The End of the Soviet Chess Era

I've long been interested in the role that chess has played in helping citizens keep their sanity living in, had hopefully surviving, life in the oppressive Cold War regimes of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block.  Most Americans are at least aware of the chess as politics battle between Fischer and Spassky in 1972. When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, for a brief period of time key archives were opened to researchers.  For chess this resulted in Andrew Soltis' seminal work Soviet Chess: 1917-1991 (McFarland: 2000).

What is less well understood is the battle over between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov, a battle that took place over the course of five matches for the Chess World Championship between 1984 and 1990. Yes, the chess games have been well analyzed. The general outline of the political machinations by  a dying Soviet state to keep their man, Karpov, World Champion are known. There is, however, much more to this tale of dominance, survival and defeat of Soviet chess power. 

I chanced upon a French documentary earlier this week that sheds much light Soviet politics driving this five year battle. Karpov is widely known to be a supporter of Putin. He is a member of the Duma, Russia's puppet legislative body. Kasparov's dissident role is also well known.  Less known is the rapprochement achieved through Karpov's generosity of spirit displayed when Kasparov was briefly imprisoned by the Putin regime. The documentary ends with this occurrence.

Karpov vs. Kasparov: Epic Rivalry of Chess Titans Amid USSR Collapse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVoZ00cDuL0