Kasparov is serving a five-day sentence at a Moscow detention centre for leading a protest against President Vladimir Putin last weekend. Karpov is a member of the Public Chamber (collective government oversight body) and has the right to visit those detained. All the same, they would not let him in. Karpov must have been seeking to extend moral support or see the conditions in which Kasparov is being held. Karpov became one of the Soviet Union's most influential public figures after Leonid Brezhnev personally branded him the "The Chess King". His reign was over when he lost the title to Kasparov who confessed eventually that by defeating Karpov he was also challenging the old communist system. The two men's personal ambitions and different political views seemed to matter little. Karpov told the radio station he must have spent more time at the chessboard with Kasparov than with any other player, including a gruelling match that went on for four months.
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