On the 10th of March 2005, Garry Kasparov retired from professional chess. Kasparov announced his retirement, a pre-meditated decision, at a press conference at the end of the Linares Tournament 2005 just after his last professionally played game (a loss to Veselin Topalov).

Kasparov lost his world title in 2000 to Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, but is still ranked number one in FIDE.

Garry Kasparov, was undeniably the strongest chess player in chess history. His overall performance outclasses the other all time greats, Capablanca, Alekhine, Fischer. His career, both on and off the board, was not without ups and downs and controversies too. Nevertheless, the chess world will always remember his professional career with a mark of respect.

In the press conference Kasparov said, “It could come as a surprise to many of you, but before this tournament I made a conscious decision that Linares 2005 will be my last professional tournament, and today I played my last professional game … I may (still) play some chess for fun, but it will no longer be professional competitive chess”.

What is the reason for Kasparov’s retirement and didn’t past masters continue forever? Times have changed. In this era, professionalism in chess has been taken much more seriously than before. At this level one doesn’t play chess for fun, or play only to win and earn a name. It is a profession. If a player has to continue his career in chess, then like other professional sport, there must come a time to retire. Alekhine, Ninzowitsch or Rubenstien could play chess until the end of their lives, but in the modern world we have to define a point where the professional career of a chess player with such a high profile must be considered to have ended. Rather than let his career taper off, Kasparov has chosen to make a definite break.

Here we have collected some direct quotes from Kasparov at the time of his retirement appearing in chessbase.com and his BBC and other interviews.

“I am a man of big goals. I have to achieve something, I have to prove something, I have to be determined. But I no longer see any real goal in the world of chess. I did not want to leave in bad shape, as I was six months ago. I wanted to get back to my top rating, and I wanted to show some decent chess. I wanted to prove to myself first of all that I play better than others. I did. The complete mess over the last two years added bit by bit to my frustration…

“It seemed to me that everyone was very pleased when I was constantly denied a chance to play for the highest title. What happened with FIDE in the last year was scandalous. But I never heard a voice of concern or a voice of support for Garry Kasparov. I still read about the bad treatment by FIDE of Ponomariov, but I never heard any serious complaints about the way they treated me. After the Prague agreement I had regular disappointments with the entire process. The process was used for advancing the agenda of others, eventually at my expense…

“I don't want to pressure anyone, or do anything wrong or pretentious. I just want to live my own life. I recognise that in the near future there will be no chance for a unified title, and frankly there is nothing else I can hope for in the world of chess. It became very difficult for me to keep finding reasons for determination, during these years. I succeeded because of my great passion for the game of chess. And I haven't lost my passion for the game. That is why from time to time I may play for fun, maybe in some rapid tournaments. But it will be only for fun…

“In 2002 I joined with FIDE in Prague to try and unify the world championship. Over the past two and a half years, unification matches have been scheduled four times and each time the deadlines have come and gone while the financial guarantees were ignored. Four times I have put my life on hold to schedule three months for preparation, play, and recuperation. The loss of earnings is easy to understand, but the hidden damage is psychological. These postponed and cancelled events have been deeply unsettling to me both professionally and personally. Our global chess federation has rarely thought enough to even keep me informed, let alone compensate me financially or even apologize for these repeated frustrations.

“I called a halt to negotiations last night, but resentment at my treatment by FIDE has been building for the past three months. My life has been totally disrupted for two and a half years thanks to this on-again, off-again match and I must go on without this constant interference.

“Perhaps the last straw was watching the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee currently underway in the Netherlands. I was forced to give up my invitation to play in this event when FIDE insisted that the match would take place in Dubai on conflicting dates. It breaks my heart to watch such a great event from the sidelines. It hurts me, and I believe chess is poorly served as well.

“Some details might help clarify how I reached this state of exhaustion and disillusionment. In September 2004, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov publicly announced that he had the funds for my match with Rustam Kasimdzhanov to take place in Dubai in January 2005. It turned out that this was completely untrue.

“At a press conference at the Russian Championship in Moscow two months later I told the media that there were no contracts, no financial guarantees, and that FIDE was giving disinformation. A FIDE official present loudly ‘whispered” that I was lying, a remark that made its way to ChessBase.com and the chess world. Needless to say, it turned out that the lies were solely on the FIDE side of the story and it speaks volumes about the organization that no apology to me was forthcoming and that this official is still working for FIDE.

“I was concerned enough about the lack of tangible progress in organizing the match to write an open letter to the FIDE Congress in October 2004. The FIDE Presidential Board refused to read or circulate this letter at the Congress, apparently believing that no news was good news.

“At that time the Turkish Chess Federation was ready to take over the championship organization. President Ali Nihat Yazici had considerable momentum and was ready to proceed with procuring sponsorship guarantees. But FIDE insisted on giving Dubai even more time, even though it had been independently verified that supposed sponsor, HH Sh. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was not going to fund the event and had never intended to.

“Far too late, FIDE appointed the Turkish Chess Federation and work began in early December with deadlines looming. The first deadline passed on December 29th and more have passed since. As of today I have no contract with FIDE signed by either player, I have no financial guarantee, and I know from experience that drafting these documents can take considerable time.

“I feel great sympathy for Mr. Nihat Yazici, an honorable man who has worked very hard on behalf of chess and on behalf of this match. I believe he may well have eventually come up with an acceptable form of guarantee, but I cannot wait any longer to reclaim control of my life. I will apologize to Ali and those in the Turkish government and business community assisting him and will do my best to lend a hand to Turkish chess in the future.

“It’s not about money or winning the title; it’s about my disillusionment with the process and the others on which it depends. In 2002 I dreamed of a legitimate chance to revive – and reclaim – the real world championship title. That no longer seems to be possible. Even if by some miracle the match is held and I win, I would bear a great deal of responsibility and still have no opportunity to unify the title. FIDE has proven itself incapable of the task while others are unwilling.

“As for unification, I cannot see an avenue to contribute further. For those who saw me as an obstacle, I will be one no longer. I am not giving up on chess. I will compete as well and as long as I am able to play my brand of chess. I will continue to serve chess and those who love our game. I have now held the #1 ranking for 20 years and I will defend my position against any opponent. My only retreat is from the battlefield of chess championship politics.

“I want to accomplish more on the writing side. I want to complete my work My Great Predecessors. The project is expanding every year, and I want to spend more time on that. Also, by the end of this year my new book will appear, in fifteen languages, including Spanish of course, but also in Chinese and Japanese. The tentative title of the book is How Life Imitates Chess. It is a very important project because I want to demonstrate to a mainstream audience how the game of chess can explain the decision-making process in many walks of life…

“I devote a certain amount of time to Russian politics, as every decent person should do, who opposes the dictator Vladimir Putin.

Later, Kasparov talked at length to the BBC News website detailing some of his political ideas, some of which express quite a strong opinion of Putin. He uses words as strong as tsar, facism and brutal dictator in describing the Putin regime. He wants the Western world not to support the current leadership in Russia. He has appeared recently in his role as activist in BBC and CNN channels recently. He wishes to bring strong public opinion so that the constitution should not be changed allowing Mr Putin to run for a third term.

Years later, will history remember Kasparov for his chess genius or his efforts to restore democracy in Russia? Time will tell.