[Vladimir] Putin is more of a poker player. In poker, unlike chess, you can effectively compensate for a very weak hand by bluffing. There are fixed rules in chess, and no one knows how the game will end. Things are currently the other way around in Putin's realm. But it won't stay that way forever.

Putin can't afford to leave the office because he will be in real danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their stay in power.

The best chess masters of every epoch have been closely linked with the values of the society in which they lived and worked. All the changes of a cultural, political, and psychological background are reflected in the style and ideas of their play.

Chess is not dominoes

You know, if I'm in a bad mood, I always look at the chessboard, just to find something that can cheer me up.

Throughout my chess career I sought out new challenges, looking for things no one had done before.

I can't think of a scenario under which [Vladimir Putin] would gradually resign from power. For him and those around him, power became a source of unlimited enrichment. A loss of power would be tantamount to an annihilation of the economic success that has been achieved so far.