The real political life in Russia unfortunately is not in the parliament but on the streets and in the media.

I now have Croatian citizenship, but I only accepted it because Croatia allowed me to keep my Russian passport.

By the time a player becomes a Grandmaster, almost all of his training time is dedicated to work on this first phase. The opening is the only phase that holds out the potential for true creativity and doing something entirely new.

Solving new problems is what keeps us moving forward as individuals and as a society, so don't back down.

As for the eastern part of the former Soviet Union, the picture is rather uniform. Authoritarian structures prevail to differing extents. But we can still determine certain regularities, and the role of Russia is not to be underestimated. It is clear that we would have the same situation in Tajikistan and, let's say, Uzbekistan without the direct influence of Russia.

Dictatorships can exist with free markets - not that China is really a free market - especially in poor countries where the regime insists that it's a choice between food and liberty, a false choice. But increasing affluence will inevitably result in political pressure.

I think Russian people are learning that democracy is not an alien thing; it's not a western invention.